Hello all,

I am working on a long term time lapse shoot and would like some feedback from anyone willing to help. I am completely new to photography, and especially time lapse.

I am trying to setup a camera that would take pictures over a prolonged periods of time (days to maybe weeks). I am trying to observe the turbulence effect in the atmosphere above ground that is caused by the temperature differential (basically the mirage effect). There will eventually be a target at a certain distance (~1-2 km), as well as a reference target closer to the camera setup.

I am working with a Nikon D5200, 64GB sd card, Sigma DG 120-400mm lens, an external intervalometer and an external power source capable of lasting for the appropriate amount of time, as well as camera enclosure/protection from the elements. The picture interval will be 10-20 minutes (still need figure out what is more appropriate).

As I mentioned earlier, I know very little about photography, so I need help figuring out what settings to use for this kind of time lapse project. I am aware that I must use the manual mode, but what values will give me the best result?

Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thank you all in advance.

30+ views, but no help.

Anyway, I've set the camera to aperture priority and set the ISO to a low value to reduce the digital noise.
I've been running another sequence over the weekend, inside looking at mountains, but still haven't had the chance to retrieve the data.

I may post a video once I have the chance to download the pictures.

Dear Uni-Student,
I am planning on something very comparable but with a longer lasting setup. Can you advise on what intervalometer you used, how you did the power supply and other details? How about the camera housing? Pelicase?

I will use rather old EOS 400D and am planning on constructing a new intervalometer and connect it to a car battery or maybe something that lasts longer but has less initial startoff power...

To calculate the battery capacity I ran the camera with the inervalometer and recorded the current draw during the idle state, during shutter actuation, as well as when the camera is about ready to take a picture.
Here is the intervalometer that I am using:
http://www.amazon.com/Aputure-Timer-Came...rvalometer

When picking one, you have to make sure that one is compatible with your camera. Yes, I will be using a Pelican case to make the housing for this setup, probably the 1400 or 1450. I've ran the camera on several occasions with the current setup over the weekend and it has performed satisfactory. The only problem is finding the appropriate location for the experiment.

You may want to consider a deep-cycle battery instead of a car battery and you will need to step down your voltage to what your camera needs. For this you can either design your own PCB or use something that is already available.

I would like to know a little more about your project. If you don't feel comfortable discussing it in this thread PM me.

Good luck

Hey uni-student,
did you receive my PM concerning both our projects? Send it via Email, I believe

Yes, I have. I will reply to you a little later when I have some more time.