I did some looking into cheaper timelapse solutions in the past couple of days and I thought I should make the info available. This is strictly for the hacker amateur timelapse maker like me that has no intention of devoting too much money to the task. The main stumbling block for me has been to find compact cameras that can be externally powered by an A/C or battery power source. Not many camera models have this option. For longer timelapses or timelapses requiring a large number of photos, the on-board batteries do not suffice and it may not be easy or convenient to manually replace the battery throughout the shooting period. So access to AC power or the equivalent (lead-acid back-up power units) is handy.
It's not easy finding out which cameras can be powered externally, it would be nice if there was a dpreview feature search criterium for it.
Turns out that the Canon G series allows this. I have an old G3 that can be used with the battery charger plugged in. It doesn't support 16x9 however so that means I have to be careful about framing and crop all the individual jpgs in post. It can be done but it's a pain and the G3 won't last forever. Beginning with the G12 (maybe earlier models too), 16x9 aspect output jpgs were menu selectable and you could purchase from Canon a battery replacement A/C adapter (ACK-DC20, I think). Different generations of the G series required different adapters, and I believe the later G15 and G16 models used the ACK-DC50 (?). BUT, you MUST check with the manual of the specific camera version you own, I don't trust my own notes on this. I'm just pointing out that this camera family has an OEM power solution. There are probably after market products that also accomplish this.
In Sony bridge compacts, the HX-200 to HX-900 series (maybe even the HX-100) can use either a Sony-specific DC-in adapter or in later models a USB power adapter, that allow camera operation while plugged in. I have a HX7 (or maybe it's an HX9) that also has this capability. The DC-in adapters were optional extras, not part of the standard purchase kit, so it may take some digging around to find them.
D-SLR and mirrorless body power solutions are easier to find online so I am not addressing those. There are third-party solutions for Olympus that use a dummy battery with cabling to hook up to a power source, but those solutions require some care wrt matching power requirements. Some Olympus bodies can accommodate AC power using auxiliary handgrips. In my case, I tend to prefer smaller/lighter cameras for this work so I haven't used the Olympus bodies. Also, I don't want to wear out the shutters, although later models can use electronic shutters.
There are many web sites with other D-SLR/mirrorless solutions, easy to find.
