I finally got a chance to get out and capture a comparison sequence by bicycle. I think I have a close approximation this time:
.5 sec Video time lapse sequence:
https://www.mapillary.com/app/?lat=34.96199494949495&lng=-82.44072222222222&z=17&pKey=AOpOsDowxqNZbH8cWWMeSN&x=0.7970196839243462&y=0.5376206353059527&zoom=0&focus=photo
2 second photo time lapse:
https://www.mapillary.com/app/?lat=34.9619378&lng=-82.44069209999998&z=19.9&pKey=x9SgUlxmME1FNeXH888hD0&x=0.24960220219980334&y=0.4759339888208799&zoom=0.41841004184100417&focus=photo
Not terribly scientific, but at this point the speeds were similar (10-14 mph), and it was within 5 minutes of the other.
My conclusion: The 2 second interval is not too bad until you get into higher bike speeds such as over 15 mph. It is no problem walking.
But the thing I really like about the video timelapse though is the horizon leveling. I captured about 15 miles of photo timelapse footage by bike in addition to this, however I’m going to discard that and retake it all by video timelapse to make use of the horizon leveling. I’ll even use video timelapse while walking for the same reason - although I could increase the interval in that case.
It could also be more interesting by car, but many cases need higher resolution and performance than the GoPro Max to read house numbers and business names for example.