If you have never purchased a time-lapse camera, doing so for the first time would be a serious challenge. Time-lapse photography is best done with a scene that change often as time passes – scenery like the tides coming into a Beach front or the rising and setting of the sun.
A time lapse camera doesn’t require as many features like a sports camera. What is important is that you adjust the time lapse settings to your specifications and then ensure there is great lighting.
One of the upsides of time lapse photography is that you do not necessarily have to be there before your images are taken. You can set your time lapse camera to work on its own, producing HD pictures. Even if all you can lay hands on are RAW files, you can still work with them.
So what are the most important features of a time lapse camera?
As mentioned earlier, what a good time lapse camera needs differ from what a sports camera requires.
For a sports photography camera, a speedy fps rate, as well as fast autofocus, would be paramount.
However, if you are going to work with a time lapse camera, you don’t need any of these. What you need is a camera with a high-resolution sensor that can work perfectly in areas of poor lighting and can function well with RAW images.
The high-resolution sensor helps your image quality to be in HD. Low-quality images don’t appeal to customers. Also, a camera that can work perfectly even with poor lighting is recommendable in case it needs to get night time images.
Shooting time lapse videos in RAW files has its advantages. You have the original image data and can edit the picture to your taste, unlike the JPG files that are automatically edited by the camera.
Some time lapse photographers love astrophotography or getting images of the night sky. Some other photographers love getting time lapse images of daylight or during day times.
Whatever the case, it is important to have your time lapse images or videos captured with a high sensor camera for HD images.
Additionally, you need to have a large SD card attached to your camera because the number of images you will be taking will be about 200 or more.
What’s your aim of making time lapse videos?
Although some people engage in time lapse photography for the fun of it, most use it to promote their businesses. There are significant benefits of time lapse in marketing since most sales techniques involve selling an appealing story to your potential market.
Take a particular project of a construction site, for instance, you do not have to be there to record the progress. Your camera can work on its own and get you all the information you need about the job.
Even if the project would last forever a year, you are sure not to spend a dime on supervision costs.
Time lapse videos are also cost-effective, requiring the minimum manpower. In the case of passing a particular cause or idea to a group, time lapse videos are bankable. Once your audience sees a good video, you will not have much to say.
Most businesses use DSLR cameras for their time lapses and it is recommended. However, you can invest in time-lapse accessories if you are on a tight budget.
Besides having a suitable camera for your business’s time lapse footage, getting the right settings is important.
Imagine a project that lasted six months and you had to wait that long to get your images together only to notice that some of the captured images are of no use. One good start is to disable the auto settings. And while selecting the modes, ensure they will be useful for the long term project.
Recommendations
After reading this post, photographers might still need to have a good time lapse camera handpicked for them.
We have made a few recommendations to help you.
If you intend to make time lapse photography or videos of a long-term project, you should consider the Brinno camera. However, its ‘not-very-strong’ sensor makes it an unwise choice if you need to make time-lapse photography of the night sky.
The Sony A7 camera has been proven to be a strong option both for time-lapse photography and other uses. However, it might not be a good choice if you have a tight budget.
If you don’t want to use your main cameras for capturing time-lapse videos and need a backup camera, the Canon 200D is a great choice. It can work well on its own. Furthermore, in case you already have a Canon DSLR, that means you will save the money you might want to spend to buy a backup camera because of its interchangeable lens.
However, if you can afford it, we strictly recommend a DSLR camera for business time lapse photography.
