Timelapse tutorial (with arduino and digital reflex camera)

Hi guys, today I'll talk about making a timelapse video.
For those who don't know what's a timelapse video, here  is mine:


First of all the components:
-digital camera (nikon, canon, olympus, pentax, sony)
-arduino (any board, UNO, MEGA, duemilanove ecc..)
-IR transmitter led
-220 ohm resistor

For making a timelapse video our camera has to take a photo from the same position each 15/20 sec (depending on what you're trying to do) and probably you don't want to take each picture by yourself, so you'll need an arduino.
First of all connect the led and the resistor to the arduino in this way:

Then using this really nice library our Arduino will shut photos.
Install the library and open arduino IDE.
Then go to File>Examples>MultiCameraIrControl and select your camera brand.
Now just change the loop function like this:

void loop(){
  D600.shutterNow();
  delay(10000);
}

delay function will wait the give milliseconds before shutting another photo; I think 10 seconds are good for many videos but depending on your subject you would have to change this value.

Another part of this project is powering arduino and camera for many hours.
For the camera use the normal power supply and for the arduino I suggest using a 110V/220V--->USB transformer (probably you have one at home, they are used for smartphones or other devices).

The last part of the project is calculating how long we can shoot depending on delay between photos and camera's memory.

For example if I have a 32GB SD and I take a photo every 10 seconds (5MB each photos) I'll be able to shoot photos for: (32'000MB / 5MB ) * 10 sec

Make your own calculation but remember: this works only in theory: there are other variables (battery duration ecc..)
Now you just need to turn on your camera, turn on the remote control mode (look in the instructions), power the arduino and place it in front of your camera as a remote control.

Here is my short timelapse:

I hope you enjoyed this project, if you have any question comment or send me an email to damianoande@gmail.com

Bye, Dami