time lapse with 50D ???

My kids and I are interested in playing around with making a time lapse video of our upcoming road trip to Disney. Can you give me some pointers? I've never done this before.

I want to use the 50D without the grip. Would one battery be capable of taking, say 8000 images (small JPG)? I plan on using our TC-80N3 (timered remote) to take pictures at 15-second intervals.

Thank in advance for all your advice.

Oh do I leave the camera on full AUTO? Since we would be driving and the lighting conditions would change throughout the day.

no help? anyone?

I don't think 1 battery will survive 8000 images. I think at best you'll do is about 1000-1500 w/o the grip. 2000 maybe. But nowhere near 8000 photos. The photos are captured at 15mp and then processed/downsized in camera. So saving it at smaller resolution only allows you to store more files on a given CF card. Won't really save much on battery usage.

I was thinking of capturing small JPGs only since they need to be cropped down for 1080p anyway.

JChin wrote in post #12872485
I was thinking of capturing small JPGs only since they need to be cropped down for 1080p anyway.

That's fine and dandy. But it won't save you battery life. Just saying. So bring the charger, and/or bring some extra batteries.

youll get about 800 pics with 1 battery, so you'll need 10 batteries or a car charger.

dang it; looks like my kids and I need to rethink this little road trip project

I tried this when I got my first DSLR, before I realized that DSLRs have a limited shutter lifetime - usually 100,000-150,000 shots. So if you make 15 such short movies, you'll probably have to buy a new DSLR...