A cool time lapse
Here’s a fun little time lapse we did. We took this on a special rig, a hacked Canon “A’ series camera with a special interval program running. Duration between shots for this time lapse was about once every thirty seconds. The interval script allows you to shoot as often as once every quarter second, to as infrequent as once per hour or perhaps even longer.
I’m building a special battery box for the camera so it can shoot longer sessions, the two stock AA’s just don’t last long enough. Nearly every Canon camera made, except for DSLRs, can use this program. Check the Canon Hack website listed below to confirm if your camera qualifies.
Because things like time lapse really work a camera hard, I suggest old beaters be used. Older models, no longer wanted because they are “outdated”. can be purchased for a song and can be transformed into powerful “Frankencameras”. And when they die, and they will, just buy another. Our current Canon is an A530 and in spite of rough treatment seems to be holding up surprisingly well. Ours has been dropped, drenched, cooked and it keeps coming back for more.
In additional to shooting interval, you can get scripts that allow you to shoot in RAW, do motion capture and a whole range of other abilities not typically associated with consumer level cameras. The software is loaded from your HD card and does not permanently alter the camera.
To see how we made out el-cheapo time lapse rig, refer to this link…
Time lapse on a budget.
Reference: For more information on The Canon Hack Development Kit, click here.
If you wish more information, by all means contact us!
Date: June 2012.
Location: Calgary, AB.
Very nice! And done on the cheap, who would have thought?
It was a fun project, both in setting up the hacked camera and taking the shots.