New Camera for Shooting Time Lapse

I've wanted a camera that would allow me to take shots at a set interval to later combine into a time lapse video. After research and a whole bunch of hassles I got my hands on a new Samsung TL350.  This is a great little point and shoot with full HD, F2.4, 24mm wide angle, interval shooting as well as several other features that set it apart.

My first time lapse test was supposed to be a 10 hour duration of my seedlings that have just emerged.  The battery pooped out after 499 shots which works out to ~8 hours.  It's quite boring, I expected to see them growing a bit more and in fact it's made me think about giving some additional attention or nutrients to the seedlings!

Some notes about the tools and settings used, for my own reference more than anything:

• Shots taken and 1080p resolution
• PhotoLapse used to combine @ 15fps saving with H.264 compression - file size: 8,941Kb
• Strange motion is inexplicable, I don't think the tripod moved because it later reverts back to the original orientation.  It's almost like the camera is making some strange adjustment
• Shooting at a wider interval than 1 minute would be a good idea and increase battery life.  For example, I could have shot at a 6 minute interval and maybe achieved 150-180% increase in battery life.  Combined at 5FPS the video would play at the same speed although be a bit more rough