Since I got a gopro hero2, Im kinda addicted to timelapse photography. However, the images produced by gopro are not as sharp as I wanted it to be. So my questions is, how long can the OMD or the new Pen will last if I use them for timelapse photography(let's say one a months).

Im inspired by this guy's video who used a Panasonic Lumix GF-1, 20mm f/1.7 and 14-45mm f/3.5-4.5 and Im planning to do the same thing for my 2 weeks trip to the USA west coast this winter break.

Currently I have the epl5, but will probably return it and get a used omd instead because of the 5 axis ibis for handheld video.

Im really afraid that my camera will only last for a year or less because of the abusing of the shutter mechanism. Im a college student, and I've been saving for this. I also consider the gh3 because of it has electronic shutter, but it's still not yet available and my flight is next week on the 19th.

The OM-D is rated for 100,000 actuations...most (if not all) PENs are rated for 30,000-50,000.

Depending on how many pictures you plan on taking, you may want to consider a pro Canikon with a 300,000 actuation shutter.

Of course a mechanical shutter can fail at any time.

G5 with kit lens for $499!

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Olympus PEN E-PM2, Panasonic Lumix G5, ZD 14-54 II, PZ 45-175 X, P14/2.5, Sigma 30/2.8, Zuiko 24/2.8, FL-36R, DMW-MA1

Not gonna carry Canikon for 5 days hike. I dont know if I can make it. LOL

It's tempting. I was thinking of buying a cheap but good old micro four thirds camera for timelapse only.

Looks like fun stuff to experiment with time-lapse photography. But when you take into account the amount of actuations required for a 'smooth' looking clip of perhaps 5 minutes like the example above...it's a heck of a lot of shots....even for the 100k rated EM5 shutter.

I'm lead to believe that to achieve a smooth looking clip you need to playback at atleast 24fps...even 30fps. 5 minute clip is 300 seconds X 30fps = 9000 frames !! ...just for that 1 clip. That's a third of your EP3 or GX1 lifespan.

Given that for such photography you don't need to shoot at max resolution or in RAW for that matter, you're probably best off doing this kind of stuff with a cheap second hand GF1 or early PEN, at the size you'll be shooting (small to medium sized JPEG) the image quality is way more than good enough. And when you frazzle the shutter you just pick up another cheap second hand body.

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Joe


...my stuff is on flickr

Around The World Time Lapse Frequently Asked Questions « Kien Lam Photography

According to him "I used 6237 in “Time Is Nothing”, but I took over 10,000 time lapse shots and another 15,000 photographs and videos during my trip."

Got to find an old m43 body before the trip, or else, I have to use my gopro.

Even if it broke down, can't you service it? Being a prismless, mirrorless camera, isn't the mechanical shutter simpler and cheaper to replace?

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OMD & GX1

The GoPro is awesome, I used mine a lot last northern winter when I was snowboarding up in BC...you know the type of video I'm talking about..."jackass snowboarder GoPros himself doing epic face plant off 15 foot ledge" ;)

I'm not sure where you're going exactly but I'd say go with a early model m43 camera...the image quality totally destroys what your gopro would do. A GF1 +P14 is a great little combo available for cheap, is portable and can still produce really amazing quality images outside of time lapse.

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Joe


...my stuff is on flickr

Do you happen to know what is the cost of repairing the shutter mechanism of omd?