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  • My Equipment

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  • Bio-Lapse Blog

    • Getting Started. 2013

      • Introduction

      • Hyancinth First Biolapse

      • Getting back on the horse

      • Greenthumb Prototype

      • Playing in the Dirt

      • Moving on to Moss

      • Flicker is getting worse

      • DIY Humidifier

    • Up and Running, 2014

      • Building the BMC

      • Illuminating unexpected friends

    • PaperWhites

      • Days 1-5

      • Days 5 through 10

    • From the Womb to the Tomb

  • Who am I?

Camera

Chronos HD

Greenthumb

The BCM

DIY Humidifier

Olympus OMD EM-5

Camera : Olympus OMD-Em5

I have found this to be an excellent camera for Time Lapse. The smaller micro four thirds sensor has excellent IQ and allows for larger depth of field at wider apertures, which make this a superior camera for this type of Bio-Lapse work. Add in the ability to plug it into the wall, weather sealed body and excellent Limux 12-35 f/2.8 weather sealed lens it is well suited for high humidity environments. The articulating screen enables easy focus check and framing at odd angles.

Chronos HD Timelapse Rail

Motion: Linear. Chronos HD Rail.

This is my Go-To system for when accuracy matters. I am able to achieve macro level movements with this rail, down to 1/32,000 of an inch. It is capable of running over 500  discreet intervals with increasing/decreasing  lengths with a total run of under 1 inch. This level of accuracy is perfect for this type of work. For more information on this system or to purchase head over to www.TheChronosProject.com

Greenthumb Controller

This was the second greenthumb prototype. The first was basically just aires on a breadboard while this one is soldered together. It is able to trigger the camera, as well as coordinate day and night lighting cycles with an attached relay. It also had the ability to shut off the lgrow ights before it triggered the camera which was set to trigger some Elinchrom strobes.

After running into some issues with flicker this was replaced with the BioLapse Control Module (BCM)

 

The BCM
Sorry, I am not building these for retail. The time involved and complexity make it way expensive.
The Bio-lapse Control Module (BCM) is the next generation of control module for the Bio-Lapse project. It greatly expands upon the capability of the Greenthumb Controller buy adding 4 switched outlets each controlled by their own relay. It also has two 12v 2.1mm jacks to provide power to the Chronos HD rail as well as the Lens Apparatus to reduce the number of outlets being used. 

The BCM is capable of monitoring and running environmental controls to ensure precise levels of Humidity, Temperature, Day and night cycles with the grow lights, and up to four independent watering cycles. For Studio control, it is capable of triggering a camera, as well as coordinating the sequence of the grow lights, LED fill lights, and the camera to ensure smooth consistent even exposure and lighting. It will also coordinate the timing of the Humidifier to ensure all fog has had the chance to dissipate before the image is taken. It also sports 2 humidity and temp sensors for a redundant kill mechanism to be sure the humidity does not get too high.
DIY Humidifier

 

This is my DIY humidifier. It is an extraordinarily effective design. I had scoured the Internet looking for suitable humidifiers with a large enough reservoir and most of them would require some sort of modification. I finally stumbled across a blog where somebody had built a large output mister for a greenhouse and knew this would be the route I should take.
The design is simple enough. Get a large plastic tub with a lid, add a 4 inch flexible hose, a computer fan, and a fogger i found off ebay. If interested just search for the 5 Head Ultrasonic Mist Maker from House of Hydro. This DIY HUmidfier can raise the humidity of my studio from 20% to 80% with ease. The large tank means less refilling, and the flexible tube lets me deliver the fog exactly where I want.