Long-term timelapse options

Started by mandurphy, March 05, 2019, 05:06:04 PM

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mandurphy

Hi there,

I'm in the process of building a timelapse rig to capture a 4 month build at a construction site and only want the camera to take photographs during daylight hours.

Is there a way of getting the intervalometer feature inside ML to start and stop at specific times and or dates? Or maybe when the camera detects there's light, it starts shooting when  the sun rises and stops when the sun sets?

And if this isn't a feature, is there anyone out there who can help make it one?

The camera is hooked up to a dummy battery that is powered externally, so there's no issue with it running out of juice.

Thanks in advance.

Walter Schulz

I cannot recommend to run any software based device without watchdog ability for such a long time.
May I suggest to use some kind of microcontroller like Raspberry Pi or Arduino (both hosting hardware watchdogs) turning on and off power to your cam? Additional hardware (photo detectors) are able to achieve what you are trying to do (light detection).

dfort

The issue of running very long timelapse has come up several times on this forum. While it might be possible to work out some sort of a hardware/software solution using Magic Lantern, it is probably easier to look for a camera that is made specifically for this task. This NAB show announcement came up on my news feed so I thought I'd share it with the ML community.

Introducing the Afidus ATL-200 Time Lapse Camera

It can capture timelapse for up to 80 days on battery power. The full specs haven't been released yet but it looks like you can set it up to run between certain hours which is another issue that has been brought up on this forum a few times. It is available from TimelapseCameras.com -- seems like an obvious place to look for a dedicated timelapse camera!