So today we’re going to take a quick look at the time-lapse feature in iOS 8 with actual footage between three different cameras and we’re also going to talk about the impact that this time lapse video is going to have on the average user.
Now I’ve been trying to incorporate time lapses into my videos, they usually show up in a Water video and I started thinking about time lapses after checking out one of our viewers, Justin Lo’s channel. He’s got a bunch of neat time lapses that he’s shot out in Hong Kong so if you’re into watching dark haired people walk around really quickly on some of the busiest corners in Hong Kong.
Check out Justin Lo’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh0jcna9s7TX_gIOmNg_Xhg
Justin’s done a bit of digging for the time lapses on iOS 8 and the most interesting thing is that it will snap photos at dynamically selected intervals. It doesn’t go into much detail but I’m assuming that iOS 8 is constantly monitoring the video feed and the moment it feels like enough things have changed in the video, it records a frame. The full description on Apples website doesn’t offer much more than what we’v described:
“Capture the experience of the sun setting, a city street bustling, or a flower blooming with the new Time-lapse mode in Camera. iOS 8 does all the work, snapping photos at dynamically selected intervals. The result is a video showing an accelerated sequence of the photos over time. Just set up your device to shoot what you want. Swipe to select Time-lapse mode, tap the Record button, and let Camera record as long as you choose.”
I’m a big fan of Apple stuff (obviously) but sometimes their spinning of new features gets old pretty quick. There’s been lots of different apps out there that allows you to capture time lapse photography but Apple’s just a little easier for the average user to do so.
In the wake of this new “feature” Apple will knock out the knees of several smaller app companies who actually make Time Lapse Apps but this isn’t new, especially with each successive release of iOS versions.
So how well does the Time-Lapse Feature in iOS 8 actually work? Well, during one of our 30 min water tests we left a Dog and Bone Wetsuit in a tub of water and I had Monty guard it. Actually he just sat there and watched me read my iPad the entire time.
So for the setup, I had one iPhone with iOS 8 on it, another iPhone capturing using a 3rd Party app and then a 70D. On the iPhone with the 3rd Party app, I set it to record a frame every 5 seconds. I left everything running for about 30 mins and here’s what I’ve discovered.
On iOS8, the clip came out to be almost 28 seconds and the clip from the 3rd Party App was 11 seconds so iOS8 captured almost three times as much time lapse video.
So how about the quality of the time-lapse footage? Well, I’ve been staring at it the different clips and I can honestly say one really isn’t really better than the other. Even if I speed up the iOS8 clip to match the iOS7 clip, they look almost identical which isn’t really surprising. Can you guys see a difference?
So what does this mean to the average user? Well, it’s going to save your the 2-3 bucks you’d have to spend on a time-lapse app. It’s nice that its built right into the Camera app of iOS8 and really, its a fringe feature. So my question to you guys is, How many of you would actually use this time lapse feature? Leave it in the comment section below.
Having the option to capture Time-lapse photography in the default iOS8 camera app may be a bit handy but do do time-lapse photography well, you’re going to need to setup your iPhone on a stationary platform, which also means you’re going to have to leave your iPhone alone for an extended period of time. Would you be comfortable leaving your iPhone around?
The Time-Lapse feature in iOS 8 is one of the several new features in iOS 8. There are many new features in iOS8 which include the addition of different SDK’s for hardcore and casual gamers along with HomeKit as well as HealthKit. We’ve taken a closer look at other features in the iOS8 camera app, namely the Automatic Exposure and Focus features and built-in editing features. Check out our review here:
