Ready-made and simple
No system to design and nothing complicated to configure. Out of the box and running.
From our own use
Brinno
Time-lapse Camera
People who cannot find anyone to record their construction project, or think hiring is too expensive, often buy a ready-made time-lapse camera such as a Brinno and set it up themselves. Some contractors take on time-lapse work with these cameras too.
We bought a number of Brinno cameras and ran them on real jobs. This page is what we found — the strengths and the limits when they meet a construction site — so you can decide before you buy.
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Simple, bought once
Ready to use, long battery life, working the day it arrives.
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But someone climbs for the images
The images sit on an SD card in the camera; getting them means going up to fetch it.
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And it records video
When a file fails, everything in it goes.
The good
Why people choose a Brinno
A small battery that lasts
It runs for a long time on a small battery, with no need for power on site.
A one-off purchase
You pay for the camera once and keep using it, where a time-lapse service is usually billed monthly. On a very tight budget, that is the argument that sounds right.
The limits
What we ran into on construction sites
Most construction runs five or six months to a year or more. The camera has to be mounted high to see the whole site, and the client usually wants images every month — sometimes suddenly, halfway through one. That is where a ready-made camera starts to struggle.
Climbing the mast for the SD card
On a camera mounted thirty metres up a steel mast, every image is on the SD card inside it. Each time the client wants pictures, someone climbs up, takes the card down, loads it onto a computer, then climbs back up to put it in and set the camera going again — whether that someone is the contractor or the client who bought the camera.
Our system: however high the camera sits, we reach it over the internet from the office — live view and downloads without anyone climbing.
Long battery life still runs out
However long the battery lasts, a job that runs for months still means someone going up to change it.
Our system: solar power with a backup that does not let it run flat, mains where the site has it, or both together.
Video files — and some months they failed
Brinno cameras record to MP4 or AVI video rather than individual still frames — even the models that now reach 4K. When we ran them, we checked the files every month and found that in some months the video file had failed, and that whole month was gone. A construction site cannot be re-shot.
Our system: every frame is its own still file. A fault costs one, two or three frames and leaves the rest untouched; the film is cut from them afterwards.
No real remote control
Some models can send images to the cloud, but there is no way into the camera itself to change its settings. When the work speeds up and you want more frames, someone has to go up to the camera.
Our system: a separate interval for every hour, from one second to twenty-four hours, changed from the office at once.
Resolution
Most ready-made models sit at HD; 4K comes only on the top models, which are not yet widely used.
Our system: starts at 4K and goes up to a DSLR.
On a real site
One climb, at installation
Mounted up a mast
The crew goes up once, in full safety gear, to install — and never has to climb for the images after that.
The images come to the office
Every frame lands in the archive, ready to open and download — no waiting for someone to fetch a card.
Power that does not run out
Solar with a backup, so nobody climbs up to swap a battery.
Deciding
Which one suits your job
A ready-made camera may do if…
The job is short · the camera goes somewhere easy to reach, with no climbing · nobody needs images before the end · and the budget is very tight.
A system run from the office if…
The job runs five months or more · the camera has to go up high · images are needed monthly, or suddenly mid-month · and losing even one month is not acceptable.
Buy from us
Brinno cameras for sale
If your job is one a ready-made camera suits, we have Brinno cameras for sale — from people who have actually run them on construction sites.
New, still boxed
Brand-new cameras in the box, at a discounted price.
Used, at a used price
Cameras that have been in service, priced as used, for the tightest budgets.
Ask for models and prices
What we have changes, so call or message us on LINE. And if it turns out your job needs a system run from the office instead, we will say so plainly.
Contact
Talk to us before you buy
Tell us where the project is, how long it runs and where the camera would go. We will tell you whether a ready-made camera is enough for it, or whether it needs a system run from the office.