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Here’s a little three minute video from the Balloon Fiesta (sorry about the repeat of the timelapse in the middle, but it does pick up the pace).

I used the D300s with 10.5mm, 12-24mm, and 18-200mm VR lenses and also the Coolpix P7000. I know that some of the low-light stuff is noisy—both those cameras make great 720p video in good light, but they are not low-light machines. In learning to shoot video, I’m also learning to love my tripod. 

Anything I shoot handheld in video without a tripod, monopod, or some kind of shoulder stabilizer looks like I’ve had a three martini breakfast….and I hardly ever have those anymore.

I can’t wait for the D7000, with its manual control over ISO in movie mode.

I got a number of emails requesting instructions in putting together time-lapses. I’m no expert but the easiest way I’ve found is to get the “Pro” license (I think it costs $15) for Quicktime 7.

Quicktime 7 is buried in utilities folder of some Macs running Snow Leopard, but if not, you can download it.

(In another one of those inscrutable steps backwards that Mac is making more often lately, the current Quicktime Player is unable to create timelapses, so you have to find the earlier version and upgrade to the Pro features. Go figure….Jobs giveth, and Jobs taketh away).

First, you need a folder of jpegs shot in a sequence. Don’t make them too big, otherwise you’ll choke your machine and the timelapse will stutter. I usually shoot full rez jpegs and scale them down to screensize using Image Processor.

In Quicktime 7 Pro, Go to File>Image Sequence and select the jpegs. You’ll then be asked for a frame rate, and you can experiment to see what looks good. 10, 15, or 24 FPS are common settings. Hit okay and wham, you’ll get your timelapse sequence in seconds…nothing to it.