Newbie looking for timelapse advice...

[Eighty9ten]

Hi everyone! So glad I found this club.

I have recently decided to pick up photography again and has been amazed by timelapse video.
Will love to learn from all the seniors here... Please be patient with my newbie questions and thanks in advance for your advices.

Question number one - What's a good lense (all rounder) to get for Canon? Looking into landscapes and probably some close ups like flower blooming, ... As this is a new start up, i believe I have a long list to buy hence will like to look into budgeted purchases for now.

Question no. 2 - Timer remote for Canon 70D. Any advice on which brand & model to get. Due to my budget constraint, I did not get a full frame camera for a start. When looking for a timer remote, I realised the canon's timers does not have the same port as the full frames. Hence, I choose not to buy a canon's (more expensive) until I upgrade my camera body. Will like to get a 3rd party but don't know which brand and model to get.

That's it for now... Thanks

89ten

 

[SkyStrike]

1) Start with the kit lens.
I hope you bought a kit set which comes with either 18-55 or 18-135 or 15-85... If you spend enough time shooting with your kit lens, you will eventually know what you need to buy (if you really need to buy). As for close ups, for a cheapo alternative, you can consider clip-on macro adapter like Raynox 250 or extension tubes (need to check if your lens can use those). Currently for most of my flower close ups, I use my 50mm on FF and crop + Raynox 250. I've yet to try it with timelapse, since it's going to require me to set the camera there for days-weeks..

2) I use the Phottix Nikos Wired Timer Remote, this model allows you to change the wire to fit the port required. I'm using it on my crop body and ff. Alternatively, you can also get a wireless version too.

btw, Welcome to CS

 

[catchlights]

Hi everyone! So glad I found this club.

I have recently decided to pick up photography again and has been amazed by timelapse video.
Will love to learn from all the seniors here... Please be patient with my newbie questions and thanks in advance for your advices.

Question number one - What's a good lense (all rounder) to get for Canon?

Hi everyone! So glad I found this club.

I have recently decided to pick up photography again and has been amazed by timelapse video.
Will love to learn from all the seniors here... Please be patient with my newbie questions and thanks in advance for your advices.

Question number one - What's a good lense (all rounder) to get for Canon?

kit lens is fine

Looking into landscapes and probably some close ups like flower blooming, ... As this is a new start up, i believe I have a long list to buy hence will like to look into budgeted purchases for now.

shooting flowers blooming is not really need so close up, you need more space instead, but you can forget about doing flower blooming timelapse in the wild, as this is done indoor, you need a big space to have total control of lighting, like a darkroom, and the whole sequence took more than a day to shoot, so you can't depend on the camera battery, you will need to connect your camera to external power source. in short, it is hard to shoot flower blooming timelapse, very hard. I spent a few months just to produce a few usable sequences.

http://www.istockphoto.com/video/pink-hibiscus-blooming-22228230?st=3a7605b

http://www.istockphoto.com/video/white-hibiscus-blooming-22305505?st=3a7605b

Question no. 2 - Timer remote for Canon 70D. Any advice on which brand & model to get. Due to my budget constraint, I did not get a full frame camera for a start. When looking for a timer remote, I realised the canon's timers does not have the same port as the full frames. Hence, I choose not to buy a canon's (more expensive) until I upgrade my camera body. Will like to get a 3rd party but don't know which brand and model to get.

That's it for now... Thanks

89ten

any third party intervalometer are fine, they all work similarly.

 

[Eighty9ten]

Thanks for sharing SkyStrike. Seems like Kit lense will work. Catchlights just second it. But can someone just throw me an option or suggestion in case I itch backside? haha...

@ Catchlights - Wow! Thanks for share your videos. Thats something I wanna try! Question: Is there a reason why a dark room is better for this kind of video? If so, what is your source for lights? I can't be flash right? Whats your interval like for this? Care to share? Thanks

 

[catchlights]

if you really want, can look for those manual focus prime lenses.

the process of flower blooming will take very long, it is not one or two or even three hours, it takes at least a day. You can't depends on available light or sunlight, as lights will change from time to time, so you need a place have total control of lighting to ensure light level is consistent thru out the whole sequence. the interval has to depend on how long the flower takes to bloom, some flowers take a day or two some will take a few days, so you need to do some study and observation first before you try.

but be warned, you will have to try many times and shot a few thousands frames before you can see some decent results.

 

[SkyStrike]

Thanks for sharing SkyStrike. Seems like Kit lense will work. Catchlights just second it. But can someone just throw me an option or suggestion in case I itch backside? haha...

@ Catchlights - Wow! Thanks for share your videos. Thats something I wanna try! Question: Is there a reason why a dark room is better for this kind of video? If so, what is your source for lights? I can't be flash right? Whats your interval like for this? Care to share? Thanks

Well, in many cases, we would really want to avoid getting our backside itchy... cos it's very hard to scratch that itch without making a hole larger than ur pockets. Personally, I love my 50mm f1.8 for alot of things now.

The 'usual' poison progression is 18-55 > 55-250 > 50mm > [depends, could be Ultra wide angle or a super tele. Some convert to primes only from here].

 

[Eighty9ten]

if you really want, can look for those manual focus prime lenses.

the process of flower blooming will take very long, it is not one or two or even three hours, it takes at least a day. You can't depends on available light or sunlight, as lights will change from time to time, so you need a place have total control of lighting to ensure light level is consistent thru out the whole sequence. the interval has to depend on how long the flower takes to bloom, some flowers take a day or two some will take a few days, so you need to do some study and observation first before you try.

but be warned, you will have to try many times and shot a few thousands frames before you can see some decent results.

Sounds challenging! Maybe I should just start with beans to beans sprout 1st... Haha. As for the controlled enviornment, I presume those studio tent might work right? Then again, I think I should start with landscape 1st. Takes less time...

 

[Eighty9ten]

The 'usual' poison progression is 18-55 > 55-250 > 50mm > [depends, could be Ultra wide angle or a super tele. Some convert to primes only from here].

That sounds like a plan! Playing the number game... Thanks

 

[SkyStrike]

That sounds like a plan! Playing the number game... Thanks

well, you don't need to cover all the numbers... just get what you need.

 

[catchlights]

Sounds challenging! Maybe I should just start with beans to beans sprout 1st... Haha. As for the controlled enviornment, I presume those studio tent might work right? Then again, I think I should start with landscape 1st. Takes less time...

I'm not talking about light tent, you need a room, or at least a big enclosure to house the whole set up including the camera and tripod inside, which means there are no other available light enter the room or enclosure during the whole timelapse sequence.

take a look of this Mung Bean Germination video I found in Youtube,
the clip length is 2:40 minutes, took about 3840 frame in 3.5 days (if the creator shot at 24FPS), so the interval is about 1.3 minutes.
do you notice not all the beans germinated? the unwanted camera movement? the inconsistency of lighting? the flickering of exposure?

[video=youtube;pB4ASdELBbQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB4ASdELBbQ[/video]

if you want to produce some decent results,
you will need to do a lot of research about plant germination,
there are far more issues you will need to solve before you start shooting,

what lens and what lighting to use is your least concern at this moment.

 

[catchlights]

one easy way is shoot inside your store room, put a time chart outside the door, so you know when can open and when not to open the door.

 

[SilverPine]

I'm not talking about light tent, you need a room, or at least a big enclosure to house the whole set up including the camera and tripod inside, which means there are no other available light enter the room or enclosure during the whole timelapse sequence.

take a look of this Mung Bean Germination video I found in Youtube,
the clip length is 2:40 minutes, took about 3840 frame in 3.5 days (if the creator shot at 24FPS), so the interval is about 1.3 minutes.
do you notice not all the beans germinated? the unwanted camera movement? the inconsistency of lighting? the flickering of exposure?

[video=youtube;pB4ASdELBbQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB4ASdELBbQ[/video]

if you want to produce some decent results,
you will need to do a lot of research about plant germination,
there are far more issues you will need to solve before you start shooting,

what lens and what lighting to use is your least concern at this moment.

From this information " took about 3840 frame in 3.5 days (if the creator shot at 24FPS)", you will need to set aside one camera, lens, tripod and lighting setup (if required) for 3.5 days, with 3840 frames or shutter counter I can see resell value of DSLR will drop very fast. Maybe consider a older model of DSLR which lower in value will be a good decision.

 

[catchlights]

if you want to shoot timelapse photography, be prepare to write off some camera and lenses.

 

[Eighty9ten]

if you want to shoot timelapse photography, be prepare to write off some camera and lenses.

I know! That's why I got 70D to play with.
I think I should just look into used lense too... Man! What did I get myself into...

For your flower's timelapse, did you use flash since it's like a studio setup?

 

[catchlights]

I know! That's why I got 70D to play with.
I think I should just look into used lense too... Man! What did I get myself into...

For your flower's timelapse, did you use flash since it's like a studio setup?

just normal household fluorescent light.