By just adding a little bit of motion, you can change the entire feel of a basic static timelapse video. We've seen the wind up DIY Egg Timer pan heads used for timelapse projects, and have even seen a few robust versions, but here's a completely new battery operated programmable Pan Head product.
Unlike your basic mechanical egg timer that you would rotate by hand and listen to it tick-tock it's way back to zero, this new Electronic Pan Head is battery operated and can be programmed for different lengths of travel and different speeds. Using a 5 minute setting with a full 360 degree pan may even be fast enough for real time video (not just time-lapsing).
From a simple menu of buttons you can choose how much distance your camera will pan along with the speed in which it will reach the end of it's travel. You can select from 15 degrees - 360 degrees or travel, and then select from 5 minutes to a full 60 minutes of run time. You can even change the direction in which the system pans (clockwise/counter-clockwise). The new Sevenoak TV15 Programmable Pan Head can be found via eBay (click here).
Sevenoak TV15 Electronic Time Lapse Pan Head
Joe Bourke
Monoprice seems to have the same piece of equipment, although with their logo on it, for about 15 dollars less, and it ships from the US:
https://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=117&cp_id=11701&cs_id=1170105&p_id=12508&seq=1&format=2
Emm
Post author@Darren Levine - If you are using it for time lapse I don't see what they mean by jumpy. It moves at whatever interval you choose so it is not continuos. It will step all the way but speed is determined by your setting.
Darren Levine
Hey emm, i looked at this a bit back but shied away due to some amazon reviews that the action was rather jumpy. did you experience smooth movement?
Antz
I would really like one of these to come out with 360 degrees over 24 hours
Apostolos
Oh, crap, Phil crushed my dreams!
Phil Hover
I own this and it's pretty good for time-lapse. Can't use it for realtime because it's a stepping motor and jerks.
Apostolos
Well, you can use this thing from ServoCity, an inexpensive way to motorize a slider.
httpss://www.servocity.com/html/igus_w1080-b_slider_kit.html#.VUmUDGaAdgs
Slap that thing on top and if its smooth enough, you can do motorized "parallax" moves for a very reasonable price.
Emm
Post author@Apostolos - You'd have to move the camera more than just it's center point. I'm guessing if you're creative enough you can make something that works in that manner.
Apostolos
Can it do the opposite of panning, the "wraparound/parallax" effect around a subject?
Emm
Post author@Joseph - Build quality feels pretty good. It's not lightweight, it's got a bit of weight to it. Lots of metal and tactile buttons.
krys
great! sounds like a fun toy.
will put this on my wish list !
Joseph
I LOVE THIS! How's the build quality?