Time Lapse Camera Attachment To Railing?

[MajSteve]

Hello: Going on an NCL Transatlantic cruise in April. I would like to take several Time Warp photos during the cruise. I have an inside cabin, so window/balcony shots are out. Looking for advice on attaching my GoPro to a railing somewhere on the ship. I have a very small clamp that is well padded, so it would not cause any damage to the rail and would be very unobtrusive. Has anyone tried this before and succeeded? I suppose there is a slight chance of theft or confiscation by the crew. I have not found any regulation against it! Any advice or tips would be very welcome, and thanks a lot...

[topkatz]

I've done this several times.

First step is to get permission from the ship. Typically the Staff Captain is responsible for the Deck department and Security teams. He/She will let staff know that the camera is there so they won't mess with it.

 

Equipment wise...

SmallRig has a very compact & effective rail clamp https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5LC7W6F. Combine that with a ball mount for the GoPro and a safety cable and you should be good to go. You'll need a large memory card. I used a 256g card and could capture 9000+ photos for a Panama Canal transit of ~12 hours (5 sec interval) with room to spare. 

 

Set the camera for tripod operation, turn off the front screen, set screen display to turn off after 30 sec or so to maximize battery life.  In my case I use a large (20,000 mAh) external battery with high current output to run the GoPro https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LG2X98F. The GoPro battery is removed so it won't overheat. The external battery is in a zip lock bag in case of rain. I place a piece of gaff tape (doesn't leave residue) over the camera battery door and over where the cable enters to make sure I don't get water inside.

 

Advice is to test out the entire setup BEFORE you board the ship. Make sure the battery, mount, cables, etc. all work as expected and be sure you have the proper cables for recharging the external battery.

 

Latest Canal transit video here:

HTH

 

[MajSteve]

That is a great time lapse! What was the length in real time? Thanks for the advice on contacting the Staff Captain. Would I best reach him/her through Customer Services? Thanks again and I will share my results with you. I leave on April 7. I spotted your length and settings in your email...

Edited March 13 by MajSteve

[MajSteve]

Just another quick question if you don't mind! Did you use Time Lapse or Time Warp settings? I have seen some articles that state that Time Lapse is for when the camera is sitting still, and Time Warp is used when the camera is moving. I guess either would work. (I have never tried Time Warp.) Thanks again for your advice and patience!

[topkatz]

3 hours ago, MajSteve said:

Just another quick question if you don't mind! Did you use Time Lapse or Time Warp settings? I have seen some articles that state that Time Lapse is for when the camera is sitting still, and Time Warp is used when the camera is moving. I guess either would work. (I have never tried Time Warp.) Thanks again for your advice and patience!

I use Time Lapse even though the camera is moving.

My settings:

Lens Wide

Format Photo

Interval 5s

Shutter Auto

Output Raw (I process in Lightroom to adjust the photos and remove lens distortion, then export as jpg)

Scheduled Capture off

Duration No Limit

Time 5s

Protune:

EV Comp 0

White Balance 5500k

ISO Min 100

ISO Max 800

Sharpness Low

Color Flat

 

I use an ND16 filter as well.

Recommend that you do several test runs at home so you can dial in the settings.

 

The 2024 Timelapse was 9:30 hours. The one from 2023 was 9:40. I cut some of the middle bits from the 2024 video. Your playback frame rate will determine the total video length. I've use 24 and 30 fps. Both result in acceptable videos.

 

GL

 

[topkatz]

4 hours ago, MajSteve said:

That is a great time lapse! What was the length in real time? Thanks for the advice on contacting the Staff Captain. Would I best reach him/her through Customer Services? Thanks again and I will share my results with you. I leave on April 7. I spotted your length and settings in your email...

Yes, customer service.  Depends on the ship and their policies.

I've seen people just clamp to a rail and hope it doesn't get removed.

 

I had one nighttime shoot ruined because, even though I had permission, the night security person thought the camera was knocked over and set it upright. I got a great series of the railing light rather than the hoped for Aurora.

[Mr. Click]

So now I need to think about putting the GoPro back in my bag for Iceland this summer......Great work Topkatz

[topkatz]

If you have a larger camera or the clamp jaws are too small, you can try a modified (drill a hole through the end for a mini ball head - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0792V6T4P) ratcheting bar clamp. This one was from Harbor Freight. The mini ball head is attached with a 1/4-20 bolt that can be swapped side-to-side if it turns out to be on the wrong orientation. I used it to mount a larger camera on the balcony railing to get a different perspective while using the GoPro pointed toward the bow during one Canal transit. Remember to have a safety cable in case of a clamp failure. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RP8YY9R

 

One other note: Be aware that setting out a camera for a long duration time lapse in the equatorial sun may cause the camera to overheat and shutdown. The GoPro seems pretty resilient. I rigged a simple cardboard shield for the GoPro one one transit and nothing for the latest transit. No thermal shutdown in either case. My Sony A6000 shutdown after 90 min due to temp, still had plenty of external battery power. Didn't realize this issue until I returned to the cabin. Could have used a "sun hat" for the Sony. Mind that you don't gate the "sun hat" in the photo. The GoPro is pretty wide angle and can easily pick up the edge of the "sun hat".

 

Sorry for the long-ish post(s). I hope it will help others make satisfying time lapses.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Excellent advice on this thread! Wanted to share my timelapse setup -

 

 

It's a GoPro Hero 8 on a Joby Suction Cup Mount with Gorillapod Arm, tethered with stainless steel cable. I like the Gorillapod arm because it gives more position control after the mount is secured - I think you can get these with a clamp base, too.

[MajSteve]

On 3/17/2024 at 6:00 PM, LittleMissMagic said:

Excellent advice on this thread! Wanted to share my timelapse setup -

 

 

It's a GoPro Hero 8 on a Joby Suction Cup Mount with Gorillapod Arm, tethered with stainless steel cable. I like the Gorillapod arm because it gives more position control after the mount is secured - I think you can get these with a clamp base, too.

 

[MajSteve]

I have the exact same setup, but I will not be in a balcony cabin with my own private railing! Hence my concern over placing my camera on a "public" railing without some sort of permission from someone on the crew. Any advice you might have would be appreciated, especially any thoughts on the settings you use for your GoPro in Time-Lapse. Thanks so much!

[MajSteve]

Here are 4 tracking shots for the solar eclipse on April 8th, our first sea day. Might be fun to try a timelapse during this period! These positions are just my guesses as to where we will be, but I'm sure the ship would provide exact lat/long positions for me. And, I could set up outside so I wouldn't have to worry about having my camera confiscated! 

[Laszlo]

On 3/12/2024 at 8:51 PM, MajSteve said:

Hello: Going on an NCL Transatlantic cruise in April. I would like to take several Time Warp photos during the cruise. I have an inside cabin, so window/balcony shots are out. Looking for advice on attaching my GoPro to a railing somewhere on the ship. I have a very small clamp that is well padded, so it would not cause any damage to the rail and would be very unobtrusive. Has anyone tried this before and succeeded? I suppose there is a slight chance of theft or confiscation by the crew. I have not found any regulation against it! Any advice or tips would be very welcome, and thanks a lot...

I have done a lot of time lapse with both GoPro and DJI cameras. Not only will you need a mount you will also need a Power Bank. Not only a Power Bank but one with a trickle charge feature. I would also install  GoPro's Labs Software on your GoPro. One of the nice features with it is the ability to force the camera to use power from a USB power source. GoPro is kind of funky when you are using or not using the internal battery AND connected to another power source.

 

I really like this power bank because it has a trickle charge feature.

 

https://amzn.to/3U2YdfU

 

This Joby mount is great for ship railings

 

https://amzn.to/43LYjM4

 

 

 

[MajSteve]

I have been using this mount with success. I use "reusable" zip ties. They hold great! I have two of these and on one of them I pasted a thin layer of foam to cushion it a bit. They only come in the flat base, but I have contacted the maker and he is working on one with a curved base for railings, pipes, etc.

 

 

Edited April 5 by MajSteve

[Laszlo]

On 3/17/2024 at 7:00 PM, LittleMissMagic said:

Excellent advice on this thread! Wanted to share my timelapse setup -

 

 

It's a GoPro Hero 8 on a Joby Suction Cup Mount with Gorillapod Arm, tethered with stainless steel cable. I like the Gorillapod arm because it gives more position control after the mount is secured - I think you can get these with a clamp base, too.

That little suction cup is a great idea. However on NCL the railings.... I think are rounded. I need to go back and look at some photos of balcoines