Photography

Brinno's TLC200 Pro captures time-lapse video in HDR

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The Brinno TLC200 Pro and its interchangeable lenses
The Brinno TLC200 Pro and its interchangeable lenses
The camera automatically converts its captured still images into frames of 720p video
Utilizing control buttons adjacent to the LCD screen, users are able to choose between a variety of scene, white balance and image settings, along with a number of time interval rates
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Four years ago, we heard about Brinno’s GardenWatchCam – a fairly simple weatherproof camera, designed for getting time-lapse footage of growing plants. Since then, the company has set about making more general-purpose time-lapse video cameras. Its latest offering is the 1.3-megapixel High Dynamic Range (HDR) TLC200 Pro.

Unlike the GardenWatchCam, or various other time-lapse-capable cameras, the Pro doesn’t simply shoot a series of jpegs that the user then has to stitch together into continuous video. Instead, it automatically converts its captured still images into frames of 720p video, which it records onto an SD card. When the contents of that card are then transferred to a computer, they show up as an AVI video file.

Because it’s an HDR camera, it’s able to simultaneously capture both bright and dark subjects within the same shot – ordinarily, cameras have to either overexpose one or underexpose the other. Its large pixel size also makes it very light-sensitive, as can be seen in the following video.

The camera comes with a manual-focus 14-mm/f2.0 112-degree CS-mount lens, although this can be twisted out and swapped with a variety of other available lenses. Whichever lens is used, it can be tilted into position by the user, and shots can be lined up on the LCD screen.

Utilizing control buttons adjacent to that screen, users are able to choose between a variety of scene, white balance and image settings, along with a number of time interval rates – this determines how fast the time-lapse video moves, and how much real-time activity is recorded. The Pro can be made to capture individual frames anywhere from once every fifth of a second to once every 24 hours.

Power comes from four AA batteries, or via a micro USB cable. Battery life varies greatly with the interval rate chosen, although at a rate of one frame every two seconds, approximately 240,000 frames can be recorded on one charge.

The Brinno TLC200 Pro is available now, for US$400.

Source: Brinno via Uncrate

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2 comments
jimbo2112
Seems a little narrow in what can be done with it. Is the night capture any better than my GoPro Hero Black? That also suffers from poor battery life!
William Wong
Look, this is designed and dedicated for slow motion photography. Not your GoPro Hero Black.
It's pretty amazing quality for an expansive cellular taken photo. But when you compare it to rather cheap digital camera, it shows... Not to mention the SLR and the full frame digital camera become very reasonable available lately.
It's understandable in this age that someone would expect you can excel in an all-in-one, but the truth remains....