Reading mode: Light Dark

High Sierra Time Lapse examples with the D200

Go to last post
I don't know your exact setup, but I assume you travel by car. If so, why not bring some extra gasoline for the car and a 12 V DC to AC inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter? That way you can charge the batteries with the normal Nikon chargers, or with the cheaper ones from ebay, by simply running the engine of the car.

I always charge my batteries this way (while driving though) when I'm on a holiday with the tent.
TimeLapseShooter said:
I leave tonight for Yosemite with a 15mm Sigma Fisheye, 6 charged
batteries and two 4GB compact flash chips.

I've also been talking to digitalcamerabattery.com, they have an 80
Watt battery with the power of seven EN-EL3e. They also have a 160
watt 5 lb battery. That would be a pretty sweet setup. Another $1K,
but worth it if it could give me 3-4 nights of power... who knows.

I'll post the results from this weekends trip.
--
http://www.TellitontheMountain.com
Click to expand...
--
Philip

 
The last few frames in the first clip (my favourite, as the tree line reminds me of a bush camp I know), show a very bright star (or planet?) just about to clear the trees on the left. Too bad the batteries didn't quite make it.

This freakin' forum is killing me. In my film days I shot primarily macro and landscapes. Since going digital (and finding this and other forums) I've become interested in birds, infra red, panoramas, astro and now time lapse photography.
Where the hell am I going to find the time?

Anyway, very interesting images and thanks for opening my eyes to one more possibility.

--

Rob
 
southmine said:
forums) I've become interested in birds, infra red, panoramas, astro
and now time lapse photography.
Where the hell am I going to find the time?
Click to expand...
I JUST came up with the answer shooting this morning. I got up with sunrise...and while I was shooting wildlife with my D2h, my D200 was shooting a time lapse of the sunrise.

And that is when it occurred to me...I need ANOTHER camera to really get this down. I just bought my wife a D40 (also to have a third camera for weddings) and just really love it myself. And, this morning, I decided I am going to get me a D40. That way, I can have my D200 doing something, like time lapse, and then, I will have my long lens on the D2h...and a short one on the D40!!

When I just read your post, I had to share this answer with you.

Now, when you get home...and we have to find the time to process the images...we are going to need something akin to the opposite of time lapse!!

--
Drew

http://www.pbase.com/lokerd (Equip list in Profile)
http://drewloker.com/about.htm (about me)
http://weddings.drewloker.com (my wedding galleries at SmugMug)
 
Thanks for sharing your workflow. I have been intrigued with Time Lapse for quite some time. I first shot a hibiscus opening when I first got a D100...VERY cool. But I have NEVER put a movie together. Since seeing your stuff, my eyes are opened to all kinds of time lapse stuff I can do.

I had a few questions when you get back from the AWESOME Yosemite...a place I have yet to return with a digital camera. I shot about 20+ rolls of film about 15+ years ago there.

1. Do you have any tips as far as what works for the interval for various subjects?

2. does anybody else know of Mac and/or PC programs that are easy to use? At school, where I teach photography, we have Adobe Premier. Would that be a better choice? I am using an old Mac G4 laptop right now...but that is just where I can work on the computer in front of the boob-tube.

3. What is the best way to put your movies on the internet? I have lots of sites, like Smugmug, and my own website. Just not sure about where to put them.

Thanks for sharing!!

--
Drew

http://www.pbase.com/lokerd (Equip list in Profile)
http://drewloker.com/about.htm (about me)
http://weddings.drewloker.com (my wedding galleries at SmugMug)
 
I only got one night in Yosemite... Took my 11 year old niece with me and the dark night in the woods was a bit too much for her to handle.

Anyway, here they are... Both shot with a Sigma 15mm Fisheye.

http://www.tellitonthemountain.com/timelapse/meadowstarsfisheye.mov

http://www.tellitonthemountain.com/timelapse/whitetostars.mov

Thanks to everyone for their very kind comments.

This weekend has solidified my need for a longer battery solution. I am shooting in the backcountry miles and sometimes days away from a electrical outlet.

I'm thinking about a 80-160 watt battery from Digitalcamerabattery. Very expensive solution and adds another 5 lbs to my pack! Anyone have any better ideas?
--
http://www.TellitontheMountain.com
 
TimeLapseShooter said:
I only got one night in Yosemite... Took my 11 year old niece with me
and the dark night in the woods was a bit too much for her to handle.

Anyway, here they are... Both shot with a Sigma 15mm Fisheye.

http://www.tellitonthemountain.com/timelapse/meadowstarsfisheye.mov

http://www.tellitonthemountain.com/timelapse/whitetostars.mov
Click to expand...
Pretty cool!
TimeLapseShooter said:
Thanks to everyone for their very kind comments.

This weekend has solidified my need for a longer battery solution. I
am shooting in the backcountry miles and sometimes days away from a
electrical outlet.

I'm thinking about a 80-160 watt battery from Digitalcamerabattery.
Very expensive solution and adds another 5 lbs to my pack! Anyone
have any better ideas?
Click to expand...
Maybe not usable in your situation, but I posted this earlier:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=24396329
TimeLapseShooter said:
--
http://www.TellitontheMountain.com
Click to expand...
--
Philip

 
Philip- Sorry, looks like I didn't communicate my situation fully. These locations that I shoot in require a hike in most of the time. The two from THIS weekend were only a few miles away from a road... But the other previous clips were all 20 or so miles away from any road by foot and on rather rugged terrain.

The other issue is HOW LONG the two Internal Nikon batteries last. I haven't timed the setup, but stars specifically take LONG exposures. Which eat the battery up pretty quick as I'm sure you know.

I'll work on answering other questions more thoroughly in the coming days.
--
http://www.TellitontheMountain.com
 
Hi there,

Awesome clips! I tried my hand at time lapse photography whilst in Hong Kong - and made this clip: http://gallery.mac.com/superslau#100006

I used manual exposure and adjusted the aperture and shutter speeds during the 4 hour shoot - and you can see it's a bit flickery (and also ran out of memory and then realised the spare card wasn't empty - doh!), so I'm trying to figure out a better way of managing the exposure. I didn't really want to use automatic exposure since lights on passing boats may trick the camera. Maybe spot metering off the sky might work?

By the way, I exported the photos from iPhoto (resizing them to a width of 1920px)used Quicktime Pro to create the image sequence and then edited in iMovie '08.

Also, I'm wondering whether this sort of shot is best done on a video camera... After a few timelapses I'm sure the shutter is going to blow up

Cheers,
Simon
 
Nice piece! That's an incredible subject and good execution.

I shot a lot of Time Lapse with a digital video camera for the documentary. Specifically a Sony Z1u, which is a HDV, 1080i camera that records onto minidv.

For daytime shots that only last an hour, I'd absolutely say video cameras are better.

But, for night time shots and events/scenes that last more than an hour, you need to change tapes and obviously miss at least a minute or two of action.

I'll see what I can do to post some time lapse shot with video.
--
http://www.TellitontheMountain.com
 
I haven't seen it confirmed but I would imagine so. Ever since Nikon put an intervalometer on the D2H I believe it's a standard feature in their cameras, at least the higher end ones like D2x, D200, D2Hs.

I'm personally looking at the D3, dual memory card slots will guarantee that I don't have memory issues during a time lapse shoot, and the 300000 actuation life of the shutter means even more time lapse video :)
 
D3 seems pretty amazing... Sadly a bit out of my price range considering I'm a video guy first. $5K is out of my range. But a D300 upgrade if the battery life really is as much improved as described may be worth it.

I truly love the D200 - just battery life and the crappy plastic battery grip is my issue...

The 2 extra MPs and live view are less than important to me.
--
http://www.TellitontheMountain.com
 
TLS,

First, your TL movies are great! Thanks for sharing them.

Second, I have to agree with you on the D200. I love my 200, but am not thrilled with the cheesy constuction of the grip, and the fact it flexes. Likewise I am "underwhelmed" with the D200's battery life, although if you shoot rapid fire the battery life can be excellent. I once got nearly 1100 images on one of 2 installed batteries when shooting an airshow. I about thought I had lost my mind when I saw the count - 1072 - and these were RAW files with a lot of chimping.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'll jump to a D300, but I'm starting to think a D3 might be a nice addition to the collection. Either way, I'm waiting for a while to see what "issues" come up with both cameras. Unfortunately, my D200 does have banding, but it has never really been an issue in the real world.

Keep shooting and sharing!

Jay
 
Okay so I'm sold....

Would it be possible for you to layout the type of set-up one would use for this type of shooting.

I will be shooting a project that this type of collection would work very well with. But I don't know the first thing about this type of shooting.

Thanks for your help

Doug
--
'My camera is for creating memories.... Not taking pictures'
All My Best
Doug Barber

http://www.dougbarberphotography.com

Climate Change site:
http://two-ways-of-knowing.ca
 
I shot with a D200 using the interval timed shooting mode.

I used Final Cut Pro to edit the stills together.
Be sure to import stills as a single frame (setup is in preferences).
I slap them onto the timeline in the proper order.
I then export a high quality clip (I use DVCPROHD 1080i).
I then sometimes reimport that clip, add slow motion and a fade in and out.
Then presto-change-o you have time lapse.
In this case I've also created streaming media file clips for viewing.

--
http://www.TellitontheMountain.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top