Mad Hatter Imagery wrote:
I wanted to buy a time lapse video camera but can only find Brinno brand cameras for that and it seems to only offer 1.3megapixels. I think my phone camera alone offers at least 10mp and has a time lapse app but of course at times I'll need to make phone calls. What should a minimum resolution be for a good time lapse  video image?

1.3MP is 720p if I'm not mistaken.

That's good enough.

AJScalzitti wrote:
I thought most of the Canon Powershots had time lapse.  I used one long ago with the 3rd party firmware loaded that also gave it RAW, time lapse, and auto firing on brightness - it could "catch" lighting, handy.

Still you are o ly going to be doing 1080 video most of the time, why would you need that many MP?

Wellllllll.... If you happen to be doing a time lapse of the moon eclipse and you can shoot a 7K video and then crop/zoom in Premiere to really show size and detail.

That's one situation.

Instinct Images wrote:
You can easily produce timelapse video using a dSLR and a digital remote/timer/intervalometer (or built-in functions). For long videos you should have a battery grip at minimum and external power for longer shots. A lot of the incredible timelapse videos on Vimeo and Youtube are shot this way. You can shoot the smallest jpeg and still have plenty of resolution for HD video.

Maybe something like the Panasonic GH3 would be a good relatively inexpensive option since it has a built-in timelapse function.

I have a digital rebel. Would that work? How expensive is this intervalmeter thing? Another concern is exposure changing when going from day time to just after the sun sets. How do I adjust for that?

Mad Hatter Imagery wrote:

I have a digital rebel. Would that work? How expensive is this intervalmeter thing? Another concern is exposure changing when going from day time to just after the sun sets. How do I adjust for that?

I bought an intervalometer (non-Canon) off ebay for probably around $20.  So far Ive only made the one time lapse video, but it works fine.  Do a little research and you'll find one for your camera body.

If you figure out the exposure question, I'd be interested...

Mad Hatter Imagery wrote:

I have a digital rebel. Would that work? How expensive is this intervalmeter thing? Another concern is exposure changing when going from day time to just after the sun sets. How do I adjust for that?

You just need a digital timer/remote. The Canon version sells for about $99 and there are plenty of much cheaper versions on eBay. I bought one for about $25. You just set it to shoot an image every x number of seconds and away it goes. Then you take all of the images and make a video using any video editing software you have. It's time consuming but not difficult. There are tons of tutorials available online.

Loki Studio wrote:
The GoPro Hero3 is a great option for timelapses with a 12MP photo size, totally automatic timelapse functions, 3 lens width settings, and smartphone preview and control.  Photo exposure is automatic and needs no further attention. The camera battery can easily be connected to any AC or external battery USB plug for unlimited battery power.  It is a better, easier, and lighter timelapse option than a DSLR.

+1 For this suggestion! I recently purchased a GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition Camera and so far I am quite impressed.

This is a time lapse of my cat walking across my back yard with full 12mp
resolution and wide FOV settings on my gopro.

Mad Hatter Imagery wrote:
I have a digital rebel. Would that work? How expensive is this intervalmeter thing? Another concern is exposure changing when going from day time to just after the sun sets. How do I adjust for that?

Does Magic Lantern run on your camera? as far as I know ML has an intervalometer built in.

http://www.magiclantern.fm/

They discuss how to find it here:

http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=1346.0