This article is for Android users connecting to the camera and they are seeing the "Opps, change your Wi-Fi network" message Typically connecting to the Afidus time lapse camera through the Wi-fi hotspot is complete within a minute. There are times when this is not the case. Digging a little deeper as Android is in the rollout process we have discovered some users will need to completely turn off their Mobile Data Connection. Instructions: Swipe down from the top of the screen, select Settings, press Data usage flick the Mobile data switch from On to Off - (this will completely turn off your mobile data connection) Always start with a fresh set of brand name batteries (Energizer Max) and the manufacturer supplied 16mb mSD card installed. Power on your camera by holding down the power button until you hear a “beep”. The LED will light green to indicate power is on, and the camera is broadcasting its Wifi signal. Go back to your phone and search for the cameras Wifi network. It will be listed as “ATL200_xxxxxxxxx” (this is the cameras unique ID number). Connect your phone to this network and enter the TimeLapseCamera password “87654321”. ​ Android 11 was rolled out in stages over the past six months and it was not a smooth transition. If you have camera is running pre-Android 11 firmware, here is the roll-out list. https://www.androidauthority.com/android-11-update-tracker-1155652 If you have a Google Pixel running Android 11, the fix took a long time and every Pixel user had issues. Have you updated your phone? Delete the app Restart your mobile device Reinstall the Afidus App Other TIPS to try: If the app becomes unresponsive, refresh the app by closing it and restarting it. If the connection continues to spin and is unresponsive, refresh it by closing the mobile device settings app down and reopen it. Start the app and try again. If the camera does not connect, head back to settings and “forget” the wifi network. Call us, we will help. 507-885-0070 If you did not purchase your camera from us: Due to new government GDPR rules (General Data Protection) you might be asked to change your password to a new, personal one. You will be instructed by the App to enter a new password. Once this is done, go back to your wifi network list and click “Forget Network” for your ATL. Lastly, simply reconnect to the ATL-xxxxxxx network using your new, personal password. You should now have a connection between your camera and your phone / tablet. To test this, go to the App main screen and tap the bottom left icon “Camera”. If successful, you should be taken to the viewfinder and settings screen of the App. November 2019 passwords are a mandatory change required by GDPR Please note: the camera will automatically turn off its Wifi after 4 minutes of wifi inactivity. This is indicated by the camera emitting a long beep and then it will shut down. ​ HELP!!! MY CAMERA STILL WONT CONNECT!!! If, by accident you entered the manufacturer password (12345678) your camera will not connect to WiFi. To resolve this, please forget the camera connection in your settings and enter the current TimeLapseCamera password, 87654321.

Timelapsecameras.com prepares each camera for successful use right out of the box. This video introduces you to the accessories included with your Afidus Time Lapse Camera. As of January 2020, accessories include: 0:19 Velcro Strap useful for camera mounting especially during short-term projects or those that require moving the camera frequently. (more robust mounting options available at www.timelapsecameras.com) 0:29 Plastic Lens Protector additional protection for extreme dirt and debris situations. See note below. 0:44 Battery Removal Key batteries vary slightly in size and may swell under certain conditions. This tool assists with hard to remove batteries. More information about batteries is found in this informative video Battery Video 0:56 USB Power Cord used connect your camera to an auxiliary power source or your computer system for data transfer. 1:10 Batteries & Micro SD Card our “ready to shoot” package is included with your Afidus Time lapse camera purchase. Watch to see how to remove/install batteries and the mSD card. Accessory Update February, 2021 The ATL-200S cameras purchased from TimeLapseCameras.com will be supplied with a new accessory: a silicone sleeve. This sleeve is currently in long-term field testing for its ability to aid in the camera’s water resistance as it protects the power button, LED display, USB port, and battery cover from inclement driving water entry. Our testing is ongoing as to the benefit of this new addition. Our conclusion thus far–please consider using it as additional protection as always it’s a good thing. Lens Protector A handy little accessory which can help protect your lens in extreme situations. This accessory comes in handy in extreme work situations where paint overspray, spray foam, or excessive dirt may come into direct contact with the camera lens. This video shows how to install it on the camera. NOTE: be sure to clean the lens & protector prior to installation.

At TimeLapseCameras.com we ship all cameras with the manufacturer supplied 16 Gb SanDisk Ultra. There are several types of card speeds. ULTRA vs EXTREME. In testing various brands we have determined the recommended card and speed to use is SanDisk Ultra. The Afidus time lapse camera will accept cards up to 256 Gb in size. (update: as of May 2022, Afidus is now recommending only upto 128 GB. Which must be formatted as FAT32. Read on friends we have much to share.) Cards larger than 32gb in size must be formatted correctly. In our experience, there is little need for large cards to be used. WHY? only use SanDisk Ultra? The Afidus Time Lapse system writes flies slowly. Our recommended advise, stay with Ultra. Many speeds are available they are defined as: Ultra, Ultra Plus, Extreme and Extreme Pro. "SanDisk Ultra is slower than the Extreme model with a speed of up to 100mb/s. The SanDisk Extreme is faster by about 60mb/s since its listed transfer speed is up to 160mb/s from 64GB. The 32GB Extreme model has the same listed transfer speed as the Ultra Plus model." In testing various brands and speeds with the ATL-200S model, it became clear to us at TimeLapseCameras.com any speed greater than ULTRA is not recommended and will not work with the camera system. More information regarding card speeds. BEST PRACTICE: Format the card in the camera. If you're like us and use multiple cameras (or devices which use the mSD cards) it's recommended "Best Practice" to always format the card in the camera before it's used. This is especially true in the new 200S camera. Any mSD Ultra card larger than 16 GB in size must be formatted prior to use. TIP: Use a permanent marker to mark your 200S cards and we advise to keep them separate within the cameras/devices you use them in. Now for the fine print with the ATL-200S The ATL-200S has a better CPU with more features and better performance. ATL-200S uses FAT32 as its memory card format. The CPU doesn't support exFAT format. The solution is: 1. Format memory card before recording. 2. Avoid switching the using the same memory card between the previous ATL-200 and ATL-200S models or any other device using that mSD card. (This tip is for users who happen to have both models). Similarly this is a good practice to remember its not recommended to switch your mSD cards used generally between devices. SanDisk states "swapping memory cards between different cameras is a bad idea. this can lead to disc corruption and dramatically reduces the life of the memory card." Best card tips and practices article "What about larger cards" If you want to upgrade your card size-you can look to 32, or 64 in size. Stay with the recommended SanDisk ULTRA microSD. Within the monthly recording guide, the16gb has enough storage for most recording and is compatible with Afidus camera. Most applications don't need the larger 64 Gb and above cards. Surveillance work might be the exception where you need to capture a lot over 24 hours to capture whatever you are looking for. Weekly Projects: For most projects 16Gb is the best starting point between content and battery life. With the "minute-to-win-it-rule" a capture every minute for a month during a 10 hour workday (working Monday-Friday) is about 7.5 minutes of footage, for that month. This is around 3.4 Gb total, at which point we check the batteries and there is plenty of extra room. Unique situations: Surveillance and short term wildlife motion sensing projects might be the only application where we have needed 64 or 128Gb card sizes. These typically record for 24 hours a day with a capture every five seconds, this uses almost 3Gb a day. A 128Gb card would fill in around 40 days. You would need solar power or alternate power source to power the camera. For a month of recording you would have about 7 hours of footage to comb through. How do you remove the card? Open the camera battery compartment Remove the batteries Tilt the camera upside down Press the card until it clicks to deseat it Use the tip of your finger to gently remove it from the camera. Let’s talk Back-up Our recommendation is to keep cards under 64 Gb in size due to the regular monthly checks for your projects. You never want to be caught in the situation your camera has disappeared and you have not saved your content for that month. Backing up to a central drive, computer, and/or cloud storage allows for safe redundancy. As you move through your project, continue to save content to the folder structure you prefer. Check and Clear that Card After the card has been saved you must clear it off. In this screen example the card is full. The information screen and main card screen will show how much available and used space is on the card. If the card is full and you deploy it for your project the camera will look and operate like it is recording normally. You will be lucky if you get one file, a frame, a day or 10 days of content on that full card. There is not enough space to continue. Apple Users: After downloading the card contents to your computer/drive/cloud to archive for future use, you must (Apple terms here) "trash the card" and empty the trash. Window Users: Need to Format the card. Ensure the card has been emptied by checking the mSD information where there will be plenty of room on the card. This will delete the contents of the card allow you to keep recording. The other method for formatting the card was mentioned above. Format it within the Afidus App as mentioned above. Be sure to check out the rest of our User Guide for full camera operation.

Long story short-NEVER use rechargeable batteries for long term time-lapses! These batteries self discharge and are not suitable for powering long term projects. They are also likely to get stuck in the battery carriage because they are slightly larger in diameter when compared to the leading brand. Best Brands Energizer Max (alkaline) Energizer Ultimate (lithium) * Duracell Black Ultra (alkaline) For super cold weather The Energizer Lithium batteries get a special call out in our book due for cold weather use. In Minnesota, we experience temperatures dropping below -30°. Fine print on Lithium Batteries Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries provide longer run time and maintain a charge when the temperature dips. They cost more, but provide better performance, especially if the temperature is sub-zero to 30F. The only catch with lithium batteries is the steep power curve, they are either good or dead, there is little mid-range and they may fail without warning. However, the failure point is longer than standard alkaline batteries. Our best advise ever Do not use cheap off brand generic batteries (this includes Kirkland from Costco) as this will severely reduce your camera operation time!

April, 2023 update ATL-200S/201S current models the current firmware is 5585 For the ATL-200/201 models, the firmware is 4374 Last update released by Afidus was on April, 9, 2023 "Afidus is going to release new version firmware for ATL-200S/201S(version 5585), this version aims to avoid =from creating files can not play if customer setting is: Schedule mode(timelapse mode) Interval = continuous HD(720p) Quality = +1 Recommendation: Afidus recommends completing this process connected directly to a power source via the supplied USB cable or after installing brand new, name brand batteries. The camera system will alert you if there is not enough power in the batteries for the update. In this video we walk you through step-by-step on how to update your firmware. With the camera powered OFF, open the app on your mobile device and tap “Firmware” in the bottom right corner Select the correct version for your camera and tap “Download Firmware” When the download is complete, power the camera on and connect via WiFi to your device Enter the camera control in app and tap the settings menu (top left corner). Then tap FW Upgrade The camera will cycle through 2 series of beeps then power down. Turn the camera on, reconnect your device to your device’s WiFi and confirm the firmware has been updated At the end of the video we remind you to check your "Batts and Stats". We recommend checking your cameras at least monthly and using fresh batteries with every start of every project. Saving your card content at regular intervals protects against lost footage in case of card failure. Afidus continues to update the firmware in immediate response to iOS/Android updates as well as implementing app improvements, performance updates, and new features. Thank you to everyone who provides feedback directly to us so we can pass it along and continue to help improve the Afidus cameras. iOS Connection Tip: In the event you have upgraded your iOS device and you have issues connecting to the camera. Apple recommends deleting the app and reinstalling it.

The LED indicator at the top of the camera is critical to determining the status of your camera. This is what we use to verify that it is recording or if it is in need of attention. We recommend for all cameras being posted on jobs that you check your cameras weekly with just a simple visual check of the LED to ensure that it has a green blinking flash approximately every six seconds. LED Status Indicator Power on: Green on No SD card: Solid Red System Breakdown: Red flash /1 sec. * Battery Low: Red Flash/10 sec. Firmware update: flash/1 sec. Hardware Reset: flash 3 times ​ Recording Modes: Recording: Green flash/6 sec. Schedule Snapshot On Demand, Step Video: Flash 0.2 sec. x1 PIR, Hybrid: Flash 0.2 sec. x2 ​ Blinking red led? NOW WHAT DO I DO? * If you happen to have a flashing red light 1/sec. then the best course of action would be to remove and change all the batteries to fresh brand name batteries. It doesn't hurt to reseat the card at this time as well. Then continue to power on the camera and connect it to your mobile device using the Wi-fi through your settings menu. A little more about the batteries, which brand do we recommend. Fresh name brand batteries we recommend include: Energizer Max, Duracell, Duracell Black and Energizer Lithium. We do not recommend recycled or generic brand batteries, these include Kirkland, Target, Mastercell etc. They simply do not hold their charge on comparison to the leading brands. Energizer Lithium batteries have proven to be the best battery brand to use in severe winter cold northern temperature climates. Be warned, they will have a steep drop in voltage and will suddenly stop working, in comparison to using Energizer Max or Duracell Black. batteries. Question: How Should I store my camera when not in use When the camera is not use we typically store it in a soft can thermo coozie. You know...the ones you get for your soft drinks. This extra padded layer will help any bumps along the way. We hope to add can coozies to our product line as a freebee in the near future. We highly recommend removing the battery carriage from the camera unit when not in use. It's fact, all batteries will drain slowly over time when not in use and located in the unit. We have seen this occurrence not only with the Afidus Camera system but with DJI drones, GoPro's Hero 7, and DLSR cameras etc.

Mount the camera securely, and by that we mean fasten it down-so it does not wiggle. Frame your subject. Check zoom and focus. Enter your record schedule from the settings menu. Select the "red dot" icon to enter record modes. Select the recording mode from the icons along the bottom of the screen. Typically Time Lapse is the only mode you want to capture in. Once the record mode is selected the camera will confirm your entered shoot settings. Tap OK to confirm these are correct and the camera will beep twice to confirm it is recording. You can double check the camera is recording as the LED will flash every 6 seconds. NOTE: If you did not hear an audible beep-beep that is a false start. Long press the power button. Confirm the camera is on with a solid green at the top of the LED, proceed with a short press of the power button. The camera will sound an audible "beep-beep" If the LED is blinking every 6 seconds, the camera is recording according to the schedule you set. To stop recording, simply press and hold the power button for 2 secs. The camera will emit a long beep, and the LED will illuminate green. This indicates that the camera has written the time-lapse video file and has turned the Wifi on. You can now connect your phone / tablet to download files, or change settings. QUICK TIP - you can quickly enter record mode without using the APP. Turn the camera on as normal (green LED light), then short press (<1sec) the power button again. The camera will enter record mode with the last shoot settings entered. NOTE: it’s worth remembering, if the camera is left alone, or no settings are changed, it will turn itself off after 4 minutes of inactivity.

As Afidus has introduced new long term time lapse camera models since 2018. We think it's best to share a global chart containing all the specifications with new features added to the new ATL-200S/201S camera lineup. Download this chart to read specifications a.k.a. the nerdy good stuff with jump links to coordinating articles and videos of the camera system.

There are 5 recording modes within the Afidus ATL 200S Time Lapse camera. When to use them properly is the magic behind the action. For this video I’ll share with you information about P.I.R. motion sensing creative recording mode. LARGE BIG BOLD TYPE FACE SCREAMING HERE: This creative recording mode will create dozens if not hundreds of files for you to select from. If a bug, a leaf, tree or anything moves within the sensor area, and it has contrast in the scene, it will create a file. It will chew through your batteries and card faster than you can say….Sasquatch. This sample above was recorded on January 1, 2020. PIR mode was used to document the intruder wreaking havoc on plastic parts in a shed. The camera was left unattended for several days and left to record. In total more than 240 total clips were created. Be mindful the sensor trigger at the slightest of movement, even change in light. Our take: We would love to see joined files and a selectable PIR capture interval. If you are doing a project without set hours, for example, restoring a car. The camera will record when there is movement and wait idle for the next action. As a creative mode it’s best to say use at your own risk, plan ahead, and be prepared to watch the system closely. Afidus planned for a solution: experiment with Hybrid Mode. You get motion activated capture within a time lapse and you won't have an endless number of files. I will detail Hybrid capture soon. But sasquatch still applies, keep an eye on your card space and batteries. More on this mode will be shared within another post. Enough about the negatives. Now for the positives: it has the potential to catch great critter action. ‘Critters’ must be used in synonymously referring to animals or human-catch my drift?

Tuesday tip series? It’s alive, another tutorial prepared by TimeLapseCameras.com There are times in the field when you may want to use the 'Download to Phone' feature of the Afidus Time Lapse camera system. I.e. When the action was too good not to share immediately on social media. Or, when you need to immediate review the footage for a longer capture. Either way, this is a primer on the process. This feature needs to be prefaced with... If you have the time and a great small clip go for it. Here’s the fine print: This process takes time and resources. Generally downloading to phone takes approximately 3.5 minutes to download large 512MB files. For this demonstration video my file size was small, a whopping 89MB. This SnapShop (aka Stop Motion) example video was shot exclusively to demonstrate the download process and result of recording in SnapShot mode. This process must be monitored throughout to ensure you don’t lose the connection or the app doesn’t stall out or yo will need to start over. The other side note to recall, you are using WiFi connection which will drain your batteries. My take, choose your download process wisely and use it only if you really need to. One other way to download to phone, which is significantly faster, use an Apple card reader adapter dongle-thingy. You know what I’m talking about, right? TRANSFER FOOTAGE For step by step information on saving content and downloading to phone see our User Guide.

Afidus is always improving their app and increasing it's capability, just like iOS. One of the more recent changes delivered in a firmware update (4334 for ATL-200/201 models and version 4444 for the ATL-200S) is the video Compression Mode. Afidus has simplified this video setting within the Settings fly-out menu. When selected it will present two options: Compatible vs Efficiency. A simple answer is that file size will vary with settings. Efficiency compression generates approximately 30% smaller files compared to capturing in Compatible mode Our Take: Leave it on Compatibility. You are welcome to try out Efficiency compression mode with your computer/editing system to ensure it will work for your needs. Reason: If you are checking your cameras weekly/biweekly, and especially monthly, like we recommend within standard operating settings ("one-minute to-win-it", weekdays, 7:00 am to 5:00 pm), your 16gb card will not fill up, but remember to check those batts & stats! Let's dive deeper into this topic. Specifically, Efficiency uses the H.265 codec, which is a newer codec. H.264 is reliable across most video players and editing software. However, Efficiency uses the newer HVC1 codec which, for example, is not compatible with Mac OS older than High Sierra 10.13. What this means for older Mac and Window users is stock video players such as QuickTime or Windows Media Player will not play the file. CODEC Summary: ATL 200S/201S Models: Compatible records in Motion JPEG Video (MJPG) Efficiency records in MPEG -H Part 2/HEVC (H.265) (hvc1) Previous ATL 200/201 Models: Efficiency will record in h264 MPEG-4AVC (part 10_ (avc 1) Compatible records in Motion JPEG Video (MJPG) Known playback incompatibility issues: As of March 2021, Movavi editor will NOT play back files recorded using the 200S camera in Efficiency Compression (H.265 format). The solution for this, convert the files using a program such as Wondershare File Converter. SOLUTION: DO NOT worry, a solution is just around the corner. Use VLC player. This handy dandy little backup player comes in great allowing you a back-up, just in case. Otherwise, you might need to look into updating your operating system for proper playback and future video editing. Remember: Efficiency offers the option of capturing 30% more footage within the same card space without compromising video quality. Be safe, save it. Sure Efficiency will save your card space. However let's talk about content safety. Pull the content from the card, by replacing the card, and back it up to a second or third location for safe keeping and future editing. We’ll provide more details in another blog on the topic “How to store and organize your Timelapse Content safely.”

White balance is a camera setting that adjusts the color balance of light the you’re shooting in so that it appears a neutral white, and it’s used to counteract the orange/yellow color of artificial light, for example, or the cold light of deep shadow under a blue sky so that portrait shots taken in shade look more natural. The Afidus time lapse camera system has a white balance adjustment built within the app. This setting is subjective to your surroundings. If you are in a controlled studio then setting the white balance to suit your needs will be a matter of preference and what appeals to you for the end outcome. From the App select White Balance A selection of scene will popup. The summary of color temperature is as follows: Per Afidus, Corresponding color temperature to each mode: Auto Daylight > 5500k Bluesky > 8000k Cloudy > 7000k Fluorescent > 4000k Incandescent > 3300k Sunset > 2800k In this video clip example you can see the difference from each white balance setting. What does this mean? Discover the change in color for yourself. Here’s a couple more tips. Take screen shots and review those screenshots on your mobile device. Which do you like? Then use it. For controlled light situations you can consider: As mentioned above, use a gray card or X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2. Take snapshop with the gray card or CheckerPassport, save it and reference that photo in the post editing process. Only advanced editing software such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, DaVinci Resolve and a few others will be able to respond to color change. Recording outside? Remember light and weather changes throughout the day. This means it is best to use either Auto or Daylight setting as you may not want the yellow or blue color tint in your video. You can read more about white balance within a beginners guide to photography here.