In this video I'll show you how to use the Time-lapse
Movie mode on the Canon EOS R6.
But in reality it's broadly the same on the rest of the EOS R series of cameras.
So whichever camera you've got, you should be able to follow along.
Because this will be a step by step video, it'll be longer than usual,
so there will be timestamps in the description.
And if you stick around until the end, I'll have some example time lapse movies
that you can see, and I'll also give you an additional tip.
This time lapse method is different to the classic way
of producing a time lapse, where you would take a sequence of stills,
process them, and then convert them into a video.
With Time-lapse movie mode.
The process is automated, and it's all done in the camera.
There's no post-processing of stills, no need to convert those stills
into a video sequence and no need to export the video.
You get a finished MP4 video file that you can view
on the back of the camera when all the stills have been shot.
Therefore, this method is ideal where you're in a hurry
for the final video or you don't want to, or you don't know how to post
process your stills and export them as a finished video.
Now, let's get into the details of recording a time lapse.
First you put the camera into movie mode.
On the EOS R and R5, press the Mode button
and press the INFO button to change from stills to movie mode.
I normally choose either Movie Manual or Movie AV,
then press the SET or Mode button to get back to the shooting screen.
On the EOS R6, and other cameras with a mode dial,
turn it so that the movie camera symbol is opposite the indicator line.
If you don't put the camera into Movie mode, you won't be able to do
the next step of enabling time lapse movie recording in the menu.
This menu item is only visible
in movie mode and not in stills mode.
Once you've selected Movie mode, press the menu button,
then navigate to the Red Shoot 5 screen on most EOS R series cameras.
But on the EOS R and RP it's the Red Shoot 2 screen.
Select.
Time-lapse Movie and press the set button to enter the time lapse menu screen.
Once you're in the time lapse menu screen,
you can see that time lapse is selected, but all the other items are grayed-out.
They’re not available because time lapse is disabled.
So press the SET button and change Disable
to Enable, and press the SET button again.
You'll now see that the grayed-out selection is now available.
First select Interval and press the set button.
You will now be able to set the interval between shots.
The value on the screen is an hours, minutes, and seconds,
with the minimum interval being 2 seconds.
So enter the value you want, select
OK and press the SET button.
The next step is to choose Number of shots, and press the SET button.
You can now enter the number of shots you want the camera to take.
Then select. OK.
And press this set button to register that value.
Notice that there are two timings near the bottom of the screen.
The one to the right of the movie camera icon
is how long the time lapse will take to record.
The one to the right of the play icon is the playback
time of the finished time lapse video.
If the playback time is displayed in white,
everything is good and you're set to go.
But if the playback time is displayed in red,
there's not enough space on the memory card.
So if you do go ahead with the time lapse recording,
the camera will stop before completing the full time lapse.
The next thing is to select the video resolution.
So choose Movie record size, and press the SET button.
You can create a full HD or 4K time lapse.
After making your selection, press the SET button
and you'll be returned to the previous screen.
The next option is to set how auto exposure is applied.
Select Auto exposure and press the SET button.
You'll have two choices, Fixed 1st frame
or Each frame.
With Fixed 1st frame the camera judges the correct exposure for the first frame
and then applies that same exposure setting
to every subsequent frame in the recording.
This is ideal when you want the natural change
in brightness to be reflected in the time lapse video.
For instance, the gradual decrease in the brightness of the sky
at the time of sunset.
I'll show you an example of this at the end of the video.
With the other option of auto exposure being set to Each frame,
the camera will adjust the exposure for each shot in the sequence,
trying to maintain the overall brightness of the scene.
Once you've made your selection, press the SET button.
Now for auto exposure to work,
you must be in a movie auto exposure mode.
Typically, I choose Movie AV, since I don't want the depth of field changing.
Although you can do this on the EOS R, bizarrely,
the much more expensive R6 doesn't have a Movie AV mode.
You can only choose between manual and fully auto.
So if you've got an R6 you'll have to choose
fully automatic on the Red Shoot 1 screen.
The next menu
option lets you set the screen to automatically go blank
when recording by using the Screen auto off option.
When set to disable, the image will be displayed on the screen
between shots but go blank when a shot is being taken.
Even so, after about half an hour of recording
the screen will go blank.
If you choose to Enable screen auto off,
the screen will go blank about 10 seconds after the start of the recording.
Choose the one that you want and press SET.
If at any time you want to toggle the screen
back on or off, then press the info button.
The final setting on the screen lets you turn the camera
Beep on or off when an image is being taken.
I find the beep is annoying so I have it turned off globally,
which is why the Beep as image taken option is greyed out.
If you want the camera to beep, then you'll have to turn the global
beep back on.
With everything set, you can now press the menu button
a couple of times to exit the menu.
You will then see this message on the screen.
“Test and set exposure settings on this screen.
Fully press the shutter to take a shot.
Press movie to get ready to shoot the time lapse movie.”
First half press the shutter button
to focus the camera, then adjust the exposure setting.
Once you're happy with the exposure, press
the shutter button fully to take a test shot.
If the shot looks OK, press the red movie
record button and the following message appears on the screen.
“Shutter button.
Start/Stop movie record.
Movie button to previous screen.” If you're happy to go ahead,
press the shutter button and the recording will start.
You can check the progress of the recording on the rear screen.
The number of shots remaining will be displayed in the top left of the screen.
And if you have a top LCD,
then you'll see the number displayed there as well.
If you want to stop the recording at any
time, press the shutter button again.
When the time lapse recording is finished, the screen will come back on.
But remember, you're still in Time-lapse movie mode.
To disable it you can go back into the menu
or you can just turn off the camera.
So that's how to use the time lapse movie mode on an EOS R series camera.
But what does the time lapse footage look like?
To help, I shot some examples, then nothing
fancy and in fact, I just pointed the camera out of a window.
I think the interval was two or 3 seconds and the light admittedly was pretty poor.
First I wanted to show the comings and goings
of small birds to a bird feeder in my garden.
I then pointed the camera
upwards to show the clouds moving.
As promised at the start of the video,
I set the Auto exposure to Fixed 1st frame
to show the fall in brightness after sunset.
Finally, I did a time lapse movie of the northern night sky
to show the comet that's currently in the sky at the end
of January beginning of February 2023.
It's that green blob on the screen.
Also at the start of the video, I said that I would include a tip before the end,
and that is to make sure you use a sturdy tripod and that it's on solid ground.
If you have it on a wooden floor and you walk around.
The tiny movements will be visible in the final video sequence and ruin it.
Also, if you have a zoom lens, don't try to zoom whilst recording.
It could cause the focus to shift.
If you want to zoom, do it afterwards in the video editing software.
That's it for today.
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it helps me to make more.
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Finally, you can find in-depth articles on my website
DIY Video Studio dot com.
I'll put a link in the description.
Good luck with your timelapsing and I look forward to seeing you again next time.