Best timelapse cameras for construction, events or speeding up nature

With the best timelapse cameras, you can capture incredible footage that makes the passage of hours, days, weeks or even months seem like mere minutes. By condensing a series of stills into a video clip, timelapse cameras create a unique spectacle. Be warned — once you start making timelapses, it can be become very addictive. 

You might want to show the construction of a building, the movement of tides, the unfurling of a flower or any number of other fascinating things, big or small. In this article, we've brought together the best timelapse cameras for doing just that. These include dedicated timelapse cameras, as well other types of cameras with impressive timelapse functionality, including action cameras, 360 cameras and even a drone.

We've included options at a range of price points, so there should be something for everyone as we count off the best cameras for timelapse you can buy right now.

Top Picks

Adam Juniper

With over 20 years of expertise as a tech journalist, Adam brings a wealth of knowledge across a vast number of product categories, including timelapse cameras, home security cameras, NVR cameras, photography books, webcams, 3D printers and 3D scanners, borescopes, radar detectors… and, above all, drones. 

The best timelapse cameras 

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Best for simplicity

If you're new to timelapse photography, here's our recommendation. The Brinno TLC300 (a refresh of the already good TLC200) offers an accessible starting point for timelapse photography (1080P) while retaining the significant benefit of compatibility with Brinno’s lens system. 

You could buy one of these, add a compatible tele lens later, and then use that lens with a more powerful camera (like the Empower TLC2020) when the job demands it. (The optional waterproof housing is probably more essential than a new lens.) 

In exchange for the lower entry price, you get a smaller preview screen, just 1.44” (though that is enough to do a relatively infrequent job). You do get HDR, an essential feature if lighting conditions will shift during your shoot, and this model more than doubles the potential shooting time to an impressive 100 days. 

This might even be the start of a new creative avenue for the kids. Indeed, with optional triggers for stop-motion amongst the available accessories it could even promote patience. It's also a nice touch that batteries and an SD card are in the box.

Best for construction

This piece of German product design has a very specific purpose in mind; long duration timelapse. That's evidenced by the 12 spaces for AA cells: four beneath the electronics, and another eight in the door. 

The unit is IP66-weather sealed when closed, so it can be mounted in harsh environments. Just like some German car brands, while the engineering feels firm, the menu system could be easier to navigate, though there is a real manual in the box alongside several mounting options and proportionally you won’t be spending that long with the menu. 

We appreciated the inclusion of a tree rope as well as a drillable wall bracket with a ball joint with screws. The 2.4-inch LCD makes directing the camera simple, and there is also an LED flash to light the night mode with an 18m (60ft) range. It’s also very handy that the system allows microSD cards up to 512GB.

Best for social media

If you’ve been caught by the timelapse bug on social but don’t want to tie up your phone, the EON is built with you in mind. You might think the option of a white case verges on the condescending (if so, choose the more traditional black), but in truth, it is features like the Time Slice that stand out. This is a single photo generated from strips of a timelapse to show a day in a single still – very striking.

And that’s not all. The camera is presented more as a set including a UV filter, case, lens hood, and mini tripod. It is app-controlled, so you’ll need your phone to get things going, but the app offers more than mere interval settings. You can tap to zoom on an area as you adjust the manual focus, check a live preview even as a shoot is in progress, or switch to an infrared mode. 

You can also switch to power-saving mode. In this case, the battery is measured in days, not minutes, and the 2μm pixels and up to 1.4-sec shutter speed can help in low light.

Best action camera with timelapse

With a straightforward action camera design, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is not reinventing any wheels. However, its generously sized (for its class) imaging sensor helps give it an edge in low light over its main rivals, and this combined with DJI's excellent timelapse and hyperlapse modes makes it our pick as the best action camera for timelapse.

It's easy to set up, and produces great-quality footage as well as 40MP stills. The battery life is generous too — DJI has rated it to up to four hours of Full HD recording in lab conditions, and while I naturally didn't manage this in real-world testing for my review, it's still pretty comfortably ahead of the pack.

There's also plenty of storage space, with 47GB effective built-in storage and the option to download via Wi-Fi 6, as well as a slot for a microSD card with up to 1TB capacity. You'd have to be putting together a really ambitious timelapse to bump up against a limit like that.

While the latest GoPro cameras are more flexible and arguably more interesting, with higher video resolutions and swappable lens modules, the dependable DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro is the one we'd put our faith in for the best results.

Read our full DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro review for more details 

Best for jobsite monitoring

The TLC2020 is not Brinno’s first timelapse camera, and this model does offer more than some of its predecessors while using the same interchangeable CS mount lenses, which some might already have in their collections. 

It can capture up to 82 days' worth of footage (at one frame every five minutes) thanks to the option to add two extra batteries. And manufacturer Brinno offers a range of optional accessories including its jib-like BARD monopod/clamp, a waterproof housing, and a smooth-moving motorized turntable. 

Setup is merciful to those not inclined to algebra, clearly indicating how many seconds of footage per hour will be shot in plain English on the rear-mounted monitor. If you want more guidance, mode names like “indoor event” and “detailed craftwork” help you choose the right speed. The produced video, however, is in .avi format, which means Mac users will need a conversion tool, although these are fairly easily found online.

Best 360 timelapse camera

At a tangent from this list – because it's a different technology – is the Insta360 X3 360-degree camera, which is like an action camera (with similar advantages and disadvantages in terms of battery life and flexibility) but boasting back-to-back lenses to see in any direction. It also earns its place here (as you'd imagine) with a timelapse mode.

There isn't space to talk about all the possibilities that shooting with a 360-degree camera offers but essentially there is a trade-off – you don't need to think too hard about where you're pointing the camera at the time, but you'll need to spend some time composing a normal view later. And, of course, despite all the megapixels, that will also involve cropping quite a few.

Setup is simple, via touchscreen; resolution, interval (time between frames) and final frame rate are chosen then the device gets on with assembling the video for you – no space filled with image files. Afterward, you can still get really creative as you have a full sphere to direct the camera around – Insta360 provide a great phone and desktop app for setting up effects. I enjoyed doing this a lot, and it adds an extra dimension to timelapse (plus avoids too much time composing!)

Read our Insta360 X3 review, or about taking the Insta360 X3 on a family vacation, to learn more.

Best drone for timelapse

The improved stability and flight times of contemporary consumer camera drones makes them a much more viable option than they used to be for creating spectacular timelapse videos from the skies. DJI, aware of this, has given many of its drones the ability to capture Hyperlapse footage, and I'd say the Air 3 is your best bet if this is something you're interested in.

It's priced around the mid-range, neither the cheapest drone DJI produces, nor the most expensive. With a dual 48MP camera setup offering 24mm and 70mm equivalent focal ranges, it can zoom in without compromising on quality. Also, its 46-minute flight times give you latitude to capture hyperlapses that are longer than just a few seconds.

As long as you've got plenty of storage space, you can take advantage of the Air 3's ability to produce big RAW files and really fine-tune your creations. With a bit of practice, you can use the Air 3 to capture the kinds of time lapse videos that simply aren't possible with anything else.

Read more: DJI Air 3 review

Best of the rest

Generally, whenever GoPro brings out a new camera in its HERO series, it focuses on one or two particular aspects to improve. In the HERO11, it was the larger 8:7 format sensor; in the HERO12 it was bigger battery and features for editors. In the HERO13, the manufacturers have upped the ante with lenses, introducing the new HB Series of optional lens modules that greatly expand the versatility of the camera.

This is great news for timelapse shooters as no longer are you as wedded as you were to that fishbowl action camera perspective. Though some are still in development, current and future HB lenses promise to allow you to add an anamorphic lens mod for a truly cinematic perspective, or an ultra-wide lens mod to cram even more into the frame. 

The HERO13 offers a number of time lapse settings, with GoPro's famous TimeWarp mode as well as generic time lapse modes, a dedicated star trails mode, and more. It's easy to use the way all GoPro cameras are, and while its low-light performance isn't a patch on that of the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro, it does offer some pretty amazing versatility. Pick up the Contacto Battery door to allow hot-charging, and you can extend your time-lapses longer than the natural lifespan of the Enduro battery

All of this comes at a cost of course. Between the mods and the GoPro Subscription that the firm is quite keen you take out, it's quite easy to end up spending a serious amount of money kitting out a HERO13. That's something to keep in mind before taking the plunge.

Read our full GoPro Hero 13 Black review for more details

GoPro Subscription explained: what you get, and is it worth it

There are a few action cameras in the list, and it's worth noting that the now long-in-the-tooth DJI's Action 2 also offer a timelapse functionality plus the option to be worn very discretely with the Magnetic Lanyard so the camera is nothing more than a lens on the chest (it’s about half the size of the GoPro).

The OLED touchscreen makes choosing interval and shooting duration painless, while continually being provided with a calculated Video Duration. So, dial 10s Interval and 1h Duration and you’ll see a 00:12 Video Duration (assuming 60fps). Okay, this is not entirely unique, but what does stand out on this screen is the variety of intervals you can use to get the perfect shot length; 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 20, 30, 40 seconds. 

All these are available at 4K, 2.7K, and 1080p. And, of course, there is a built-in microphone and, like the GoPro, it's waterproof. 

Read our DJI Action 2 review for more details

FAQs

How to choose the best timelapse camera

Most of the best professional cameras and even some camera phones have some sort of timelapse function, letting you set an interval timer to capture a series of photos, which you can combine into a video later. If you're using an iPhone for photography you'll have noticed that they have a particularly useful timelapse function in the native camera app, so it’s easy to get a taste for this form of creativity.

However, there's one big problem with using your camera or phone in this way. Timelapse videos are captured over hours, days, weeks or even months – and having your day-to-day tech tied up for that length of time just isn't practical. 

So, the best timelapse cameras have to be robust and stable to be able to be left wherever you desire to capture a vast array of visuals, from cityscape timelapses that we often see in movies to great moving vistas of the landscape. 

Naturally, the actual images they capture also need to be of a good level of quality. for sharing. It’s also useful if the device can process the stills straight into a video clip for you rather than requiring a potentially irritating excursion through software. If on the other hand you prefer to edit your timelapse shots to taste then the ability to shoot in RAW will be handy — as long as you have editing software that's capable of batch-processing.

Battery life with these things is also a big consideration when picking out which one is best for you. Some will be able to capture hours of footage, whereas others can capture days, weeks, or even months in one clip. Alternatively, you may want to consider a camera with hot-charging functionality — i.e. the ability the charge while recording. This will allow you to top it up as needed, meaning the length of your timelapse will only be limited by your storage media.

Weatherproofing is also going to be a factor, especially if you're planning on creating a timelapse over a timeframe that can be measured in weeks or months. A good timelapse camera should be able to withstand a little rain, snow and sleet without issue. 

How we test cameras

When we test cameras, including drones and action cameras, we take them into real-world environments to see how they perform in live shooting scenarios. We test all cameras for their photo and video functionality, and if they have a timelapse mode we will take that for a spin too to see what kind of results we get.

For putting a camera through a full review, our Imaging Labs manager Ben Andrews will test them under carefully controlled conditions. These lab tests will give us an exact picture of what the sensor can do, measuring resolution using ISO resolution charts, and analyzing dynamic range and noise with DxO Analyzer test equipment.