Hey everybody! I regretfully neglected to tweak the focus on my main camera when presenting the settings on the GoPro in this video. Sometimes the simple things are overlooked and I apologize to you for this oversight on this video. This is now a permanent part of my workflow for every video I film and I have it white-boarded as such: ALWAYS CHECK THE FOCUS. ALWAYS!
Yes, you are correct on both. After hitting the button I make sure the pictures are being taken and at the proper interval by watching the camera closely but I then stay away from the camera until it’s time to end the time lapse.
I've been using the Night lapse mode on my Hero 10 for about a month now and the footage always looked good . But with your settings it blew me away . Just a normal evening with the GoPro stationary on my balcony looks amazing . Thanks for that .
Thank you for your video and settings set up. What size card do you use and what are the specs on the card? Thank you again. I am going to give this a try.
Amazing Do you camp out for this. I do a bit of camping on dartmoor lol Does battery last OK and how long in total and could you set timer to stop after said time and lastly when you put photos in light room doez it not put everything you filmed on timeline Inc other stuff how to separate it all..? Excuse million questions lol
Yes, I do sometimes camp out for these. I use an external power pack that I can plug the GoPro into via the USB cable. Yes, you can set the timer to stop at a specific time. When I import the photos from the time lapse into Lightroom I import them as a separate catalog and I make sure I only import the photos for the time lapse and not anything else that might be on the MicroSD card.
So what’s wrong with choosing video instead of photo for night lapse, does the quality drop significantly? I also noticed if you choose GoPro colour instead of flat setting the picture is much brighter wouldn’t this help much more in capturing the light from the stars and save the hassle of having to use Lightroom to edit the pictures?
New sub here: Thank you for the great info and examples I hope to use this information to film the Northern Lights this weekend watching the Iditarod sled dog race. Thanks again.
The settings will be a bit different for the video mode. I recently created a video that provides all of my best setting recommendations for video mode night lapses. You can view that here: ua-cam.com/video/dIYPzEhuwOI/v-deo.html
This is a process that can be done while editing by adjusting the scale. There is a zoom function on the GoPro but this decrease the quality of the footage and I do not recommend using it.
getting very interssting results now, thanks for the advice. i`m also trying out the night video mod with this settings, looks pretty cool too. but the videos are very short, thinking about a solution to videos that are 4-5 minutes long....
This is a great question. I responded to your other question about this but if you wanted 4-5 minutes I’d recommend doing night lapses a few nights in a row and making a larger one.
Hello there. i have gopro 9. I love night time shots. especially star shots. This device gives me peace and an incredible image, but when I make the video format "photo", on which program can I convert them to video, please? This is very important for me.
Hi, might a dumb question but you use video mode and output to photo so I wonder why not use photo mode and night profile instead? All the settings are also available in that mode too.
Photo mode under time lapse settings does give the best results with night lapses and it is my go to mode. The reason I use photo under time lapses is because if I use photo mode stand-alone this does not allow for taking pictures at a set interval.
General settings that will help: Mode: Video Resolution: 4K ISO: 800 if moon in the sky, 1600 if no moon in the sky. Shutter: 30s Interval: Auto Sharpness: Low or Medium. Low will be smoother and help dampen some of the noise from the higher ISO. White Balance: 3800K Color: Flat or GoPro depending on how rich you want the colors to be. Flat is generally better for a video night lapse.
@@GreatDayForAHike New to all this, but what are main reasons for using Format set to Photo vs set to Video? New, and will be traveling to the mountains and would like to capture some Night Lapse of stars but wont have the capacity to do much post editing/stitching of photos. FYI: Great channel, I've subscribed and turned on Alerts. Thank you
Great question. The main reason to use Photo mode is you’ll tend to capture more detail of the stars in the sky; however, photo mode does require editing. If you want a no edit option, video mode will still give you good results. The results you get may not be as great as photo mode but should still be useable.
You would likely want to use a 15 or 30 second interval and probably do this over multiple days unless it is a plant that is growing really rapidly. Also, you may want some subtle lighting on the plant to help it stand out from the darkness. You also would probably want to set the shutter speed to around 5 seconds depending upon the brightness of the lighting.
Thank you for showing the settings on the various cameras! But how long will the Hero 9 or 8 last in terms of time? You didn't mention having to connect to a battery power bank or if its necessary at all. Thanks again for this vlog tips!
Yes, if one wants a time lapse that involves having the camera setup for longer than two hours I definitely recommend having an external battery pack. I use an external battery pack anytime my time lapse is longer than two hours.
Great question. I keep the GoPro connected to an external battery pack all night. I typically film from sunset to sunrise. In this follow-up video I share more details: ua-cam.com/video/2E4kRbn37LI/v-deo.html
Great question. If you’re doing a night lapse and really want to capture that glow you’ll want to adjust the shutter speed and ISO Min/Max levels a bit. How bright the sky is will depend upon how much you need to adjust these values. If the sky is pretty bright you could bump that ISO down to 400 and the shutter speed down to a 5s or Auto. You’ll want to experiment a bit to see which results you like best but the best settings should be somewhere in that range. Lava is a stunning feature to have in a night lapse!
Hi I have the hero 8. I want to record a timelapse of new grass seeds growing.. so the camera would be in 1 place for about 2 or 3 weeks.. could you recommend any settings that would capture day and night footage, I'm guessing some sort of night vision light would be needed to see the grass in the dark.. not sure on best way forward Thinking about 12 seconds worth of footage per every 24 hours.. thanks Shaun
That sounds like a great time lapse idea. I recommend you check out this video I created that provides the best settings for night to day and day to night time lapses: ua-cam.com/video/lEJKJNeRZ4o/v-deo.html You could certainly still use some type of special lighting to highlight your subject in the video as well.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thanks for your fast reply :) I was hoping to do something like this one: ua-cam.com/video/n44JdpoamdM/v-deo.html (Ill take a look at your recommended video - many thanks!) Shaun.
@@GreatDayForAHike I've messed with ISO, shutter speed, white balance. Wifi is off and only using battery. Even the viewing screen has them. I can lessen their presence in post with some contrast adjustments but why should they be there. It didn't always do this. ua-cam.com/video/NjblnrNQ3Ug/v-deo.html
I'm an old guy and not very tech savy. Would selecting video instead of photo work okay to avoid the extra steps of combining the photos later? Would the video not be as good image quality? Thanks.
Great question. Video will not give quite as good of results as photo mainly due to the photos having more flexibility with aspects that can be edited and fine-tuned. However, I recommend trying video mode out to see if you like the results. Depending on the filming setting the video mode may be more than good enough for what you are looking for with the results.
It is possible to capture the moon in the sky with the GoPro but it’s hard to get a good shot because of how wide angle the lens is on the GoPro. If you want a close up of the moon I’d recommend a mirrorless came a with a telephoto lens.
I use Adobe Lightroom to first make my changes to a single photo and then sync these changes. I then import the photos into Adobe Premiere Pro to create the final time lapse. Here is a video where I show in detail how I do this under method #3: ua-cam.com/video/3JQL1DwkEno/v-deo.html
I do not have settings specific to the Max; however, in general most of these settings should carry over the same since most relate to properly capturing the night sky with lighting and clarity.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thank you! I'm a newbie with gopro just purchased a Hero 9 and I'm getting know how all the features are work. Thanks for your videos helps me a lot, even with editing. You definitely achived a new sub! Ps.: There's always a great day for a hike. All the best!
That second video where the snowstorm moved in is beautiful. You captured the Pleiades and Orion perfectly. When shooting stars, do you recommend always getting a at least a bit of the ground horizon in the frame rather than just 100% sky?
I just made a night lapse following your guidance both on the GoPro hero 8 and editing it with lightroom and premier pro. However when I try to play it on any media player the video is very choppy. Playing a 1:29 minute video takes about 4 minutes. Please advice how I can correct it to play seamlessly. Thanks
Try rendering the video first in Premiere Pro and see if it plays smoothly before exporting. Also, if you exported the video as a 4K file you may need a device with a little more power to play it.
I would recommend exporting in 2.7K first to see if that makes a difference since that higher quality would be nice to have if possible. If that doesn’t work still, 1080p still looks good especially for a time lapse created from individual photos.
@@GreatDayForAHike I have found the mistake I made. The format was set to quicktime and not H264 so premiere pro created a 38gb file. No wonder it was choppy. Once again, thank you for getting back to me
The settings will stay. The mode will reset to whatever you have set as your default (video, photo, or time lapse) unless you change that setting to last used but the configuration settings you tweak will remain and will be ready to go next time you want to use that mode.
Great question. I use a power bank because I want my time lapse or night lapse to be longer than the GoPro battery lasts (about two hours when doing a time lapse).
This video has some footage from the 8 and 9 and yes, there are limits to that small sensor the GoPro has. It’s not going to get the same night photo quality as cameras with larger sensors that cost many times more than the GoPro. The GoPro can be used to do night time lapses with the proper expectations for quality.
In general you want to shoot for at least a few hours depending upon the interval you have between each photo. At night if the interval is 15s or 30s you generally want longer since that is quite a gap between each individual photo. During the day if you’re doing a 5s interval shooting for just a few hours will give you a decent length time lapse.
This is because the moon creates extra light and the shutter does not need to be open for as long. If using 30s shutter speed with the moon the night lapse may be overexposed.
I live in Tasmania Australia and we get Aurora's. I would love to use my Hero 9 to capture these Southern lights. What settings would you suggest to try to capture one. Ours here are different to northern lights where you generally can't see by looking at the sky but a lens can pick it up. Also if I select Video format for either with or without moon can I still use the suggested settings without having to create a video from the photos?
That’s a great question. In general, the settings for no moon in the sky should work best for those unless there is a moon in the sky when you’re filming them in which case you’d want the moon on sky settings. Yes, you can still use the suggested settings if you pick video format without needing to creating a video from the photos.
In the photo mode you will need other software to edit the photos and put them together into a time lapse. In the video mode the GoPro app can create the time lapse.
About 3 hours. This is why I recommend having the GoPro plugged into an outlet or an external battery pack depending upon what you have access to for power at your filming location.
Thank you for your feedback! With daytime time lapses I consider the video mode pretty good and nearly comparable to the photo mode. With night lapses I find the video mode to miss out on some of the finer details such as the further away stars and the Milky Way. Video mode also gives less flexibility when editing. Ultimately, I recommend everybody test out both the photo and video mode to see which they personally like best.
@@GreatDayForAHike thanks for the quick reply! Im an astrophotographer and want to do timelapses from behind my telescope mount as it tracks the object so photo is the way to go! Im gonna go ahead and give you a sub
A couple different options. - If I am someplace where there is a power outlet that is practical, I can run an extension cord to the camera. - External large battery that I can plug the camera into. A simple one will power the camera all night with no problem. The external battery option is my preference in most cases as it gives more flexibility.
Great tips on night time lapses - will sure try this out. By the way, do you have any overheating issues on your GoPro Hero 9 when you do these time lapses?
It’s a lot of fun to use the GoPro for night lapses. It does have obvious limitations due to the sensor size but it’s amazing to see the quality of night lapses this tiny little camera is capable of capturing.
Loved the video man, thanks for the tips :) I have one question: Do you use an external powerbank to power your GoPro if you want to take longer timelapses? If so, how do you make sure it stays dry overnight? Looking forward to your answer!
You’re welcome! Yes, I do use an external power bank for long time lapse. If I’m concerned about it getting wet I’ll sometimes wrap it with some plastic or put it in a ziplock bag with an opening for the cable.
GoPro also now sells a usb pass through cover so you can power the camera over long sessions while keeping the side door semi weather resistant. I use a Smallrig cage for my GoPro that I HIGHLY recommended, so there are plenty of 1/4-20 spots to thread attachments onto like Smallrigs Battery bank holder and Atmos Field monitor cage. I will warn you now, as soon as you start buying Smallrig parts you're gonna get addicted. It's like a sick Lego set for nerds.
You are correct. This step is done in an editor. This video is an example of how I do this (method 3 in the video): ua-cam.com/video/3JQL1DwkEno/v-deo.html
Yes, there is. If you're close to a power outlet you can plug it in with a power cord with a USB-C connection. Or you can use an external power bank with a USB-C cable. I use this Anker external power bank and like it: amzn.to/3s3ODKh
Yes and no. It is possible and there are a few different ways to accomplish this. Setting the camera with the same settings for all 24 hours will not be optimal for either day or night. However, there is a method I use where I quickly alter the settings around the key times to “switch” from optimal day to night settings. Then when editing I have these fade into each other to make for a smooth transition. I am working on a video that teaches how I do this and plan to publish this within the next few weeks.
Yes, this is another method that I recently experimented with on several occasions and like. Still fine-tuning what gets me the best results but definitely promising on this camera.
Haha I know, I have worked on that since this video but yeah, I definitely needed some blinking balance in there. Sometimes I get really focused and in the zone. You’re welcome!
Thank you for all the information! I have a question, if I want to do the time lapse until the sun rises, I should use the same configuration you shared on the video? I wonder if the light of the sun will mess the video because of the settings, not sure. Greetings from Brazil, nice video.
Great question. You will want to use different settings when doing a day to night or night to day time lapse. I provide those settings in this video: ua-cam.com/video/lEJKJNeRZ4o/v-deo.html Thank you!
It will still give good results as long as the conditions are favorable. The video mode is less forgiving if conditions are not best for filming a night lapse and these is less editing control over it. That is the main difference.
Night lapses do generally require some editing for best results but it is possible to use similar settings to what I demonstrated in this video and then film in video mode with those settings for a no edit finished product.
With the 30 second interval this equals one frame every 30 seconds which is two frames per minute or 120 frames per hour. If the finished product is 24 frames per second this means one hour of actual filming time equals 5 seconds of video. With night lapses I recommend setting up the camera to film for the entirety of the night in order to have sufficient footage length to pull from.
I have two questions, 1. Can I change all these settings back and forth directly from the gopro app and not from the camera itself? and 2. Can I start shooting the timelapse using just the gopro app? Great video btw man, keep it up.
Yes, these settings can be changed using the GoPro app on your phone with it connected to the camera. Yes, you can start shouting the time lapse using the GoPro app. Thank you!
Perfect! I’m planning to buy one in the near future, but I’m still undecided if I should wait for the 10 or go for the 9, thanks for your response man.
Interval is the duration between each individual photo. If using the photo setting you will need to create the time lapse manually using all of the photos that are taken. However, the GoPro will provide an internal preview of what the time lapse will look like. If using the video setting the GoPro will create the time lapse within the camera.
Great question. It’s possible to see this from either. The GoPro Hero 8 was notorious for having hot pixels while shooting night lapses. I did not ever see this with the 9 and have not yet on the 10. UA-cam compression with dark video could occasionally cause this but not likely most of the time.
All I have to do is keep my camera stationary on the tripod all night while I sleep and the earth rotating at about 800mph here does the heavy lifting for me.
What is your opinion about the brutal number of hot pixels/dead pixels around 07:00? I bought a Hero 8 last week, and I found out today that this is a common problem with it. I watched this video a few days earlier, I didn't notice the pixels then, but now it's very noticeable, because I know about the problem. :D I guess I have to live with it, I'm not a professional, the photos/videos/timelapses in daylight are awesome, only this hot pixel problem bothers me. I started to think about turning the 8 back, and leave with a 10... (By the way it's interesting that on the snowstorm footage (7:20) I can't find any of the hot pixels.)
A valid item to discuss. So with the Hero 8 and Hero 9 I did notice the hot pixels when it was used in a really dark environment such as those night lapses without a moon. However, you are right, it wasn’t really an issue with a less-dark sky with a moon or some brighter clouds. The Hero 10 on the other hand has not had the hot pixel issue that I have noticed yet even in a really dark sky. To be fair to GoPro they are not the only action camera with the hot pixel issue. The new Insta360 One RS also has this issue and it’s even worse than the Hero 8 or 9 for night lapses.
Hey everybody! I regretfully neglected to tweak the focus on my main camera when presenting the settings on the GoPro in this video. Sometimes the simple things are overlooked and I apologize to you for this oversight on this video. This is now a permanent part of my workflow for every video I film and I have it white-boarded as such: ALWAYS CHECK THE FOCUS. ALWAYS!
How do I actually shoot the time lapse? Just pressing the camera button and leaving it? Do I just press it again when I'm done capturing?
Yes, you are correct on both. After hitting the button I make sure the pictures are being taken and at the proper interval by watching the camera closely but I then stay away from the camera until it’s time to end the time lapse.
No drama
LOL I felt the need to make this oversight clear.
External power pack along with the GoPro USB pass-thru door kept it powered and waterproof all night.
I've been using the Night lapse mode on my Hero 10 for about a month now
and the footage always looked good .
But with your settings it blew me away .
Just a normal evening with the GoPro stationary on my balcony looks amazing .
Thanks for that .
You’re welcome and I appreciate your feedback!
very good video results, thank you friend for sharing this experience, perfect for me who just has a Gopro 9. 🇲🇨
Thank you for your feedback and I’m glad you found this useful.
Next, do the settings on your camera to keep it in focus 👍
Yes, that was an unfortunate lack of a press of one button.
Oh snap! Burn!!! Ahahaaaa ROASTED……shoot wait.
I have to admit that was a good one haha
new to gopro and nightlapse footage. you blew my mind with the iso values
Great, I hope you have a lot of fun with your GoPro!
thank you , very explicit video , thanks for sharing , I'll try these settings !
You’re welcome. They have given me great results and are the best ones I have found for most night lapses after a lot of experimentation. Have fun!
Just found it through your note elsewhere. I 've a lot to say but no time right now. Will be back soon but just wanted to say Thanks man.
Thanks for the informative video, it helped me record some of the amazing nightlapse clips 👍
You’re welcome!
Wow that was awesome footage
Thank you.
Great video for both types of night shots! will def be trying these out :)
Thank you and have fun!
Gonna try my first night lapse next week!
Hello, very usefull video thanks.. Love from Mysore, KA, India
Thank you and I appreciate your support!
Excellent video thanks
Thank you for your feedback.
Thx for these trips, hope to try them soon
You’re welcome!
Thanks. Really enjoyed your explanation and delivery. Subbed.
Thank you and I appreciate your support.
Thanks for the tips
You’re welcome
Wow nice...very informative..Thanks.👍👍
You’re welcome.
Excellent tutorial! Thanks!
Thank you for your feedback. You’re welcome!
Thanks for sharing. This helps heaps 🥰 new subscriber here
You’re welcome and thank you for your feedback and support!
Great video bro
Thank you
Will try for sure
Thank you for doing this video.
You’re welcome
Thanks for sharing, thats awesome .
You’re welcome
Thanks for the tips 👍
You’re welcome.
Thank you. Excellent videos 👍🏼👍🏼 keep it up
Thank you!
Wounderful night timelapse
Thank you, much appreciated!
Hi, nice video. Could you do for DJI 4 ? I just buy one but I didn’t find nothing for setting in DJI . Thanks 🙏
Thank you for your video and settings set up. What size card do you use and what are the specs on the card? Thank you again. I am going to give this a try.
I currently use a 128GB SanDisk Extreme MicroSD card. I find this gives me plenty of space and works well with the GoPro Hero 9.
Have fun!
@@GreatDayForAHike thank you for your quick response.
Amazing
Do you camp out for this. I do a bit of camping on dartmoor lol
Does battery last OK and how long in total and could you set timer to stop after said time and lastly when you put photos in light room doez it not put everything you filmed on timeline Inc other stuff how to separate it all..? Excuse million questions lol
Yes, I do sometimes camp out for these.
I use an external power pack that I can plug the GoPro into via the USB cable.
Yes, you can set the timer to stop at a specific time.
When I import the photos from the time lapse into Lightroom I import them as a separate catalog and I make sure I only import the photos for the time lapse and not anything else that might be on the MicroSD card.
So what’s wrong with choosing video instead of photo for night lapse, does the quality drop significantly? I also noticed if you choose GoPro colour instead of flat setting the picture is much brighter wouldn’t this help much more in capturing the light from the stars and save the hassle of having to use Lightroom to edit the pictures?
Great video 💯📸💯
New sub here: Thank you for the great info and examples I hope to use this information to film the Northern Lights this weekend watching the Iditarod sled dog race. Thanks again.
Thank you for your support and feedback. That sounds like an incredible weekend you have planned.
Hi, can I do the same setting with video mode! I don't have a editing program for the photos, I'll await your reply, thanks.
The settings will be a bit different for the video mode. I recently created a video that provides all of my best setting recommendations for video mode night lapses. You can view that here: ua-cam.com/video/dIYPzEhuwOI/v-deo.html
@@GreatDayForAHike thank you 🙏
You’re welcome
@@GreatDayForAHike
Hi sir, please another question, How do I zoom in and out in timelapse video?
This is a process that can be done while editing by adjusting the scale. There is a zoom function on the GoPro but this decrease the quality of the footage and I do not recommend using it.
getting very interssting results now, thanks for the advice. i`m also trying out the night video mod with this settings, looks pretty cool too. but the videos are very short, thinking about a solution to videos that are 4-5 minutes long....
This is a great question. I responded to your other question about this but if you wanted 4-5 minutes I’d recommend doing night lapses a few nights in a row and making a larger one.
Quality content. Thank you.
You’re welcome.
Helpful tips
Thank you and glad you found these helpful.
Thank you man, well done.
Appreciate your feedback!
Exactly what I was looking for; Hero7 mounted to my telescope for tonight’s imaging session.
Sounds like a great setup!
Hello there. i have gopro 9. I love night time shots. especially star shots. This device gives me peace and an incredible image, but when I make the video format "photo", on which program can I convert them to video, please? This is very important for me.
Hi, might a dumb question but you use video mode and output to photo so I wonder why not use photo mode and night profile instead? All the settings are also available in that mode too.
Photo mode under time lapse settings does give the best results with night lapses and it is my go to mode. The reason I use photo under time lapses is because if I use photo mode stand-alone this does not allow for taking pictures at a set interval.
Hello, thanks for this video !! Just a question:
these settings are good for Gopro 11 black ?
Thanks all !!
Hi can you tell me the settings for night lapse settings for video as I am on the road and I don’t want to edit.. thanks ian
General settings that will help:
Mode: Video
Resolution: 4K
ISO: 800 if moon in the sky, 1600 if no moon in the sky.
Shutter: 30s
Interval: Auto
Sharpness: Low or Medium. Low will be smoother and help dampen some of the noise from the higher ISO.
White Balance: 3800K
Color: Flat or GoPro depending on how rich you want the colors to be. Flat is generally better for a video night lapse.
Hi thanks for the info can’t wait to try it. Ian
thank you
You’re welcome!
Thanks for the great tutorial. Do you have a video showing best settings of Night Lapse for Video?
You’re welcome. I do not have one yet but will look at creating one along with some examples.
@@GreatDayForAHike New to all this, but what are main reasons for using Format set to Photo vs set to Video? New, and will be traveling to the mountains and would like to capture some Night Lapse of stars but wont have the capacity to do much post editing/stitching of photos. FYI: Great channel, I've subscribed and turned on Alerts. Thank you
Great question. The main reason to use Photo mode is you’ll tend to capture more detail of the stars in the sky; however, photo mode does require editing. If you want a no edit option, video mode will still give you good results. The results you get may not be as great as photo mode but should still be useable.
@@GreatDayForAHike Awesome, thank you so much for the replay. Great content, thank you for the knowledge you pass along.
Nice Video
Do you have some settings for time lapse for plants growing overnight?
You would likely want to use a 15 or 30 second interval and probably do this over multiple days unless it is a plant that is growing really rapidly. Also, you may want some subtle lighting on the plant to help it stand out from the darkness. You also would probably want to set the shutter speed to around 5 seconds depending upon the brightness of the lighting.
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Can't seem to find your link for how to edit in lightroom
This video can be found here: ua-cam.com/video/3JQL1DwkEno/v-deo.html
Thank you for showing the settings on the various cameras! But how long will the Hero 9 or 8 last in terms of time? You didn't mention having to connect to a battery power bank or if its necessary at all. Thanks again for this vlog tips!
Yes, if one wants a time lapse that involves having the camera setup for longer than two hours I definitely recommend having an external battery pack. I use an external battery pack anytime my time lapse is longer than two hours.
@@GreatDayForAHike What about micro SD card capacity for a whole night?
I would recommend at least 128GB if doing photo mode.
for how long do you shoot with 1 battery or do you switch batteries through the course of the night?
Great question. I keep the GoPro connected to an external battery pack all night. I typically film from sunset to sunrise. In this follow-up video I share more details: ua-cam.com/video/2E4kRbn37LI/v-deo.html
What do you think I should do for filming lava
Great question. If you’re doing a night lapse and really want to capture that glow you’ll want to adjust the shutter speed and ISO Min/Max levels a bit. How bright the sky is will depend upon how much you need to adjust these values. If the sky is pretty bright you could bump that ISO down to 400 and the shutter speed down to a 5s or Auto. You’ll want to experiment a bit to see which results you like best but the best settings should be somewhere in that range. Lava is a stunning feature to have in a night lapse!
Does the back display stay on the whole time? Mine shows a counter for each photo take that probably drains my battery overtime.
The display does goes off after a few minutes if you have it set to do so. I have mine set to go dark after 1 minute.
Hi I have the hero 8. I want to record a timelapse of new grass seeds growing.. so the camera would be in 1 place for about 2 or 3 weeks.. could you recommend any settings that would capture day and night footage, I'm guessing some sort of night vision light would be needed to see the grass in the dark.. not sure on best way forward Thinking about 12 seconds worth of footage per every 24 hours.. thanks
Shaun
That sounds like a great time lapse idea. I recommend you check out this video I created that provides the best settings for night to day and day to night time lapses: ua-cam.com/video/lEJKJNeRZ4o/v-deo.html
You could certainly still use some type of special lighting to highlight your subject in the video as well.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thanks for your fast reply :) I was hoping to do something like this one: ua-cam.com/video/n44JdpoamdM/v-deo.html (Ill take a look at your recommended video - many thanks!) Shaun.
Any idea how to get the lines out of the images?
What type of lines are you seeing? Want to make sure I understand in order to give you the best advice.
@@GreatDayForAHike I've messed with ISO, shutter speed, white balance. Wifi is off and only using battery. Even the viewing screen has them. I can lessen their presence in post with some contrast adjustments but why should they be there. It didn't always do this. ua-cam.com/video/NjblnrNQ3Ug/v-deo.html
How long do you record for?
I aim for right after sunset to right before sunrise. I like to capture the entire night.
I'm an old guy and not very tech savy. Would selecting video instead of photo work okay to avoid the extra steps of combining the photos later? Would the video not be as good image quality? Thanks.
Great question. Video will not give quite as good of results as photo mainly due to the photos having more flexibility with aspects that can be edited and fine-tuned. However, I recommend trying video mode out to see if you like the results. Depending on the filming setting the video mode may be more than good enough for what you are looking for with the results.
Hi there! In March 7th, there’ll be full moon, i wanted to know if it’s possible to take a good photo with a hero9 from GoPro.
It is possible to capture the moon in the sky with the GoPro but it’s hard to get a good shot because of how wide angle the lens is on the GoPro. If you want a close up of the moon I’d recommend a mirrorless came a with a telephoto lens.
Thanks for sharing 🙏 great guide 🔥💯
You’re welcome!
How long does the battery last for? Do I need to use USB cable to record for hours?
Hi what do you use to assemble all the photos together after the shooting ?
I use Adobe Lightroom to first make my changes to a single photo and then sync these changes. I then import the photos into Adobe Premiere Pro to create the final time lapse. Here is a video where I show in detail how I do this under method #3: ua-cam.com/video/3JQL1DwkEno/v-deo.html
Will surely try this❤️
Do you have settings for night lapse for GoPro max?
I do not have settings specific to the Max; however, in general most of these settings should carry over the same since most relate to properly capturing the night sky with lighting and clarity.
What resolution you recommend for these two option you've mentioned. 4K or 1080?
Great video!
Thanks for your answer!
I recommend 4K due to the additional detail this will capture.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thank you! I'm a newbie with gopro just purchased a Hero 9 and I'm getting know how all the features are work. Thanks for your videos helps me a lot, even with editing. You definitely achived a new sub!
Ps.: There's always a great day for a hike.
All the best!
Thank you for your support!
Awesome ❤️
Bro...
Thank you.
That second video where the snowstorm moved in is beautiful. You captured the Pleiades and Orion perfectly. When shooting stars, do you recommend always getting a at least a bit of the ground horizon in the frame rather than just 100% sky?
Thank you. Yes, for shooting stars I do recommend getting at least a bit of the ground horizon in the frame. Doing this makes the perspective better.
I just made a night lapse following your guidance both on the GoPro hero 8 and editing it with lightroom and premier pro. However when I try to play it on any media player the video is very choppy. Playing a 1:29 minute video takes about 4 minutes. Please advice how I can correct it to play seamlessly. Thanks
Try rendering the video first in Premiere Pro and see if it plays smoothly before exporting. Also, if you exported the video as a 4K file you may need a device with a little more power to play it.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thanks for the quick response. Would you export the file in 2.7k or 1080p?
I would recommend exporting in 2.7K first to see if that makes a difference since that higher quality would be nice to have if possible. If that doesn’t work still, 1080p still looks good especially for a time lapse created from individual photos.
@@GreatDayForAHike I'll give it a try. Thanks again
@@GreatDayForAHike I have found the mistake I made. The format was set to quicktime and not H264 so premiere pro created a 38gb file. No wonder it was choppy. Once again, thank you for getting back to me
If you change your nightlaps settings will they reset to default next time you turn your camera on?
The settings will stay. The mode will reset to whatever you have set as your default (video, photo, or time lapse) unless you change that setting to last used but the configuration settings you tweak will remain and will be ready to go next time you want to use that mode.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thank you
Thank,...my brother🙏🙏🙏
You’re welcome.
Are external batteries necessary for night or time lapse recordings?
Great question. I use a power bank because I want my time lapse or night lapse to be longer than the GoPro battery lasts (about two hours when doing a time lapse).
Wow!!! What GoPro model is this? You have so many hot pixels on these it's unreal!!!!
This video has some footage from the 8 and 9 and yes, there are limits to that small sensor the GoPro has. It’s not going to get the same night photo quality as cameras with larger sensors that cost many times more than the GoPro. The GoPro can be used to do night time lapses with the proper expectations for quality.
Great stuff 👍
Can someone please tell me for how long should we shoot to get decent and short time laps or a night laps videos?
In general you want to shoot for at least a few hours depending upon the interval you have between each photo. At night if the interval is 15s or 30s you generally want longer since that is quite a gap between each individual photo. During the day if you’re doing a 5s interval shooting for just a few hours will give you a decent length time lapse.
@@GreatDayForAHike
Thank you so much ❤️🙏
Why is shutter shorter (15s) on Moon preset?
This is because the moon creates extra light and the shutter does not need to be open for as long. If using 30s shutter speed with the moon the night lapse may be overexposed.
I live in Tasmania Australia and we get Aurora's. I would love to use my Hero 9 to capture these Southern lights. What settings would you suggest to try to capture one. Ours here are different to northern lights where you generally can't see by looking at the sky but a lens can pick it up. Also if I select Video format for either with or without moon can I still use the suggested settings without having to create a video from the photos?
That’s a great question. In general, the settings for no moon in the sky should work best for those unless there is a moon in the sky when you’re filming them in which case you’d want the moon on sky settings. Yes, you can still use the suggested settings if you pick video format without needing to creating a video from the photos.
@@GreatDayForAHike thanks so much for replying and your suggestions. Can't wait to try them out.
You’re welcome! Sounds like a beautiful sky to film where you are. Enjoy!
In the photo mode can you create the time laps in the GoPro app or do you need other software?
In the photo mode you will need other software to edit the photos and put them together into a time lapse. In the video mode the GoPro app can create the time lapse.
@@GreatDayForAHike awesome! Thanks for the video!
@@theplancks7618 You’re welcome!
How long will the battery last in time lapse mode
About 3 hours. This is why I recommend having the GoPro plugged into an outlet or an external battery pack depending upon what you have access to for power at your filming location.
I have a 128gb sd card, will that be enough for one night or night lapse?
best video explaining gopro settings Ive found yet! thanks for this. Is video lapse mode far less quality as an end product?
Thank you for your feedback!
With daytime time lapses I consider the video mode pretty good and nearly comparable to the photo mode. With night lapses I find the video mode to miss out on some of the finer details such as the further away stars and the Milky Way. Video mode also gives less flexibility when editing. Ultimately, I recommend everybody test out both the photo and video mode to see which they personally like best.
@@GreatDayForAHike thanks for the quick reply! Im an astrophotographer and want to do timelapses from behind my telescope mount as it tracks the object so photo is the way to go! Im gonna go ahead and give you a sub
Thank you. I appreciate your support!
That sounds like a lot of fun and a great use case for this.
Hello, is it normal that my night laps videos are only 1sec long? I would like them to last longer, it's much too condensed...
Thanks !
How long in actual time are you capturing your night lapse and what is your interval?
@@GreatDayForAHike I put auto interval and tried for about 1 hour...
How do you night time-lapse on a Gopro when the battery barely lasts for an hour?
Sorry I don't have a Gopro yet. Planning on getting the 8.
A couple different options.
- If I am someplace where there is a power outlet that is practical, I can run an extension cord to the camera.
- External large battery that I can plug the camera into. A simple one will power the camera all night with no problem.
The external battery option is my preference in most cases as it gives more flexibility.
@@GreatDayForAHike I was thinking the same. Thanks!
@@GreatDayForAHike I was thinking the same. Thanks!
You’re welcome!
I use a USB power “brick”. It easily goes all night.
Great tips on night time lapses - will sure try this out. By the way, do you have any overheating issues on your GoPro Hero 9 when you do these time lapses?
Thank you for your feedback and I hope you enjoy testing these out. No overheating issues when doing these time lapses so far.
Cool , I used to shoot lots of night lapsing and I found the max time for shutter was 7 seconds , but the gopro is differen
It’s a lot of fun to use the GoPro for night lapses. It does have obvious limitations due to the sensor size but it’s amazing to see the quality of night lapses this tiny little camera is capable of capturing.
Loved the video man, thanks for the tips :)
I have one question: Do you use an external powerbank to power your GoPro if you want to take longer timelapses? If so, how do you make sure it stays dry overnight?
Looking forward to your answer!
You’re welcome!
Yes, I do use an external power bank for long time lapse. If I’m concerned about it getting wet I’ll sometimes wrap it with some plastic or put it in a ziplock bag with an opening for the cable.
@@GreatDayForAHike Much thanks for your reply! Really appreciate it :)
GoPro also now sells a usb pass through cover so you can power the camera over long sessions while keeping the side door semi weather resistant. I use a Smallrig cage for my GoPro that I HIGHLY recommended, so there are plenty of 1/4-20 spots to thread attachments onto like Smallrigs Battery bank holder and Atmos Field monitor cage. I will warn you now, as soon as you start buying Smallrig parts you're gonna get addicted. It's like a sick Lego set for nerds.
Thank you for your feedback here. This is really helpful and I’m sure many will find this useful. That brand does make some really innovative options.
Trying to figure out how to play all the photos as a smooth video now? Is that done in the editor? Trying think of how thats done. 🤔
You are correct. This step is done in an editor. This video is an example of how I do this (method 3 in the video): ua-cam.com/video/3JQL1DwkEno/v-deo.html
What about the battery is there anyway to charge it while shooting long nights ? I captured 2 hrs of footages and battery went down to 10%
Yes, there is. If you're close to a power outlet you can plug it in with a power cord with a USB-C connection. Or you can use an external power bank with a USB-C cable. I use this Anker external power bank and like it: amzn.to/3s3ODKh
What is the best setting For go pro 10 to MotoVlog?
Great explanatory video. My question is: is it possible to set the camera somehow so that it can shoot for 24h from the sun to the stars?
Yes and no. It is possible and there are a few different ways to accomplish this. Setting the camera with the same settings for all 24 hours will not be optimal for either day or night. However, there is a method I use where I quickly alter the settings around the key times to “switch” from optimal day to night settings. Then when editing I have these fade into each other to make for a smooth transition. I am working on a video that teaches how I do this and plan to publish this within the next few weeks.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thanks for the reply, it has already been useful to me. I will definitely watch the video when you post it.
I often use fixed interval and shutter auto and I can go from daylight to night back to daylight. Holy grail Timelapse!
Yes, this is another method that I recently experimented with on several occasions and like. Still fine-tuning what gets me the best results but definitely promising on this camera.
Thanks so much this was super helpful, although I did have to set the speed to 1.25....Great video👍
Thank you.
For the love of god mate.... BLINK! 😆
Tks for this info. I'll be using it 😁
Haha I know, I have worked on that since this video but yeah, I definitely needed some blinking balance in there. Sometimes I get really focused and in the zone. You’re welcome!
Thank you for all the information! I have a question, if I want to do the time lapse until the sun rises, I should use the same configuration you shared on the video? I wonder if the light of the sun will mess the video because of the settings, not sure.
Greetings from Brazil, nice video.
Great question. You will want to use different settings when doing a day to night or night to day time lapse. I provide those settings in this video: ua-cam.com/video/lEJKJNeRZ4o/v-deo.html
Thank you!
@@GreatDayForAHike Thank you for the quick reply and answering my question, just subscribed to your channel, success!
Much appreciated!
Will it turn out okay if i keep it in video format? I don’t know anything about editing yet, as i mostly do iphone timelapses of the clouds
It will still give good results as long as the conditions are favorable. The video mode is less forgiving if conditions are not best for filming a night lapse and these is less editing control over it. That is the main difference.
Do you have any tutorial on night lapse for no edit method? That will be really helpful
Night lapses do generally require some editing for best results but it is possible to use similar settings to what I demonstrated in this video and then film in video mode with those settings for a no edit finished product.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thanks. Tried, it's working. The output seems to be too fast. How can I make it in slow motion? May be the question is too childish
With the 30 second interval this equals one frame every 30 seconds which is two frames per minute or 120 frames per hour. If the finished product is 24 frames per second this means one hour of actual filming time equals 5 seconds of video. With night lapses I recommend setting up the camera to film for the entirety of the night in order to have sufficient footage length to pull from.
I have two questions, 1. Can I change all these settings back and forth directly from the gopro app and not from the camera itself? and 2. Can I start shooting the timelapse using just the gopro app?
Great video btw man, keep it up.
Yes, these settings can be changed using the GoPro app on your phone with it connected to the camera.
Yes, you can start shouting the time lapse using the GoPro app.
Thank you!
Perfect! I’m planning to buy one in the near future, but I’m still undecided if I should wait for the 10 or go for the 9, thanks for your response man.
what does interval do does it compress all the photos into a video???
Interval is the duration between each individual photo. If using the photo setting you will need to create the time lapse manually using all of the photos that are taken. However, the GoPro will provide an internal preview of what the time lapse will look like.
If using the video setting the GoPro will create the time lapse within the camera.
@@GreatDayForAHike oh okay so their is a nigh time-lapse video mode?
Yes, there is. In this video I explain the best settings for doing a night time lapse in the night time lapse mode.
Gopro max can take a night timelaps shot?
Max and the Max lens mod are not designed to do night time lapses and will not work to do so. This would just be for GoPros with the default lens.
one question, does the "bad" quality, sort of big pixel in the night sky come from the camera or from youtube compression with dark video ?
Great question. It’s possible to see this from either. The GoPro Hero 8 was notorious for having hot pixels while shooting night lapses. I did not ever see this with the 9 and have not yet on the 10. UA-cam compression with dark video could occasionally cause this but not likely most of the time.
@@GreatDayForAHike okay thanks, I'm not taking the 8 then
Hi,How do you make the stars rotate?
All I have to do is keep my camera stationary on the tripod all night while I sleep and the earth rotating at about 800mph here does the heavy lifting for me.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thank you so much
How did you keep your gopro powered during you time-lapse?
I use this Anker Power Bank: amzn.to/3uKyvje
It provides plenty of power to keep the GoPro going for a long time lapse.
For how much time we have to shoot night lapses
I recommend all night (from sunset to sunrise). This gives you the most footage to work with.
What is your opinion about the brutal number of hot pixels/dead pixels around 07:00? I bought a Hero 8 last week, and I found out today that this is a common problem with it. I watched this video a few days earlier, I didn't notice the pixels then, but now it's very noticeable, because I know about the problem. :D I guess I have to live with it, I'm not a professional, the photos/videos/timelapses in daylight are awesome, only this hot pixel problem bothers me. I started to think about turning the 8 back, and leave with a 10... (By the way it's interesting that on the snowstorm footage (7:20) I can't find any of the hot pixels.)
A valid item to discuss. So with the Hero 8 and Hero 9 I did notice the hot pixels when it was used in a really dark environment such as those night lapses without a moon. However, you are right, it wasn’t really an issue with a less-dark sky with a moon or some brighter clouds. The Hero 10 on the other hand has not had the hot pixel issue that I have noticed yet even in a really dark sky. To be fair to GoPro they are not the only action camera with the hot pixel issue. The new Insta360 One RS also has this issue and it’s even worse than the Hero 8 or 9 for night lapses.
@@GreatDayForAHike Thanks for the detailed response!
You’re welcome!
How do you make a time lapse out of the photos?
In this video I present this process is extensive detail using technique number 3: ua-cam.com/video/3JQL1DwkEno/v-deo.html