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Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:12 pm
by roey benjamin marcus
As the title says, what camera/vid. camera should I look for that takes high quality, time-lapse capable, zoomable photos/videos?

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:52 am
by Adam
for time lapse, you have a choice of many cameras that will allow control out at least shutter activation through the usb cable. however, Canon has alternate instruction sets you can load from the sd card. This means you can have the non standard features on the camera without a computer plugged into it.

I don't think you need a video camera unless you have other things to use it for besides plant photography

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:06 pm
by roey benjamin marcus
I actually need a vid. camera too, but I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone (metaphorically) by also trying to find one that is capable of all the things I want for my plants.

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:15 pm
by Adam
Most regular cameras take nice clips anyway.. You'll probably find that you lack the high quality in pictures when you go with the video camera.

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:51 pm
by roey benjamin marcus
But I have a digital camera and it takes horrible high-quality pics! Are there at least any good cameras? Or video cameras?

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:23 am
by 95slvrZ28
Oh there are plenty of good quality cameras and video cameras available, it's just a matter of "how good of a picture you can afford..."

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:38 am
by roey benjamin marcus
I can afford around 700.

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:41 am
by Adam
horrible high-quality? :) That sounds funny. Have you seen a review of your camera and others on dpreview.com?

I'm thinking of the G11 for myself: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong11/

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 6:45 am
by roey benjamin marcus
My digital camera supposedly takes high quality photos but all the photos go out blurry! I would need to be a robot for it to take a perfect picture and it still wouldn't be perfect.

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 7:22 am
by Adam
Sounds like you simply don't have a grip on the focus functionality of your camera. Have you read the manual?

The nice thing about Canon is the alternate firmware that you can load up: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/One_Page_Ult ... sers_Guide

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:06 am
by 95slvrZ28
roey benjamin marcus wrote:My digital camera supposedly takes high quality photos but all the photos go out blurry! I would need to be a robot for it to take a perfect picture and it still wouldn't be perfect.
What camera do you have? Can you post a link?

If you're getting blurry photos I can think of a couple of reasons.
First, you're taking photos in low light conditions and the shutter is open for too long to obtain a successful off hand photo. This can happen even if you're inside with lights on and it seems light to you. Remember, your eyes perceive light in a much more advanced manner than a photo sensor on your camera. The solution: invest in a medium priced tripod.
Second, you may have some setting on the camera set such that it's not auto focusing (once again, this is heavily dependent on your camera and it's options).
Third, you could have something smeared on the lens (finger prints etc.). Get some lens paper (a cotton towel or screen wipes etc. are NOT acceptable) and clean the lens.
Fourth (and hopefully not the case) the optical quality of your lens isn't good enough to obtain good photos at full resolution. This can often (and I assume is often) the case with cheaper point and shoot cameras that advertise "12.1 Mega Pixels" and that sort of thing. The fact of the matter is you can only get a picture as good as the optics allow since the actual sensor comes second. If you think this is the case, a new camera may be your best solution.
Hope that gives you a few things to try, happy photographing!

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:54 pm
by roey benjamin marcus
Nope, none of that. It just doesn't do well with the slightest movement. 1 atom? TOO MUCH!

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:47 am
by 95slvrZ28
Once again, movement will be solved by a tripod.

Also, feel good that you have more than one atom moving, if you didn't your camera would turn into Bose-Einstein Condensate ;)

Re: Where to find a time-lapse-capable camera?

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:54 am
by roey benjamin marcus
Lol!