My Life's A Trip

Rainy morning in Sydney

On my recent trip to Sydney, my room at the Park Hyatt Sydney had a killer view of the iconic Sydney Opera House. I’ve shot some of my favorite time lapse videos here. The backdrop is especially stunning at sunrise, when the harbour come to life and starts buzzing with activity.

Since I knew I was going to be in this spot for a while, I decided to compare a few different #shotoniPhone6 time lapse options. I shot videos using my iPhone 6’s native camera time-lapse function, another using the TimeLapse app, and the third I made with the Hyperlapse app.

First up, the iPhone 6 Native Camera’s Time-Lapse feature: The iPhone’s built in time-lapse function:

I am happy with the  results I got using iPhone 6’s built-in Time Lapse function. The pacing works well for the clouds and rain and the traffic on the harbour. The downside: there is only one time lapse setting. So the results might not be as idea for different shooting situations like capturing crowds or night traffic.

Next, I tried shooting a sunrise time lapse using the paid version of TimeLapse app‘s Sunrise/sunset preset feature:

I’m really happy with the resulting time lapse video and love that the app offers presets for different shooting situations. I think if you’re going to shoot time-lapse videos in a variety of different scenarios, this app is well worth the $4.99 as an additional tool for serious shooters.

Next, I shot a bit later in the day using the Hyperlapse app from Instagram. What Hyperlapse has going for it is image stabilization. It’s probably your best option when shooting a time lapse video handheld, if you don’t have a tripod or mount handy.

I think the resulting hyperlapse video is fun, but not substantial because the app’s default resolution is too low for my liking. Turns out there are “secret settings” you can unlock in Hyperlapse which are shown in this YouTube video.

My issue is that the secret settings are tricky to access, especially if you have cold fingers. But accessing them allows you to unlock an expanded range of options including higher resolution and more speeds. While I currently think Hyperlapse is your best option for handheld time lapse videos, and I’ll have to review my thoughts on as a serious tool for time lapse options after I use it with the unlocked range of functions, and the higher 1080 pixel resolution.