Best products from r/timelapse

I've done a tiny tiny bit in C++, but I'm reasonable at basic electronics. If I got like the Arduino Uno Starter Kit would that have enough components to do something fairly similar? I also watched your custom slider video, if I took the components from The Crawler and re did it to work on a slider could I end up with a slider that could do cinematic pan and tilts, but slow enough for timelapse? And using a different program this could then be used at normal speed as well, as you did? Sorry for the barrage, I know relatively little about this, but if I can make something that does both then that'd be pretty ideal.

There are a few different things I've used to help in those situations:

-A "camera condom" type bag. The one i used is even cheaper than this, but it's the closest I could find:

https://www.amazon.com/Camera-Proof-Housing-Canon-Nikon/dp/B013DBO94U/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1526302325&sr=1-5&keywords=slr+waterproof+camera+housing+cover

-People have mentioned the handwarmers or the lens heater. I've done handwarmers with some dishrags around the lens and it does help, but the warmers don't always last long enough, and the heat isn't consistent. They're better than nothing.

-I've used a battery powered fan blowing on the camera with good results. Won't prevent all condensation, but on those days when it just fogs up some, it'll work fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Ryobi-P3320-Adjustable-Extension-Included/dp/B00JYJUM8I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526302495&sr=8-1&keywords=ryobi+fan

Yes, I'm all about packing light and even the best sliders are still quite big (and expensive). A rotating head adds a very dynamic look with very little added bulk, one like this or a cheaper mechanical one like this.

How are you processing your stills into a video file? If you're using Lightroom, there's a very powerful plugin called LR Timelapse that can do pans and zooms from the still photos, as well as changing any of the color/exposure settings over the course of the shot.

Oh man I didn't realize you were working without a tripod altogether. That must get pretty frustrating. You have some cheap options to help you out though! I use this attachment made by manfrotto and I threw it on a gorillapod for a pretty versatile phone tripod setup. Definitely worth the investment. They also sell a bundle of that clip with their own Pixi tripod which I also have. It's a well built little tripod, and very inexpensive at about 35 bucks for the bundle.

Thank you for those compliments! and I'm more than happy to answer questions.

I have a 47 inch slider and I used the entire length within just over a one hour period for this shot.
My interval between shots was around 3 seconds, and I took 15 second exposures. So slider spends 18 seconds per stop.

I'm not sure what brand slider you have, but my GVM has speed settings as a percentage, and I used 68%

I found out the best speeds to use by testing out the slider at home using different speeds and plotting a graph with speed used against # of photos taken. And I found out that at 68% speed, I can take around 250 photos using the entire slider length which is what I was looking for. So try something like that with your slider as well.

My slider has a mechanical pan which is set by two screws so I'm not sure how many degrees it is but an approximate would be around 45 degrees I think.

I used a Dimmable LED lamp at its lowest setting, placed on the ground to the right of the frame pointed at the train.
This is the lamp I used :
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0733577VV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Shameless promo: the book is Siege of Praetar, for those interested.

The designer, Kyle Guay, does fantastic work.

I just picked up a Brinno and am very pleased.

This was the one I picked up: affiliate link - non-affiliate link

I've put a few samples up here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGXCzby8IGouFFvi-jtN7PA

But this is my favorite thus far: https://youtu.be/1qycpOzalq4

The EXIF on flickr probably shows 50mm because my 14mm f2.8 is fully manual and doesn't report anything back to the camera. It's this lens if you're curious. I guess when there's no info, instead of putting "unknown" or something, it just defaults to 50.

Thanks for the compliment. I am saving up all my timelapse shots from the summer season to put a longer video together.

I don't really know anything about cameras. We decided that we are going to use a 60 second interval time for the time lapse. Let me get you up to speed with where I am at. We have completely thrown out the idea of using anything made by Brinno. We like the Hero5 sessions made by GoPro for it's built in time lapse functionality and simplicity. We figure if we get a large enough storage card we can set it to record at the beginning of the week then stop it at the end. We would have to edit out the time we are not working, but considering the camera is going to be outside in the winter the durability of this camera also makes it attractive. What do you think?

What camera? You don't need one at all if you can install magic lantern, it's built into the software (what I use) - otherwise the cheap Amazon knockoffs (http://www.amazon.com/Shutter-Release-Timer-Remote-Control/dp/B0081EC08M/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1394018085&sr=1-5&keywords=canon+cable+release) work as well as the canon $100 ones (what I used before ML).

edit: ah, i see your have a nikon. maybe this one: http://www.amazon.com/GTMax-Digital-Shutter-Release-Control/dp/B00463ERCY/

This was shot on a Canon 5d Mark II with a Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8. These were taken at 16mm, f/2.8, 25 seconds (I think). There are 250 photos in this sequence.

I used an iOptron SkyTracker Pro on a tripod for the tracking. The stars aren't supposed to move that much, but my camera set up weighs more than the recommended weight for the mount and I didn't have a counterweight. I used a cheap intervalometer.

something like this http://www.amazon.com/Motorized-Timelapse-Variable-Rechargeable-Blackbolt/dp/B00TK6ULPY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465247526&sr=8-1&keywords=timelapse

im using the AreoGarden .. its uses LEDs
https://www.amazon.com/AeroGarden-Extra-Gourmet-Herb-Seed/dp/B00L8LTH54/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1517949469&sr=8-6&keywords=aerogarden+led

They also have special bags for this kind of thing. But holy crap found this on amazon. (Bet this gets caught in the spam filter)

https://www.amazon.com/COOWOO-Warmer-Heater-Universal-Telescopes/dp/B01MR2J4NK

Brinno BCC100 Time Lapse Construction Camera

Or splurge https://smile.amazon.com/Brinno-BCC200-Recording-Jobsite-Camera/dp/B01B2NCHYA?sa-no-redirect=1

Or if you like to tinker you can do a raspberry pi + camera which can do 1080 or even shitty computer + webcam