If you want to make Time Lapse with your GoPro Hero3 or SmartPhones a little more interesting you can add motion. Simple motion can add an entirely new dimension instead of your basic static shot, and this can be done without complicated rigs. With my iPhone i'm using iMotionHD & with my Android phone i'm using an app called DroidLapse. Here's a quick clip (below) I did while out in Monterey, CA using my Samsung Galaxy S4.
This product is essentially a redesigned Egg Timer as you can still hear ticking and even rings a bell at the end of it's travel. It does offer a female 1/4 thread under the base for a small tripod, and a male 1/4"-20 stud to mount your camera. It is designed for small compact cameras and smart phones, and will rotate 360 degrees in 60 minutes.
If you want something that pans slower, the Flow-Mow product states it takes 120 minutes (2 Hours) to rotate a full 360 degrees and even shows that it's capable of supporting a small mirror less camera (found here).
To solve the issues of short battery life on the GOPRO HERO3/ HERO3+ cameras, a short time ago a GoPro Powered Cage (concept) running off of Canon LP-E6 batteries was introduced. It appeared to be well received, so the concept idea was moved quickly into manufacturing. The day it was announced, YouTube member Blunty created a short 'WANT' video about the CagePro [Thanks Blunty].
Fast forward a few months and several prototypes later, the new CagePro is finally ready to ship with an optional Top Handle and the final version can accept 52mm threaded CPL or ND filters. Since the new HERO3+ camera is exactly the same size, the CagePro is compatible with both the HERO3 / HERO3+ cameras once placed in the skeleton housing. Announced today in a newsletter, pre-orders are available now (limit 1 per customer) and is expected to ship earlier than November 10th.
This morning GoPro just announced the brand new GoPro Hero3+ camera, available in Black and Silver Editions (in stock / shipping now). The new GoPro Hero3+ has significant upgrades over it's predecessor. Below is just a small list of new or improved features found on the amazing new Hero+ cameras.
Smaller, lighter, mightier still. Capture and share your life’s most meaningful experiences with the HERO3+ Black Edition. 20% smaller and lighter than its best-selling predecessor, it delivers improved image quality and powerful new features geared for versatility and convenience. SuperView™ is a new video mode that captures the world’s most immersive wide angle perspective, while Auto Low Light mode intelligently adjusts frame rate for stunning low-light performance. Combined with 30% longer battery life, 4x faster built-in Wi-Fi and a sharper lens, the HERO3+ Black Edition is the most advanced GoPro yet.
Sharper images, less distortion. Enjoy crisper, clearer footage with reduced distortion. The HERO3+ Black Edition boasts a 33% increase in image sharpness thanks to its sharper lens and 2x reduction in imaging artifacts.
Introducing SuperView. GoPro is proud to introduce SuperView, a video mode that captures the world’s most immersive wide angle perspective. It allows you to capture more of yourself and your surroundings in the shot—resulting in captivating, ultra engaging footage.
New Auto Low Light mode.
Want your camera to automatically adjust for low-light situations? Auto Low Light mode intelligently changes frame rates based on lighting conditions for enhanced low-light performance.
Powerful photo capture. The HERO3+ Black Edition captures gorgeous 12MP stills at up to 30 frames per second—perfect for fast-action sequences. Time Lapse mode enables automatic photo capture at 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30 or 60 second intervals. Continuous Photo shoots full-resolution stills at a steady 3, 5 or 10 frames per second when holding down the shutter button.
30% longer battery life.
Featuring a 30% increase in battery life, you can go longer and capture more with the HERO3+ Black Edition.
Improved audio. Sound quality is as important as image quality. The HERO3+ Black Edition features upgraded audio performance, capturing even the most subtle of sounds—whether you’re recording voices, music or the roar of your engine on a spirited drive. Advanced wind-noise reduction technology keeps the audio clearer during high-speed activities.
Control, view, share—4x faster.
With 4x faster1 connectivity to the GoPro App, you can preview content in near real-time2, and share your photos and videos quicker than ever. The GoPro App makes it easy to control your camera remotely with a smartphone or tablet—plus preview, play back and share your favorite shots via email, text, Facebook®, Instagram™ and more.3 Also enjoy enhanced connectivity to the included Wi-Fi Remote, which enables control of up to 50 cameras from distances of up to 600’/180m.
The new GoPro HERO3 cameras are a world apart as far as performance features from the previous HERO2 cameras, but all of the new bells and whistles caused a few reliability issues. I (like many others) have often experienced issues of the HERO3 Black Edition freezing up to where I need to pull the battery out to reset the camera. This wasn't a big deal for me especially when on dry land, but while out in the ocean snorkeling, there's no easy way to pull your camera out of the housing without getting the camera soaked.
If you haven't caught the news, there's a GoPro HERO3 Software update that not only claims to improve 'reliability' of the camera, but also enhance the performance. If any of you get the chance to field test this new firmware let me know what the results are. I'm hoping to hear that this new firmware update will resolve those 'freezing up' issues. Head on out to the GoPro website for the firmware following the link (HERE).
One common question is 'What's the best pocketable camera to travel with?" Obviously, that will highly vary, but I have my own personal requirements for such a camera. If you're looking for a fun pocketable travel camera, especially one that is capable of quality Time-lapse, this post might be of interest. If it's something you don't need, you can skip this article as it will probably bore you to death.
Time-Lapse Pier
So I recently took a little trip out of town and purposely left all the heavy DSLR cameras and big lenses behind. Instead I packed up the new Canon S110, Sony RX100, GoPro Hero3, and the Canon Powershot G15. If there was any action involved, of course the GoPro is the perfect camera. Outside of that, I kept coming back to the G15. Good for close up macro photography, a stabilized lens, decent zoom, flash hot shoe, and a shutter input for Time-lapse photos. The Sony RX100 takes amazing photos and videos, but if I had to vacation with only a single camera, I personally have found more features in the Powershot G15.
I brought along a very old cheap Aputure Timer Remote that i've had for years for the Time-Lapse photos. You can achieve much better quality from the G15, but I did not have the proper software to edit the new G15 RAW files, so I was stuck with JPEG. It was also bright enough outdoors to use the HDR mode in combination of the Time-Lapse remote.
Time-lapse with MagFilter + Tiffen CPL Polarizer
In HDR mode, the camera will take 3 different exposures and save it to a single JPEG file. With the Carry Speed MagFilter threaded adapter I was able to add ND filters to capture the motion blur of water, or Polarizing filters to correct glare. To keep the gear lightweight, I also traveled with a very small Calumet Tripod and Kamerar Friction arms. Here's a list of the gear:
So while Sony has recently released it's new Action Camera set to steal some of the GoPro sports camera market, GoPro today announced the new Hero3 that is 35% smaller, 25% lighter, and 2x faster than previous GoPro Hero cameras. Even with a smaller profile, the Hero3 will offer built in Wifi (no need for BacPac). Low light performance is supposed to be 2x better than previous models also.
Want more? With the faster processor, the new Hero3 brings more framerate options like [email protected], [email protected], and an impressive 2.7K resolution @30fps. They also brag about the ability to shoot 4K resolution video @15fps, which I still haven't figured out what I would personally use this for. Also includes ProTune, and offers manual white balance settings.
To be officially correct, the Hero 3 will be available in three different versions with three different prices. Only the 'Black Edition' camera will be able to offer the most features, while lower models will have some limitations. You can already find information on the new GoPro Hero 3 cameras via B&H (click here)
Rotating Panning For Time Lapse
