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Camera Choice
To capture the amazing images from near space offered by a high altitude balloon it is important to have a camera. But which camera is the best for use on high altitude balloons? That depends on whether you want to shoot continuous video or higher quality photographs. In the tutorial below I will talk about the cameras that I have used on my balloon launches and the results. Another important thing to consider is when to launch the balloon. Many people have argued that the ideal time to launch a balloon is early in the morning or at dusk. The reason for this being that the lighting during these times is often superior in that it leads to less overexposure of the camera. Before reading through the cameras and software that I have used I strongly suggest reading the articles below which are written by people with much more experience using cameras on high altitude balloons.
Video Cameras.
n my balloons thus far I have used two video cameras with similar results. The cameras I have used are the AKASO 4k Ultra HD Camera and the GoPro Hero 4 Black edition. The AKASO bought new today costs about $60, by comparison, the GoPro Hero 4 new cost between 400 and 500$. In videos shot from the 2nd balloon launch, I felt that the two cameras performed very similarly. It could probably be argued that the video from the GoPro looks slightly more clear, but the price increase between the GoPro and AKASO does not justify this difference in quality. Additionally, for first launches, I strongly suggest the AKASO
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When I used both of these cameras I used them in video mode and oriented them to be pointing towards the horizon. Other than setting the video quality to 1080p I did not adjust any of the settings of these cameras.
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To mount these cameras I simply cut a hole in the Styrofoam cooler to accommodate the cameras. I then slipped the camera into the hole and turned it on before the launch. I found that it was easier to mount the camera without the protective casing, but this can be a little risky if using the more expensive GoPro. To get around this I tried to cut the hold so that only the lens of the GoPro fully penetrated the styrofoam shell. This would prevent the GoPro from falling out of the styrofoam cooler.
Canon Cameras
For still images, the only camera which I have used is the Canon SX530HS. The greatest benefit of using Canon cameras is the Canon Hacker Development Kit (CHDK). CHDK is an open-source development project which can be used to extend the functionality of most Canon digital cameras. This additional functionality can make it easier to change the camera settings to best capture the near-space environment. Additional details on CHDK can be found in the Near Space Ballooning Tutorial or by visiting the CHDK website below. A list of cameras which are currently compatible with CHDK can be found below, but if your camera is not on this list the CHDK community is always willing to help you write software to enable CHDK on additional Camera models. One additional tip, is that when formatting your SD card to use CHDK use the STICK utility, which is mentioned in the attached tutorial. This utility allows you to take a picture with your camera. This picture will then be stored on your SD card which can be plugged into a computer. If the image is loaded into STICK, STICK will determine the firmware you need and create a bootable partition on your SD card. STICK will fully setup CHDK on your SD card for you.