Shooting Movies of Star Movement (Star Time-Lapse Movie) (PowerShot G3 X)

By recording a time-lapse movie that combines images shot at a specified interval, you can create movies with fast-moving stars. You can adjust the shooting interval and recording duration as needed.

Note that each session takes a long time, and requires many shots. Check the battery level and memory card space in advance.

The procedure for shooting start time-lapse movies is explained below.

1. Press the power button to turn the camera on.

2. Set the mode dial to [SCN].

3. Press the [ ] button, and then press the [ ], [ ] buttons to choose [ ].*

*If the default settings have not been changed, [ ] will be displayed.

4.　Press the [ ], [ ] buttons or turn the [ ] dial to choose [ ], then press the [ ] button.

5.　Press the [ ] button to choose [ ], and then press the [ ] button.

Zoom is set to maximum wide angle and cannot be adjusted.

6. Press the [DISP.] button to display the screen shown in the example image below. Movie settings can be configured on this screen.

Press the [ ], [ ] buttons or turn the [ ] dial to choose an item, press the [ ], [ ] buttons to set the desired options, and then press the [ ] button.

The options that can be configured in [Start Time-lapse Movie] mode are shown in the table below.

Item	Options	Details
Effect		Choose movie effects, such as star trail.
Shot Interval	15 sec., 30 sec., 1 min.	Choose the interval between each shot.
Frame Rate	(NTSC) 　 (PAL)	Choose the movie frame rate.
Shooting Time	60 min., 90 min., 120 min., Unlimited	Choose the length of the recording session. To record until the battery runs out, choose [Unlimited].

Estimated playback time based on shooting interval and frame rate (for a one-hour session)

Interval between Shots	Frame Rate		Playback Time
	NTSC	PAL
15 sec.			16 sec.
15 sec.			8 sec.
30 sec.			8 sec.
30 sec.			4 sec.
1 min.			4 sec.
1 min.			2 sec.

Caution

7. Mount the camera on a tripod or take other measures to keep it still.

8. Check the brightness.

9. Press the movie button to shoot.

[Busy] is displayed briefly, and then shooting begins.

Caution

Caution

Sound is not recorded.

For easier viewing, try choosing MENU ⋗ [ 2 ] tab ⋗ [Night Display] ⋗ [On] before shooting.

You can also access the screen in step 5 by choosing MENU ⋗ [ 5 ] tab ⋗ [Star Time-Lapse Movie Setting].

To save each shot collected before the movie is created, choose MENU ⋗ [ 5 ] tab ⋗ [Save Stills] ⋗ [On]. Note that these individual images are managed as a single group, and during playback, only the first image is displayed. To indicate that the image is part of a group, [ ] is displayed in the upper left of the screen. If you erase a grouped image, all images in the group are also erased. Be careful when erasing images.

Try switching to manual focus mode to more accurately specify the focal position before shooting.

Battery performance decreases at low temperatures. Try warming the battery pack a little by putting it in your pocket, for example, ensuring that the terminals do not touch any metal objects.

Even if you specify [Unlimited] in [Shooting Time] in step 5 and use an AC adapter kit (sold separately, shooting will stop after about 8 hours, at most.