Wingscapes WSCA04 Timelapse PlantCam

Comment: The PlantCam is a robust, well-designed device that produces timelapse videos at a very affordable price. It also has some idiosyncrasies that are worth knowing about. For me, it replaces an awkward method of timelapse photography in which I attached a video camera via Firewire to a Mac laptop and used iMovie's option of capturing frames at a reduced rate. That method was very flexible (the framerate was infinitely adjustable and the camera could zoom in as needed), but it tied up a computer and video camera for the duration of the movie, and it could not easily be used outdoors. By contrast, the battery-operated PlantCam is self-contained, compact, sturdy, sealed against the weather for use outdoors, and designed to do this one task well. Its preset choice of framerates and non-zoom lens are less flexible than the iMovie approach, but the PlantCam does the job at about a twentieth of the cost of the other equipment.

The designers made choices that generally are very shrewd and user friendly. In Setup mode, one selects an interval from "ASAP" (almost real time) through 0.5, 1 or 5 min (the settings I have used for full-day movies) to one frame per day. Images are stored on an SD card that is easily tranferred to a computer, and there is also a cable for playing images directly to a TV. Images can be labeled with the interval, date, and clock time, or labeling can be turned off. Image size is selectable in three steps from 640x480 to 2560x1920, and the image quality is good (rich colors and deep blacks). Focus is selected from one of three choices spanning 11" to infinity. Both a laser pointer and a viewfinder are available to establish where the camera is pointed. For multi-day recordings, the time the camera turns on and off can be preset in hourly increments. All in all, the designers have provided well-thought-out functionality.

But the PlantCam also has a few idiosyncrasies that were not what I expected, although I was able to find workarounds for all of them. In particular, it helps to understand that at heart the PlantCam is a device for capturing still frames. The "video" setting does not produce a single timelapse video as I expected, but instead captures a series of 10-second video clips at the specified interval. (I am mystified by the utility of this series of video clips.) To produce a "normal" timelapse video, one instead captures still photos and uses Setup mode's "convert to video" function to compile the still frames into an AVI video. The conversion is limited to 360 frames, which is not enough for long videos at higher framerates. The workaround is to convert the still images in blocks of 360, specifying the first frame and last frame for each conversion, and then paste the blocks together in QuickTime before saving the compiled video as a QuickTime (.MOV) file. Another idiosyncrasy: saving the AVI file is wise even if it is complete because of a software bug that gives each compiled AVI file the same date and time. The individual jpegs are correctly time and date stamped from the camera's internal clock, but the AVI file is always stamped Nov 25, 1961. (I have corresponded with Wingscapes about this bug and perhaps it will be fixed in a future firmware update.) Finally, another limitation of the software is that AVI videos are always 640x480 even if the stills have higher resolution. Thus, there is no point in capturing stills at higher resolution if conversion to an AVI movie is the goal. However, QuickTime does provide a workaround: by importing a series of high-resolution stills, QuickTime can produce a high-resolution movie.

In spite of these few puzzling design decisions, the PlantCam is an excellent choice. It definitely does the job it was intended to do easily, with high-quality results, and at a very favorable cost. It's fun to use, and I'd recommend it highly.

Comment: Initial setup of the product was fairly easy, however, was more complicated than expected. The many features make this somewhat complicated to use. For my purposes, I chose to return and go with the Brinno GardenWatch Cam.

Comment: Very impressed with this - might seem that $80-odd is a bit expensive for a glorified webcam, but it's really a well thought out product.
It's properly weatherproofed, really easy to use, and comes with various bungees and stand attachments so you can properly mount it for long periods of time (don't want it moving!)

Lots of attention to detail; the menus are simple, the picture quality is fine, you have a decent range of time intervals, SD cards work without hassle.

You don't want something unreliable or high-maintenance, and you do want something solidly mounted and weatherproof. This fits the bill.

Definitely recommended if you want time-lapse footage of... anything.

Comment: --This camera is advertised for its lapse-time (automatic spaced intervals between exposures) capability. Its name (PlantCam) could give the impression that its only use is for seeing a bud, flower, plant or garden grow "high speed," compressing hours, days, or weeks into a few minutes. But it can be used with delight in many other nature-situations with satisfaction, showing "sped-up replay" in the motions of clouds, shadows, animal intra-flock associations, indoor flower turning, snow melting, and even things like recording the development of a drawing, construction, what people mostly look at in a store window, and on and on. The camera works fine with variable time selections, a laser pointer for down to 11 inch close-up work, a view finder for distant projects, several levels of resolution, date-time imprint and more. I have viewed the picture results with Windows Picture Manager, finding the filmstrip view nice for speeding through the sequence. In Windows Movie Maker I can move what might be hundreds of pictures to its story board and play the changes as a sort of movie. I also have the company's BirdCam and get incredible bird closeups. The cameras are simple to operate with almost intuitive control layout, but I recommend you work through the carefully written and adequate manual with camera in hand several times. For a number of times I was overlooking the last step, that is, turn the dial to "auto" before setting the camera on the tripod or ground for its shooting. I am convinced this camera would be great for an adult to use in collaboration with a youngster in discovery activity. I know I have found its pictures excellent and intriging.