What make of video camera do I need to do timelapse?

Question

I want to film everyday items like moving clouds, opening flowers, people etc to give the effect of moving fast.

Answer 1

Any video camera can film what you're talking about. Your users manual should have a section on settings to capture only a few still frames per minute or hour. Depending what you're planning to film, the biggest problem is battery life or a power source to keep the camera running for as long as you'll need it to film.

Answer 2

most lower end prosumer cameras and up will have a function like that. but if the camera you have right now cant do it, its simple enough (although might take some time, but will save you the money of getting a new camcorder).

one way is you could set your camera on a tripod and bring lots of tapes and batteries and just let it roll continuously. it will be easier to edit, but the speed might cause frames to "cut together" so it wont be totally smooth (kind of like when you fast foward in a dvd).

another way you could do it that would save tape but would be more tedious is to get a stopwatch or timer and every 30s, minute, 5 or 10 minutes (depending on what your filming), let the camera roll for a couple of seconds and put together during editing (except dont speed it up cos itll be like that already).

one thing to remember is if you plan to do it like this, make sure the camera does NOT move (and if it does, dont worry about it if it moved like 2 centimeters, but if it moves a more than that, restart). if you have a bottom loading camera or for that matter any kind of camera, try seeing if you can find a friend that has a time lapse camera before trying this. hope this helps!

Answer 3

If you have a video editing package on your PC then you just have to record at normal speed and you can usually speed it up using that...