My First Time Lapse...kind of?

[Ryan McHugh]

Hey everyone, so I did my first time lapse kind of went into it with little to no info...everytime I asked someone it seemed to be the worlds 2nd largest secret. lol... Anywho... I set my remote at a 7second delay and shutter was at 30, and f-stop at 2.8 and I used my 24-70mm I used a street corner from a hotel room window... Need corner in Philly...

Anyways, I wanted to know why when I cram the 3hrs worth of pictures it looks jittery I changed them to :01 second time...

Any help? Thanks,

Ryan McHugh

PS Im using CS5

[Louis Maddalena]

did you have your camera set to autofocus?

[Ryan McHugh]

Yes, I mean the AF was on, on the lense.

[Louis Maddalena]

The camera kept focusing on a new object every time the remote released the shutter. Do a time lapse again with autofocus off and it should be smooth :)

[Ryan McHugh]

Really? Someone told me my shutter speed was too high?

[Louis Maddalena]

I don't see how that could be the case, but try that too. Don't change both at the same time though because then you wouldn't be able to learn which one was your problem..

Try a time lapse of with the auto focus off, then half way through turn autofocus back on and change your shutter.

[Ryan McHugh]

Will do thanks

[Rick Hill]

With my experience doing time lapse films I have learned a few things. Principally you can't have any automatic settings.

Auto-exposure will show in annoying detail that there are noticeable exposure differences even with 1/3 stop exposure resolution. The time lapse will appear to flicker as the camera switches between adjacent 1/3 exposure stops.

You have already seen the effects of auto-focus which will show most lenses tend to slightly zoom as focus is adjusted. This creates a jittery time lapse.

Of course a tripod is absolutely necessary as well.

My $.02

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Rick Hill

With my experience doing time lapse films I have learned a few things. Principally you can't have any automatic settings.

Auto-exposure will show in annoying detail that there are noticeable exposure differences even with 1/3 stop exposure resolution. The time lapse will appear to flicker as the camera switches between adjacent 1/3 exposure stops.

Surely to handle varying light levels e.g. sunrise/sunset you will need to vary the exposure. As a time lapse sequence is a series of still photographs the obvious answer is to keep constant aperture & ISO but vary the shutter speed by using aperture priority automatic exposure.

[Jeff Murray]

Hi Ryan

It doesn't have to be a secret.

Go to timelapse.org | an open site for sharing all things timelapse - there is a forum there and in it you will find subtopics on all kinds of timelapse challenges from star photography, to slow and fast moving clouds, people, streetscapes, sunsets, etc. Sorry editing here the one I was trying to think of is http://www.timescapes.org/ - the other site looks very new and is just getting started.

All the settings are there - from intervals, ISO, Aperture and shutterspeed. Even HDR timelapse.

The main tip I have is interval is critical to smooth movelement. You need fast card to shoot smooth fast clouds on RAW. My Kingston Elite card while fast enough for video takes 2 seconds to write a RAW file. So for most things that is ok until I want to get smooth movement in fast moving clouds or people which need a 1 second interval (not the 3 I can shoot with the Kingston Elite card). I am planning to get a fast 'Ultra' type card so that I can smooth out fast moving object with 1 second intervals.

The tip you got on shutter speed was perhaps from someone thinking about video and I think they are half correct. To get smooth video from a DSLR you need a shutter speed that is appropriate to your frame rate. However if you think of timelapse the equivalent of shutter speed to video is the interval between your frames. Movement will be jittery if you leave too long between takes (ie: interval). 7 seconds is way long for the people and cars your shooting out of your hotel window. It's even too long for clouds on a windy day. But would be fine for stars or slow clouds. A car will travel accross an intersection in 7 seconds so your missing a lot of the action - you will need a 1 second interval for cars and people in a streetscape (Unless its night and you want to blur the car lights).

Hope this helps.

Alll the best.

Regards

Jeff

[Jason McDonald]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

Surely to handle varying light levels e.g. sunrise/sunset you will need to vary the exposure. As a time lapse sequence is a series of still photographs the obvious answer is to keep constant aperture & ISO but vary the shutter speed by using aperture priority automatic exposure.

I second this. Allow your camera to adjust exposure with it's shutter speed only. That will keep things nice and clean. Once you've set your focus, turn the lens to manual so it won't start looking.

[Liam Hall]

Originally Posted by Jeff Murray

The main tip I have is interval is critical to smooth movelement. You need fast card to shoot smooth fast clouds on RAW. My Kingston Elite card while fast enough for video takes 2 seconds to write a RAW file. So for most things that is ok until I want to get smooth movement in fast moving clouds or people which need a 1 second interval (not the 3 I can shoot with the Kingston Elite card). I am planning to get a fast 'Ultra' type card so that I can smooth out fast moving object with 1 second intervals.

I have to disagree. Unless you are doing speed ramps or blending frames there really is no need to shoot at one second intervals for smooth cloud motion in a timelapse.

I vary the interval vary depending on field of view, the amount of movement within the composition and the amount of screen time I need. On a wide shot one frame every 15-20 seconds is usually enough, even one frame a minute can work perfectly well.

[Liam Hall]

Originally Posted by Jason McDonald

I second this. Allow your camera to adjust exposure with it's shutter speed only. That will keep things nice and clean. Once you've set your focus, turn the lens to manual so it won't start looking.

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

Surely to handle varying light levels e.g. sunrise/sunset you will need to vary the exposure. As a time lapse sequence is a series of still photographs the obvious answer is to keep constant aperture & ISO but vary the shutter speed by using aperture priority automatic exposure.

That will create flicker.

There are ways to limit flicker when shooting in AV mode and there are ways to get rid of some flicker, but I'd still advise the OP to start off using manual mode for everything.