G1X: Hibiscus Time Lapse

Hibiscus Opening

The above relatively simple time lapse video was made with the G1X.  The camera was set to ISO 100, 1/100 second, f8 and manual focus.  White balance was set to daylight.  All these setting were a best guess for whatever might happen.  The G1X was in JPEG only mode, normal colors, 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels.  Image stabilization and image review were turned OFF in the main menu.  Over a period of almost 2 hours, images were taken at 5 second intervals.  The resulting 1476 JPEG images were assembled into a video using QuickTime Pro.  Final editing, including the title and credits images was accomplished with Adobe Premiere Elements 10.

I’ve made other time lapse videos using roughly the same technique.  Once again, a simple intervalometer was used.  The G1X was entirely battery powered for this project.  I was a little surprised to get only 1476 shots on a fully charged battery as I was expecting 2000 shots or more. The G1X display remained ON because manual focus reverts to auto focus if the display is turned OFF.  Even so, I would have thought that less power would be required with the LCD display turned OFF and using manual focus.

Time lapse makes an intriguing video and I intend to do some additional exploration and experimentation with it.

G1X: Time Lapse

Time lapse photography is yet another aspect of the game hobby that I want to learn about. I’ve made one time lapse video using my G12 and an intervalometer. The same intervalometer works with the G1X; however, the G1X battery has less capacity than the G12 battery. How long would the G1X run using only battery power?

To test the battery and practice the technique, I set up my G1X for time lapse with a freshly charged battery and put it on full manual exposure, manual WB, manual focus and turned the display off. Exposure was set for 1/100 sec at f5.6 and ISO 100 -- my guess for capturing a morning sunrise. I also set image capture for JPEG only at 1920x1080 pixels. The memory card was a Transcend Class 10. To my dismay, I forgot to turn off the focus assist lamp and didn't realize that until later so decided to let it run anyway.

I used this cheap and simple intervalometer to trigger the G1X at 2 second intervals.

All this was (roughly) the setup and process I used to make the time lapse sequence with my G12 except that a 6 second interval was used for the G12.  (I don’t remember how I arrived at a 6 second interval but it must have made sense at the time.)

In the morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the G1X had run for 2 hours 46 minutes and captured 2518 images of the dark room.

There was a problem though. Right away I had sensed that the interval was not always 2 seconds. Sometimes it would be 2 seconds and sometimes seemed to be more than 3 seconds but I continued the test anyway. Checking the times, the first shots were at intervals of 2 sec followed by 4 seconds then 2 sec, etc. The last shots were all at 4 sec intervals (battery running down, I assume). The gross average interval during the night was 3.96 seconds. So it appears to me that the G1X should be set for intervals of more than 4 seconds over a long period of time.

Time Lapse Video

Sunrise in Destin, Florida (MOV format)

This 26 second time lapse sequence was shot during a one hour period using the G12 triggered by an intervalometer.  The G12 was set at manual focus and manual exposure of ISO 80, f4, 1/200 second shooting JPEG at 1920x1080 resolution.  The exposure was my guess (based on “open shade”) for the end of the sequence, 6:36 am.  The intervalometer was set for 6 second intervals between shots.  The G12 and intervalometer were each battery powered and 599 shots were taken.  Those 599 shots were imported into QuickTime Pro as a sequence and output as the above .mov file.  I’m pretty happy with it.

I’m relatively new to video and don’t understand much of what I’m doing (or trying to do).  In fact, part of the reason for this post is to compare videos after going through processing, uploading, posting to the blog, etc.  Whereas the opening video (above) is a large .mov file that was uploaded to YouTube (took a while), the video below is an .avi version converted from .mov in Adobe Premiere Elements; it is only 69 MB but YouTube does not pick up that it is HD video. 

AVI format

Next I loaded the .mov file into QuickTime and exported it as a 4MB .mv4 file, see below.    Again, not HD.

MV4 format

I’m very curious how these will compare after going through the process and also how I can improve the process.

Intervalometer

This simple intervalometer works well with my G12 and was inexpensive.  I think it is sold by several marketers under a variety of product names. The instruction manual calls it an “EZa” Digital Timer Remote; the back of the remote is marked “EZa-C1”. “C1” indicates that this model is for Canon cameras such as G12 and 7D. It is battery powered (two AAA) and plugs right into the G12 remote trigger connection. It can also be used as a single shot remote trigger.

The display, from left to right is marked “DELAY”, “LONG”, “INTVL”, “N” and a musical note. “DELAY” sets the time before shooting begins. “LONG” is the exposure time for long exposures; I keep it at zero because the G12 does not have a “Bulb” exposure mode. “INTVL” is for Interval; this is the time between exposures. “N” is the number of exposures; this can be from 1 to 399 or “—“ for unlimited. The musical note is a sound and can be turned off. Settings are made using the arrow dial/key surrounding the “Set” button. Truthfully, I don’t use this intervalometer very often and have to fumble around a bit every time but it does work.

This simple intervalometer should also work with the G1X – I’ll soon find out.

(As an aside, on reading what I’ve written, I’ve labeled this a “simple” device.  Not so long ago – well within my timeframe and memory – this device would not have been possible at any price!  Not to say that intervalometers were impossible but that this device:  small, programmable, battery powered, LCD display and inexpensive was not available.)