One solution is to buy a used a Canon A1100 - a so-called point-and-shoot camera. The A1100 is a popular camera, offered frequently on eBay for less than $50. With
12+ megapixels, it does a decent job of capturing images – albeit not HD. And its not overly heavy. With lithium batteries installed, it comes in at
about 120 grams – an acceptable weight for most payloads.
Why a Canon point-and-shoot over other point-and-shoot brands? Canon cameras have a large following of hackers that have found ways to enable a powerhouse of features beyond the camera’s standard out-of-the-box capabilities. The scope of functionality enabled by hacker firmware is amazing and free to use! See more here. For balloon enthusiasts, the most important capability is time-lapse (Intervalometer) function– enabling the A1100 to automatically take a picture every few seconds. For balloon flight, the time-lapse feature allows an entire mission to be recorded on an SD card.
Why a Canon point-and-shoot over other point-and-shoot brands? Canon cameras have a large following of hackers that have found ways to enable a powerhouse of features beyond the camera’s standard out-of-the-box capabilities. The scope of functionality enabled by hacker firmware is amazing and free to use! See more here. For balloon enthusiasts, the most important capability is time-lapse (Intervalometer) function– enabling the A1100 to automatically take a picture every few seconds. For balloon flight, the time-lapse feature allows an entire mission to be recorded on an SD card.
Needed:
Canon Powershot A1100 IS (other point-and-shoot Canon's may work as well)
SD Card – 32GB or more recommended
A laptop computer
Optionally: SD Card Adapter / USB interface
General Overview:
Hacker firmware (CHDK) is loaded on to
your camera via its SD card. The
firmware is first downloaded on your laptop, and then transferred to an SD
card. The SD card is removed from the laptop and placed in the camera. Upon start-up, the camera reads the SD card
and substitutes the hacker firmware (temporarily) in place of the camera’s
normal operating system. The hacker firmware provides menus to start the time-lapse
function.
Steps to Enable Time-Lapse Capability on an Canon A1100
IS:
With a Canon A1100 in hand, you will want to find out the
exact model / year / production copy of the camera. This information is needed to download the
correct version of Canon hacker firmware – referred to as CHDK. Luckily there
is an online app that can help you do this, along with putting the right version
of CHDK firmware on your SD card.
(1) Start by putting in a new / empty SD card in
your A1100 IS
(2) Take a single picture (not a video)
(3) Download “Stick” - a free app for your laptop
(the author does ask for a $1 donation if you find the app useful): Download by clicking here.
(4) Move the SD card from the camera to your laptop
(you may need a SD / USB Card Adapter depending upon the model of your computer)
(5) Double click the downloaded file to open the
folder
(6) Run the "Stick" app by double clicking on stick.jar
(must have Java installed)
(7) Open the SD card to find its contents
(8) The photo you took should be found in the folder
DCIM
(9) Drag the photo from the SD card to the app “drag
photo here” box
(10) Click
“Download” on the Stick app screen
(11) Click
“Scan for Card” on the Stick app screen
(12) Click
“Permission to Prepare Card”
(13) Name the
two partitions: Partition 1: PHOTOS
Partition 2 : CHDK
(14) Click
“Install CHDK”
(15) The SD
card will now be formatted into two partitions
(16) Click
“Safely Eject SD Card”
(17) Slide the
SD Lock on the SD Card
(18) Exit the "Stick" app
The CHDK firmware needs a time-lapse function script. There are several scripts available online
that can do the job (search Google for Canon intervalometer scripts). Here is a
simple one to add to your SD card:
Steps to install time-lapse (intervalometer) script
(20) Move the
downloaded file “counter.bas” to the file folder on the SD card called PHOTOS/CHDK/SCRIPTS
(21) Eject the
SD card from the computer
(22) Load the
SD card on your camera
Now, upon turning your camera on, you will have new
firmware. There are a few menu steps to
enable the time-lapse function:
(23) Turn on
the camera with the “>” button
(24) Press the
“*” print button
(25) Wait for
a couple of seconds
(26) At the
bottom of the screen is “Default Scrip
ALT”
(27) Press the
camera’s function-set button (center of the “navigation wheel”)
(28) Use the
navigation wheel scroll down to “load script from file” line
(29) Press
function-set
(30) Scroll
down to find “counter.bas"
(31) Press
function set
(32) The menu
will return to the script menu (scroll down to the bottom to “countdown
intervalometer)
(33) Select
the “Interval in Sec” using the wheel
left or right to move values
(34) Select
the “Number of Shots” using the wheel left or right to move values
(35) Scroll
down to the “back” line item at the bottom of the menu
(36) Press
function-set
(37) Half hold
the down the shutter button – starting the time-lapse shooting!
(38) Press the
main “on/off” button to stop the process
There is a process to combine the of time-lapse photos to
make a movie – using a GoPro app. A separate
post will tackle this topic.
Below is a test video shot on the morning of St. Patrick's Day 2015: The time lapse is from 7:44 AM until 8:50 AM - 66 minutes with a picture every 12.9 seconds. A total of 308 frames were used to make a 30 second movie - using each frame roughly three times. Music provided by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
One of the limitations of the A1100 is the number of shots possible on two AA batteries. The Canon specs call out a limit of 140 shots with a set of normal alkaline batteries, and 350 shots with NiCa. Lithiums give double the battery life. In experimenting with a set of lithium batteries, 500 - 700 pictures can be captured before the batteries die. From a practical standpoint, this means that a typical balloon mission lasting about 150 minute (2 1/2 hours) could be fully captured by setting the time-lapse to 15 seconds before depleting the lithiums. Unfortunately, the short battery life limits a mini-movie to 20 to 40 seconds in length.
Below is a test video shot on the morning of St. Patrick's Day 2015: The time lapse is from 7:44 AM until 8:50 AM - 66 minutes with a picture every 12.9 seconds. A total of 308 frames were used to make a 30 second movie - using each frame roughly three times. Music provided by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
One of the limitations of the A1100 is the number of shots possible on two AA batteries. The Canon specs call out a limit of 140 shots with a set of normal alkaline batteries, and 350 shots with NiCa. Lithiums give double the battery life. In experimenting with a set of lithium batteries, 500 - 700 pictures can be captured before the batteries die. From a practical standpoint, this means that a typical balloon mission lasting about 150 minute (2 1/2 hours) could be fully captured by setting the time-lapse to 15 seconds before depleting the lithiums. Unfortunately, the short battery life limits a mini-movie to 20 to 40 seconds in length.
