What type of cameras are best for low-maintenance time-lapse videos?

Question

There are a ton of videos on YouTube where people have high-speed time-lapse videos of themselves driving from like NYC to LA. I am not sure what they are using? Because the camera stays on overnight/when the vehicle is off? Also the quality of the images is really good. Do you know how to achieve this? What puzzles me is where do you find a memory card which can store 40-50 hours worth of video without any interru

Asked by antonpug

Answer

My suggestion is a little bit involved, but in my experience in this field of photography is the way to go.

You need:

1. A net book with a good battery life (get an SSD hard disk so the battery life is further improved) (mine lasts for 7 hours) you could get even more if you setup the power options and disable the screen
2. A HD web cam
3. A copy of http://www.nimisis.com/projects/flix.php
4. A DC to AC car charger (charge in the day when the car is running)
5. Plan the trip - if you want to get through the night and into the morning and sun rise - you need to drive into the night and then wake up before the power on the net book goes and drive through the sun rise
6. Some sort camouflage to hide the cam and net book when the car is unattended (don't over heat the net book)

I know that’s a lot of kit for a time lapse but its all reusable and solves several of your problems

• Space - not an issue with a hard drive really
• Battery life - a laptop battery life far out guns a camera

This is one of the best guides on the net for time lapses.

If your interested What settings should I use for a timelapse of my wedding? is a time lapse I did of my wedding which was well over 15 hours of coverage

Good luck!

Answered by Rob

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