DIY

IMAGING

TIME-LAPSE PANNING

Make ultraslow motion-control camera mounts, on a budget. By Jay Burlage

When I bought my first digital camera years ago, a time-lapse mode was a must; having seen the masterful lapse sequences in Koyaanisqatsi, Microcosmos, and The Secret Life of Plants, I was chomping at the bit to experiment.

Photography by Jay Burlage

After a couple years of experience, I wanted to take my sequences to the next level by introducing camera movement. I knew this required an extremely stable and slow-moving apparatus, and I soon learned that professional solutions had extreme price tags — thousands of dollars. Thus began my quest for a budget solution.

For a full list of materials and tools for the optional Autostar mount, see makezine.com/15/ diyimaging_panning.

The Right Clock

It all started with a clock. A minute hand turns too fast for time-lapse, but an hour hand’s pace is perfect. Unfortunately, most clocks nowadays are plastic-geared wimps, but I found a World War II-era battleship of a clock for just $2 at a local recycle/ reuse center. This plug-in beauty was strong enough to carry and rotate a camera, and its nice boxy design had ample space for modding.

I pulled the hands off the clock’s dial cluster and used a hacksaw to trim down the outermost sleeve, which carried the alarm hand. This exposed a good ¼" of hour-hand sleeve to attach something to. At a hardware store, I found a threaded aluminum spacer that almost fit over the sleeve, so I die-cut 10× 32 threads around the sleeve so that it would screw snugly into the spacer (Figure A, next page).

Make: 159