One of the (nice) features the Nikon D610 offers, is the option to create timelapse sequences in camera.

Starting this process is rather simple (although setting up the camera the ‘right’ way may be more tricky).

IMAG1166

With the multi selector you can select ‘right’ and set:

  1. The interval (seconds)
  2. Duration of the shooting

The camera will calculate the total length of the video.
You cannot preview the photo’s that are being taken when you have the Image Review option ‘OFF’. (saving battery life)

These are the main settings, but (of course) the real thinking goes into selecting the right aperture / shutter speed / shooting mode / white balance and so on.

With this timelapse mode, you have little influence over the post processing involved in rendering the actual footage to a video file.
If you need that, the D610 also offers ‘Interval timer shooting’. (more on that in a new post)

Here are three sequences straight out of the camera:

I am rather pleased with the results, although there is some flickering in the second sequence. Maybe that was because the White Balance was set to auto (always a bad idea when shooting timelapses), but maybe it has some other reason.

Of course this can be corrected in post (de flickering), but the main purpose was to test the ability of the D610 to generate timelapses ‘in camera’.

More on this topic later (I will put a link here).

3 Comments


  1. what is the best option of white balance while shooting timelapse?
    for example, if I’m shooting in daylight shall I turned to daylight ..or what do you think.
    it was simple clear illustration thanks you.

    1. Author

      Hi there.
      If you want the best result, you should use RAW so you can adjust the WB afterwards.
      If you don’t want to go that road, I would suggest just to choose the one that suits the lighting situation you will be shooting in most of the time during the sequence.
      BUT. In my opinion if you shoot outdoor, most of the outdoor WB settings will do.
      Also not that day – night timelapses require bulb ramping because of the change in exposure that is required. That will be a more difficult thing that the WB 🙂

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