Best camera to record time lapses

[thewanderbusco]

Hey all! We just started demo and I’ve been hesitant to pull the trigger on a specific camera purchase. I want something fairly easy to use that I can mount, but also take down easily when I want to show real time with audio. Hoping to go with refurbished under $300, but have some wiggle room there. I’ve looked at GoPro, Brinno, and DJI. Any recommendations appreciated!

[TMartineau]

No recommendations, but I did just buy the gopro 9. Literally unboxing it right now. I got it for the bus build. Hoping to do a build series. New to cameras and video editing... let the fun begin! lololol

[TheHubbardBus]

We've got a gopro. I don't like it at all. It's tiny for a reason, but if you're not using it for that reason, the small size makes everything more difficult. Worthless screen you can't see, and pairing with my phone was 'funky'. Disappointing battery life. I have no idea what alternatives there may be, but if it were me and I wasn't also using it for a helmet cam or something where the size is an advantage, I'd definitely do my research.

[TMartineau]

Yeah I thought of getting a regular point and shoot digital camera. But then I was worried about it holding up in the heat and sun without overheating... probably unfounded fear. Ive got little lady fingers so maybe a bit easier for me to use with the small screen.. lol But I hear you on the other stuff I also got the gopro for all the different ways you can mount it. Tri pod, hand stick thing rigid curly grabber thing... you can stick it to a window or the hood of the bus. I think there's even a magnetic mount. You can tell I know exactly what I'm talking about with all my technical jargon... ha

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by TMartineau

You can tell I know exactly what I'm talking about with all my technical jargon... ha

I knew exactly what part each of your descriptions referenced, and I like your names much better than whatever they're actually called.

[HamSkoolie]

Originally Posted by thewanderbusco

Hey all! We just started demo and I’ve been hesitant to pull the trigger on a specific camera purchase. I want something fairly easy to use that I can mount, but also take down easily when I want to show real time with audio. Hoping to go with refurbished under $300, but have some wiggle room there. I’ve looked at GoPro, Brinno, and DJI. Any recommendations appreciated!

We have a YouTube channel for the bus and I have two other channels. For time lapse nothing beats my GoPro. I set it on 5 second interval and every 5 seconds it takes a pic. For mounting it there are all kinds of options.
On a ball cap on your head
On a standard tripod on the floor or ground
On a flexible leg tripod that can be hung off a ledge, put on the floor, or anywhere else your imagination leads you.
I've even mounted mine on a cardboard box that was fixed into the overhead front of my bus with a three sided "bay" to slide the camera into and ensure that I have the exact same placement every time.


You can see an example of what the GoPro time lapse looks like on our YouTube channel "HamSkoolie" We're just starting to transition from demo to build so all that's in there are demo time lapse and two videos on the Vermont title thing.


One thing about the GoPro and it's no biggie once you're used to it is that it doesn't shoot (at least mine doesn't) in the proper aspect ratio of 16:9 which means that in editing you'll have to crop things but no biggie and yo don't have to crop every time lapse image.



For video, I DO NOT use the Go Pro. I use a Sony handi cam with the flip out from the side view screen that I can flip 180 degrees and see whats in frame as I'm shooting myself.


I also run a Sony digital recorder the entire time which allows me to more easily align shots from different sources (by aligning the voice patterns) and to keep the audio level consistent across video sources.

[2oldgeeks]

Originally Posted by thewanderbusco

Hey all! We just started demo and I’ve been hesitant to pull the trigger on a specific camera purchase. I want something fairly easy to use that I can mount, but also take down easily when I want to show real time with audio. Hoping to go with refurbished under $300, but have some wiggle room there. I’ve looked at GoPro, Brinno, and DJI. Any recommendations appreciated!

I just purchased a cheap cam recorder to use with our bus build. I have a gopro knockoff, a DJI camera, and my Iphone. The problem is sound, especially in a bus. This has an external mic that you can use. I just received it yesterday and will start recording this weekend. So far I like it for a Chinese knock-off.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WGLZP12...roduct_details

[thewanderbusco]

Awesome! Thanks y'all! Decided to start with a gopro and I'll see how that goes.

[frxmoney]

Get a Go PRO!!!

[Brewmaster]

I ended up snagging a GoPro for my time-lapse adventures and honestly, it's been a game-changer. The ease of mounting and its compact size meant I could set it up just about anywhere. The durability is a huge plus, especially for outdoor shoots, and the quality of the footage is top-notch. What really took my projects to the next level was using some editing tools from Movavi. With those, I've been able to polish my GoPro footage into high-quality videos that I'm really proud of.