What cameras are you using?

[KI9L]

I have used a canon SD750 that has unbelievably short battery life and a Flip MINO HD that shuts off after 45 minutes of video.
I would not recomend either for further usage.

[SpaceBalloon]

The SD1100 with an external battery adapter. Battery life is pretty good when you throw a few thousand mAh at it. The adapter can be had out of China for 1/3 the going rate from Canon.

The Kodak Zi8. 1080p/30 or 720p/60. Pretty darned decent low-light. Can take a 32GB card just fine and has a 5v barrel plug adapter handily included right there on the side. Even includes a USB power adapter. If you watch the Fleabays they can be had refurb'd very inexpensively.

[W6WLW]

Canon sd490 for still photos and a GoPro for video. Have had very good luck with with both. Both still running after 4 hours. It seems that it will our of memory before battery. The canon did ice up on decent, but it don't feel that was the cameras fault. It cleared up on the ground while waiting to be found.

[tstowe]

Pentax W-90. It takes 12mp images. It's waterproof and shock resistant. Best of all, it has a built in timer.

[com76]

This is all very good information. Nice to have the forum. How do you avoid having a camera lens fog up? Additionally, other than hacking the camera, are there any other good ways to continually take pictures? Clamp the shutter button down?

Thanks

[tstowe]

Any time you quickly change the temperature of a camera (usually when you bring a camera outside after having it in a warm house) the lens will fog. A camera rising at a 1,000 feet a minute will experience a rapid temperature change. Divers use a spray to keep their goggles from fogging. I haven't tried it but I'm going to on my next launch.

The Pentax W-90 has a built-in timer. For a lot of the Canon point & shoots you can use CHDK software (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK) to program the cameras. I wouldn't suggest clamping the button down.

[com76]

So it sounds like fog is unavoidable if I am hearing you right, though divers mask spray might help. Is it a temporary phenomenon, i.e does it clear by itself after a couple of minutes?

[tstowe]

It takes a while... more than a few minutes. I'm not going to say it's unavoidable either. We've got three launches coming up before the end of the school year. I'm going to try shaving cream first. It works on mirrors in the shower ... and it's free so I'll give it a shot.

If that doesn't work I'll try the divers spray.

[W6WLW]

I have had my canon fog up during descent, but the go pro doesn't for some reason. Might be because I used the water proof housing to limit humidity. This was through both visible (clouds) and invisible moisture.

Note: the canon only fogged up during descent because of a rapid descent rate and it got super cooled at altitude. GoPro stayed clear the whole trip. I also like the goPro as it can do video or still photos and given intervals.

Will

[com76]

As for the Canon A490, did you use an external battery pack? If so, would you point me in the direction of what you used?