Timelapse question - outdoor

ryangschultz

ryangschultz

Active member
So I'd like to shoot my first timelapse with my AF100, but I've never done it. What do I need to do if I want to do a simple to timelapse of clouds on a sunny day at a 10 second interval? Do I actually have to change the shutter speed as well for smoother motion or will that cause the image to overexpose? What would the optimum shutter speed be for different circumstances? And I'm assuming I'd have to have my ND filters on. I'd really appreciate any advice!Thanks,Ryan
 
if you are shooting fast motion like clouds a 1-5 second interval would be ideal along with a fast shutter.
 
Thanks, I actually posted this question while I was already shooting the timelapse, but that's ok. The 10 second interval definitely looked too fast for clouds, it wasn't very appealing. And the shutter was at default settings, I didn't even think to mess with it before I had already hit record, before I posted this question. I'll try 1 second next time, because the AF100 jumps from 1 to 10 sec. What about for night shots, any recommendations?
 
ryangschultz said:
Thanks, I actually posted this question while I was already shooting the timelapse, but that's ok. The 10 second interval definitely looked too fast for clouds, it wasn't very appealing. And the shutter was at default settings, I didn't even think to mess with it before I had already hit record, before I posted this question. I'll try 1 second next time, because the AF100 jumps from 1 to 10 sec. What about for night shots, any recommendations?
Click to expand...

The longer the shutter speed the smoother the motion. Think of taking a single photo of a stream. A fast shutter will freeze the water, a slow shutter will cause the water to blur as it passes.

With clouds, the fast shutter will cause the clouds to sort of jerk past and it won't look smooth. With a slow shutter, and a short interval, they'll flow past. So.... As slow a shutter speed as possible is what I always strive for. On a bright day, that'll mean using the lowest ISO, stopping as far down as you can, and and adding some ND filters.

The interval length is also important for smoothness - shorter is better - but it isn't as crucial as a slow shutter speed, unless your clouds are moving quickly.

But -- and this could be important -- if you're shooting something else that remains static in the scene (a building, trees...) then don't stop down too far, or the diffraction will soften the whole image, even the parts you want to keep sharp. If you're just shooting the clouds, then the diffraction probably won't be as big a problem, since it sounds like you're going for a smoother, softer look.

Here's a very short night timelapse shot (5 seconds) that was shot with a shutter speed of 13s with an interval of 15 seconds between each frame.


And here is a day shot at 1/200s with an interval of 8 seconds. I had the camera (a D200) set to ISO 100 at f/5 with an ND.9 on the front.


The clouds are smooth, but you can see a little jitter. I could have stopped down further and slowed the shutter, except I was shooting a bracket of 5 exposures and needed them to fire as close to one another as possible so I could composite them. The 8 second interval was a limitation of the write speed of the camera/card I was using. Too short an interval and the camera buffer would have filled over time and once full, the shutter would stop firing until buffer was freed up.

Okay, way more info than you asked for.....
 
Way more info is better than not enough, thanks so much for taking the time to respond. This is a big help, exactly what I was looking for. I'm going to be shooting a lot more timelapses, some for fun and some to implement into my work. I'd like to get it right the first time because it's not like timelapses are quick jobs...haha
 
Truthfully, I've had far better luck shooting timelapse with my 7D than with the '100 - it just doesn't have the versatility that a stills cam has for the job and it's easy to import still images to a timeline for editing.

Regards,
Scott
 
love timelapse. never had the chance to shoot a night sky with full of stars :(
definitely shooting timelapse on stills has a lot more verstaility. its tough on the af100 unless your just shooting for a short period of time.
 
Yeah I think I figured that out pretty quickly, I can definitely see that DSLRs have more capability. I only have a G2 other than my AF100, I don't know what kind of capabilities that has for timelapses. I'd like to shoot one of the stars too, those are probably my favorite.
 
Google "G2 timer remote" and a mess of inexpensive yet perfectly serviceable Asian-sourced alternatives will pop up. Mine for my GH2 is a JJC TM-252 or something. Works simple, as advertised.

Also less gear to have stolen if you need to wander off to water a shrub or something.
 
mcbob said:
Google "G2 timer remote" and a mess of inexpensive yet perfectly serviceable Asian-sourced alternatives will pop up. Mine for my GH2 is a JJC TM-252 or something. Works simple, as advertised.

Also less gear to have stolen if you need to wander off to water a shrub or something.
Click to expand...

Thanks mcbob, I'll look into getting one of these for sure.
 
I've wanted to shoot a time lapse with my AF100 but have never been able to figure out the interval record feature. Can anyone explain the process? I tried, but got frustrated and stopped. Does anyone on here have footage of a timelapse shot on an AF100?
 
You just have to go into the menu under recording setup, interval record, then select the interval (1 second, 10 second, etc), then when you hit record it will start recording the interval.
 
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