Time Lapse while panning at nighttime with T2i... any tips?

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dalethompson

Well-known member
I'm going to be taking some time lapse shots in a nice crowded square at nighttime here in Toronto. The lighting in this square is amazing, more than enough well-lit signs. street lights and building lights for the T2i... I'm not worried about the available light at all.

I will be doing time lapse shots (most likely 1 or 2 second intervals with an Intervalometer) but I want to try panning across the square while I do the time lapse too.

Do I need a timer or remote tripod head to pan automatically or is this something I can try myself on a tripod? Will panning manually cause a jello effect?

If anyone has tried this before and has any tips/tricks or even video to share, thanks in advance.

-Dale
 
For 1-2 second exposures, you need to do individual motions between exposures.

Otherwise everything will be smeared.
 
Thanks for this, I kinda figured without an automatic remote pan, it would turn out not so good (but I was also hoping someone has done this successfully too).

I phrased it wrong too... I should've said "1 shot per second or one shot every 2 seconds". I'm sure it doesn't matter though, the shots may come out jello(ed) for this as well I think.

Thanks,
Dale
 
dalethompson said:
I'm going to be taking some time lapse shots in a nice crowded square at nighttime here in Toronto. The lighting in this square is amazing, more than enough well-lit signs. street lights and building lights for the T2i... I'm not worried about the available light at all.

I will be doing time lapse shots (most likely 1 or 2 second intervals with an Intervalometer) but I want to try panning across the square while I do the time lapse too.

Do I need a timer or remote tripod head to pan automatically or is this something I can try myself on a tripod? Will panning manually cause a jello effect?

If anyone has tried this before and has any tips/tricks or even video to share, thanks in advance.

-Dale
Click to expand...

Be best to rig up a small turntable with a DC variable speed motor. Something you can slow the rotation to .2 rpm (or one rotation every 5 minutes.) Check radio control hobby shops they may have something that can be geared down.
If you want something more accurate I have a Norris for sale.
 
dalethompson said:
Thanks for this, I kinda figured without an automatic remote pan, it would turn out not so good (but I was also hoping someone has done this successfully too).

I phrased it wrong too... I should've said "1 shot per second or one shot every 2 seconds". I'm sure it doesn't matter though, the shots may come out jello(ed) for this as well I think.

Thanks,
Dale
Click to expand...


If you can get your shutter speed reasonably quick and your panning motion slow enough, you shouldn't have any jello. Although I'm not sure the skewing I've seen in stills with too slow a shutter speed would really translate to jello vision in an image stream anyway.

One cheap and relatively easy to find option for slow panning heads is to use a telescope motor. Lots of people (including me) have used them with some success. Look up the user name milapse on youtube. He's got a general rundown of how to use one.
 
I could be crazy, but what about an hour long egg/cooking timer? I have heard of mounting a camera to one somehow, winding it up and using it in a timelapse. I'm not sure if the t2i would be too much weight or not; I just figured I'd mention it.
 
seven.b said:
I could be crazy, but what about an hour long egg/cooking timer? I have heard of mounting a camera to one somehow, winding it up and using it in a timelapse. I'm not sure if the t2i would be too much weight or not; I just figured I'd mention it.
Click to expand...

That's the kind of test's worth trying. Simple devices you can get cheap to try are best before sinking a lot of cash into it. then realizing you need something different. I wouldn't worry about skew because each of your frames are not moving when they are shot only the accumulation of all the shots played back together. Imagine how fast you want your pan to play back in real then try and calculate how many degrees the camera must pan per frame/second.
The telescope turntable is also a good idea, and if it is variable speed it will work perfectly.
The pan in post is an interesting approach, but it will translate into a 2D pan on a 3D shot, but you never know till your try.
 
i have the auto pan/tilt telescope unit it is heavy duty , keep the menu handy for setting panning speeds . you need clamps to hold down the buttons as well. i have been waiting for clear night to try out. come with it,s own tripod but you have to make your own camera mount plate . a 4 bolt 45 angle bracket.
 
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