prolonged time lapse summer garden cam

any camera is limited by three things

1,, power

2,, heat generated

3,, storage capacity

as you know power can be by a dc supply and any heat can be dissipated by cooling

storage capacity is the main factor even the biggest card will not do what you require

this link will give you an estimate of the requirments.https://cam-do.com/pages/photography-time-lapse-calculator

hope this helps you out

colin pithers wrote:

any camera is limited by three things

1,, power

2,, heat generated

3,, storage capacity

as you know power can be by a dc supply and any heat can be dissipated by cooling

storage capacity is the main factor even the biggest card will not do what you require

this link will give you an estimate of the requirments.https://cam-do.com/pages/photography-time-lapse-calculator

hope this helps you out

The OP mentioned retrieving data data weekly.

If the interval between shots is not too short the this could be done by many types of cameras. For example a Nikon D7100 can do interval shooting up to  999 shots. Its battery holds up for a week running, especially if AF and other not needed  is turned off. (Tested running for 12 days continuously on a spring outing).  With the 999 shots 5/hour can be done for a week. A 64 GB chip should be enough for that many RAW captures. The chip and battery need to be replaced and interval shooting restarted. Other DSLR may perform similarly. This simple set up may be enough for the purpose.

With tethered camera much more is possible, even without connection to the grid. For example a std DSLR with solar power is used by USGS at a remote location up on Mount St Helens. With a tethered camera on the power grid + internet, images could be pulled off and sent over the net.

mforrest wrote:

greetings and forgive me if this is the wrong forum to ask these questions.

i'm trying to secure a spring/summer/fall time lapse of my garden from an overhead frame of view - a small camera mounted at the peak of my garage under the eaves with a complete view of the garden. i need a camera that can take single shots continuously day after day.

i have so far been unable to find a camera to do this. accessing the cam everyday to retrieve images is out of the question. however if they could be retrieved weekly it would be doable. i'm trying to locate a small cam that equals gopro image quality and uses electric to usb power (always on) and a large enough storage capacity that i can retrieve the images weekly or monthly. a cam with the ability to download the images via wifi would be the best of all.

I hope someone can suggest a device that will do this well and is reasonably priced.

Lots of DIY options, but the easiest is one of the wildlife cameras, which is already waterproof, designed for unattended use, and many have timelapse settings. Another alternative would be a waterproof wifi network camera with a script running on a PC to timelapse sample.

Personally, if I wanted really high quality, I'd use a waterproof-enclosed, sub-$100, Canon PowerShot, powered by a battery-replacement AC adapter, and running a CHDK script. The 16-20MP stills from these cameras blow away a GoPro. For example, here's one straightforward raw->JPEG from an $80 (new) ELPH 160:

Notice the level of detail is really good, and DR is within a stop or so of what you'd get from one of the older MFT bodies (about 10 stops).

Sure, the best option for this is:

Brinno