Time Lapse Sunsets

[super8davies]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, however I have been a keen browser for some years now. I have just bought a Canon 1014xls and I was wondering what I would need to do to try and film a sunset. I've got a rough idea, and I'm guessing there have been past posts, but I thought it would be good to see if there are any tips, hints and what would be the best way to set my camera up.

Thanks

[reflex]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, however I have been a keen browser for some years now. I have just bought a Canon 1014xls and I was wondering what I would need to do to try and film a sunset. I've got a rough idea, and I'm guessing there have been past posts, but I thought it would be good to see if there are any tips, hints and what would be the best way to set my camera up.

Thanks

Errm? "Point the thing to the west shortly before sunset and start filming."

1) You'll need a rock-solid tripod.
2) Also helps to have the remote on/off switch so you can avoid bumping the camera.
3) Close the viewfinder once you've got your shot framed, to avoid light leakage.
4) The speed you set the intervalometer to depends a bit on the effect you're after - quick, slow & dreamy, etc.
5) Set your exposure manually (may be helpful to set up a dry run the evening before to have an idea of decent exposures).

and a whole bunch of stuff covered here before (search "sunset" in the forum to see what's here.)

[onsuper8]

The intervalator may be a problem if the time you require is anything but that achievable by the camera, otherwise you'll need a good stopwatch and a remote shutter release (and a good chair).

[super8davies]

It's got an interval timer with an option of 1/5/20/60 seconds per shot. I want to film a sun setting for about 10 to 15 seconds (or likewise a sun rise). The projection should be 24fps. So for a 15 second sequence, what shoud I set it to. (a sunset is often for about an hour)

[onsuper8]

If your (real time) sequence is one hour (60 minutes or 3600 seconds), 1 second per shot will give 3600 frames (or at 24fps, 150 seconds), 5 seconds per shot will give 3600/5=720 frames or 30 seconds, 20 seconds per shot will give 3600/20=180 frames or 7.5 seconds at 24fps.

If you really need 15 seconds for your finished shot, you may need to shoot longer, get an external intervalator or do it manually (which would be 15seconds*24fps=360frames or 1 shot every ten seconds to fill your hour (3600 seconds).

[monobath]

There are 3600 seconds in an hour. If you take one frame of film every 10 seconds, that would be 360 frames in an hour. Projected at 24 frames per second, you'd get 15 seconds of screened footage. At one frame per 20 seconds, that one hour of time-lapse filming would take 7.5 seconds to project at 24fps. At one frame every 5 seconds, you project your hour of sunset for 30 seconds at 24fps.

If you're going to telecine and edit on a computer, you can speed up or slow down to fit the the on-screen time you want. One frame every 5 seconds would appear smoother than one frame every 20 seconds, because less change in the sunset occurs over 5 seconds.

Note that the intervalometer doesn't give you 1, 5, 20, or 60 seconds per shot. It exposes one frame of film ever 1, 5, 20, or 60 seconds.

[monobath]

Ooops. Giles beat me to it.

[super8davies]

Thanks for that.

One last question on this subject, and that is exposure. Is it worth manual exposure or automatic exposure. If so, are there any handy hints, becuase I do not have a light meter at the moment (I do aim to get one) and I was wondering the kind of settings worth taking in to account. Manually it seems to have a range of 1.4 to 45.

I'm a bit of a novice at photography so exposure is not my strong point yet, hence the question.

[monobath]

I don't have a Canon 1014, so I'm not entirely sure what controls it has. But generally, the automatic meter on your camera will open the aperture more as the amount of available light falls off, tending to diminish the effect of the sunset. IMO. But it's the easiest way to shoot, and often produces good results. If you're doing time lapse in a scene where the light level goes up and down a lot (e.g., the sky in daytime with clouds moving overhead), then the automatic iris settings can cause an unpleasant strobing effect. You won't likely get that in your sunset scenario though, since the sun is close to the horizon.

Setting the aperture manually and leaving it at the same setting will likely provide a more natural looking effect, since the scene will gradually darken as the sun sets.

Unless you know the equivalent exposure time at your cameras single-frame rate, a handheld meter won't do you much good. Most are made for still photography where you can input the ASA of the film, and either the aperture or the shutter speed. A cine meter like the Sekonic L-558 will let you set the film ASA, the frame rate in fps, and the shutter angle, and it will then calculate the f-stop for you. But this is generally applicable to continuous filming, and may not be accurate for single-frame shooting.

You can use the auto meter on the camera to get a reading, then switch to manual mode and just set that same value. If you leave it set to that value, the scene will gradually darken in a naturally appearing way as the sun sets.

Experiment. What film stock do you plan to use? Kodachorme 40A, or something else?

[downix]

I did this for Timelapse 2004, actually. The last half is of the sun setting behind my house, through the power lines.

[mattias]

don't look at the sun in the viewfinder, at least not for more than a couple of seconds at a time. it hurts like after a day on the mountain with no goggles. i've done both.

/matt

[Justin Lovell]

some ektachrome sunset stills, shot on auto. all from the same sunset.

http://www.filmshooting.com/scripts/gal ... um?page=99
http://www.filmshooting.com/scripts/gal ... m?page=100 (more ekta stills-not sunsets/rises though)

from the first sunset i'd ever shot. interval was 1 frame every 20 sec. seemed pretty good.

just shot a sunrise at 1 frame every 28 secs, should last about 4 seconds on film, took about 30 minutes. (if i remember my calculations correctly).. haven't seen the footage yet. (was shot on Tri-x, at f-11.)

jusetan

[Alex]

It it's a wide angle automatic exposure will probably be fine.

If you're shooting a medium shot or a close-up, then locking the exposure is probably a better idea. The one advantage with the Canon is you can set it in automatic exposure then use the ASA wheel to set the meter to either over expose or underexpose by a stop or two. (I forget the exact amount).

If you want to try a sunset in automatic mode and the camera lens is set to either a medium or a wide shot, I'd probably keep the dial set to a plus one, aka one-f stop over exposed.

Manual exposure can also produce a cool result, pick an f-stop and no matter how the shot starts, it will come into proper exposure at some point. Usually this techique is done with the lens more wide open so the effect is a gradual "flare in" as the sun sets.

For a sunset wide shot, I'd set the interval to 20 seconds, if it's a medium shot, I'd set it to 5 seconds, if it's a telephoto shot, I'd try either 5 or 1.