Some cameras have a built-in intervalometer but if yours doesn’t, there is a great tool for that called Magic Lantern.
However, this is not a Magic Lantern review. DIY Photography is showing a tool called the Syrp Genie Mini, which is a panning and tilting motion control system you can attach to your tripod.
MOTION CONTROL
The Syrp Genie Mini doesn’t have any control buttons or dials on the unit itself – it can only be controlled via the Syrp Genie App for iOS and Android devices.
The Genie Mini connects to your device using Bluetooth – which I found to be much easier to use and much more reliable than the WiFi connection procedures typical for many camera accessories. I had no problems connecting the Genie Mini to my phone simply by turning the unit on with the Syrp Genie app installed on my phone and Bluetooth enabled on my phone’s connection settings.
After connecting to my phone for the first time, the Genie App notified me that a firmware update was available – which was then automatically downloaded and installed – another really well planned and well executed feature.
I was a little skeptical of controlling the Genie Mini via the Syrp Genie app at first – I am not a big fan of touchscreens or the necessity of having to bring along a mobile device just to control my gear – however, I was pleasantly surprised.
The Syrp Genie app is extremely intuitive and very straight forward to use to set up both time lapse and live action video sequences.
If you’re like me you’re always in a hurry to set up your time lapse or live action video shot – and usually in the dark, so I really appreciate how simple it is to setup a motion shot with the Genie Mini.
TIME LAPSE WITH THE SYRP GENIE MINI
The Genie Mini is designed to control the motion of your time lapse sequence – it doesn’t control your camera except to trigger the shutter release.
Setting up a time lapse sequence is relatively straight forward. Using the touchscreen on your connected device, you set the motion range that you want to capture. Then you also set the length of time you want your sequence to run and the interval time between individual shots.
If you are new to time lapse, there are presets for people, clouds, stars, night traffic, GoPro people and GoPro clouds.
If you are a time lapse expert, there are a number of advanced settings available including movement ease in / ease out, HDR mode, movement type (move-shoot-move is the default) and move shoot delay (the delay between moving the Genie mini and releasing the shutter).
The user interface is very well laid out and easy to navigate.
In fact, setting the Genie Mini is the easiest part of getting the shot – you still have to set up your camera: leveling your tripod, setting the exposure, adding filters etc…
The following video includes several time lapses and video clips that were made using the Syrp Genie Mini.
GO TO THE NEXT PAGE FOR THE VIDEO
Read the full article over at DIY Photography.
Source: DIY Photography
You can basically do the same thing with DslrDashboard as long as you have a wifi connection.