Hello folks!

I'm shooting a 12 month time-lapse of a large construction site. On this project the camera has to be placed quite far away, 260 meters to be exactly. Normally I shoot my projects with a Nikon d3300 and the stock 18-55 mm lens, which works perfectly on a distances around 100 meters. But because the field of view has to be wide enough, I cant shoot with more than 24 mm focal length on that camera and lens, and the quality of the image is just not good enough because of the distance.

So my question is, if anyone has a recommendation to invest in a better camera, to be able to get a decent quality when zooming in?

Thanks!

Why would you want a better camera, I think, what you'd need is a proper tele lens. The camera doesn't matter, if you just want to "zoom in".

Hi, I have shot a few construction time lapses and as Gunther pointed out it is not the the camera but the lens. are you shooting from a height? I mean looking down into the building site? is the site spread over a large area? are the digging footings at the moment? you will have to make a decision as to what you would time lapse first and do it in stages and at the end assemble them using an editor. I use mostly use the Canon 24-105mm lens.
If any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

This post was last modified: 2020-04-16, 21:24 by kornhulios.

Thanks for the quick reply!

Please forgive my limited knowledge about cameras. The distance to the object of interest is 260 meters, and the the area is 200 meters wide. The camera is at a height of 10 meters.

I imagine to capture the whole project in one composition, but being able to do digital zoom in post production to put into focus certain areas of interest in the movie.

Wouldn't a tele lens have a way too narrow field of view? I need at least horizontally 52 degree from that camera position.

link to map: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-MCPU4...8dtd2-v3W1

Blue area being the whole construction site, and the yellow areas are the primary areas of interest.

Looking at your photo I found 2 points of interest, 1 is "Randers AutoDele Aps" and 2 is "Rema1000", they have flat roofs.I wonder if there is any possibility that you could ask the owners of the building, for permission to set the camera to shoot your timelapse. You may know this but if you shooting outside don't forget to get a waterproof sleeve to protect lens and camera.
kind regards,

Rodrigo

Rema1000 is a parking lot, and the elevation is only about 2 meters from the autodele. Its a weatherproof housing, it has to sit for 12 months

I think the only option is to go for a two camera setup at the planned position, and then use a longer focal length to get more details. 2 Cameras with each a 50 mm gives me at total of 52 degree angle.

I was talking of the flat roof of Rema 1000, but yeah, unfortunately it is a very flat area, no high raisers; in the corner there is a building that has a half round structure with vertical laths that seem higher than Rema1000. Where in Denmark is that?