How to release the shutter

[erik_christensen3]

<p>I just read about the following project:<br>

<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1162659/Students-tie-56-camera-balloon-send-edge-space-capture-stunning-images-Earth.html">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1162659/Students-tie-56-camera-balloon-send-edge-space-capture-stunning-images-Earth.html</a><br>

How did they release the shutter on this camera - assuming it does not have interval release as D3?</p>

 

[rarmstrong]

<p>Erik, this is a really great story. The camera must have an interval timer. I don't think that the whole experiment would have lasted very long. What a great experience for these students!<br>

Dick</p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Great story, Eric. Gives us hope that creative young people can still inspire others. <br /> <br /> Just a guess - The article gives us the impression that the balloon traveled at a rate of roughly 270 meters per minute, reaching an altitude of 30,000 meters, which is roughly 2 hours to ascend to altitude. Since it was carrying "meteorological equipment", I imagine this would include a high altitude altimeter which can be used to determine a preset range of altitudes to trigger the camera to shoot at some interval (by hacking into the shutter release contacts). The picture also shows (what appears to be) a servo rigged to a bar with two holes, this is presumably the camera-tilt unit to take pictures of the horizon and straight down. <br /> <br /> Given the level of engineering, I wouldn't be surprised if they had embedded cleaver electronics to oversee an autonomous journey, but it is also possible that the photography was remote (ground) controlled.</p>

[seismiccwave]

<p>They can release the shutter a variety of ways. One simple way is to use a geared motor with a cam which press the shutter button every revolution of the cam. So depending on the motor it will continuous take picture as long as the motor is spinning. Another method is to make a solid state timer that will trigger a mechanical servo at an adjustable interval. Yet one other method is to use remote control to trigger the servo by hand on the ground.<br>

Helium balloon aerial photography is a very viable discipline within the aerial photography genre. It was invented during world war 1. </p>