If you’re looking to visually capture and record the progression over time of your construction project, a time lapse camera is a necessity. However, many different types of time lapse camera solutions are out there.
In general, there are three main kinds of approaches you could take to your time lapse equipment. Let’s assess each one.
Do It Yourself
If you’re an intrepid techno whizz, you might try to build your own time lapse system out of a camera, a battery pack and a timer of sorts. With a bit of luck, it won’t look like a bomb from a 1990s action movie and will actually function properly as a time lapse photography device.
Home-made solutions such as this tend to be heavy on power, which can add up real quick when you’re capturing a project that carries on for months or years. Often solar power isn’t enough for systems like this and they also can be quite bulky, thereby restricting the locations in which you can place the camera.
Moreover, such DIY solutions tend to be riddled with technical issues requiring constant troubleshooting. Such solutions are seldomly well tested enough to be deemed reliable enough to stake the whole project on.
All In One
These small time lapse cameras are an affordable option for long-term time lapse projects. They are dedicated, single-purpose cameras designed to be portable and resilient. They normally come with only the most basic and fundamental features built-in ‒ such as a weather-resistant casing and mount.
The trouble with these convenient little cameras is that they tend to be limited in their ability. They seldom have online connectivity, which means that you can’t review your images without physically downloading them off the device in person. They also seldomly allow for much variation in terms of resolution. Probably most concerning is that these systems often run on batteries, which need constant replacement.
These factors severely limit placement options since constant access to the camera would need to be facilitated. Moreover, the low upfront cost of the camera could be undercut by expensive and continuous battery replacements. Worst of all, you wouldn’t know if something went wrong with the footage until you reviewed it after the fact.
Professional
Professional time lapse camera systems, such as the Motionlapse camera systems
‒ one of the camera systems Construction Time Lapse Specialists use ‒ are designed by professionals for professional results.
These systems can connect to solar power or AC power ‒ or whatever power source you prefer ‒ and can be mounted just about anywhere you desire. They have Internet connectivity so that they can be controlled remotely, and so that images can be uploaded to the cloud and reviewed in real-time.
Systems such as this come with a highly advanced built-in system controller, which monitors everything from power management, recharging, setting trigger intervals, connectivity, image uploads and more.
Since it is designed especially for professional long term time lapse, one can have confidence in its ability to do the job reliably without constantly needing to troubleshoot.
At Construction Time Lapse Specialists, we only use professionally designed construction project time lapse cameras to capture our time lapses. Contact us now to find out how we can help you immortalise your next project on film!
