Trail Camera (Brainstorming)

[HIGHintention]

I plan to use my cameras that are just laying around to build a trail camera.  It has to be light (max 3lb ~ 1.4kg) and not too fragile because it will carried into the mountain forest. It will be attach 3-5m above the tree. This is for monitoring human impact and environmental changes in forest.

Hope it can feature:
-Motion triggered or shoot every minute day and night.
-Long Battery Life( 6-12 months), multiple connected 18650 battery?
-Storage Capacity (Multilple SD card or thumb drive or any cheaper alternative)
-water resistant

Any suggestions how to array 18650 battery so it would last 6-12months, taking shots every minute or motion?
Im good on the motion trigger and water resistance. But if you have good idea, go ahead suggest you idea.
Im curious how can you increase storage capacity by multiple SD card or thumb drives?
how can use IR LED to shoot at night? does any camera pick up the light emitted from the IR LED?
Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

[Andy Watson]

-Long Battery Life( 6-12 months), multiple connected 18650 battery?

If it's above the canopy could you use solar power, or solar assisted rechargeable batteries, or super caps?

[Sar]

You can improve the IR response of most cameras by removing the internal IR filter, sometimes easier said than done, it's usually right in front of the imaging chip in the lens pack. This will also result in blooming of the image during daylight and you may be totally washed out in bright sunlight of the camera doesn't have an automatic exposure control/automatic iris. You might be able to get past that by adding a neutral density filter to the front of the lens to reduce the overall light received by the camera a bit but you'll need some bright IR LEDs.

[HIGHintention]

-Long Battery Life( 6-12 months), multiple connected 18650 battery?

If it's above the canopy could you use solar power, or solar assisted rechargeable batteries, or super caps?

It will be under the canopy in the shade. Maybe for now It might be too unrealistic. I will try for 6 months. I need to be able to last that long because travelling to the mountain takes 3-5hrs and another 3hrs trek. But I will test it first in the city before going to test in the forest.

I don't want to use solar because it might reveal its location, it has to be hidden. I do not have the rig to climb to top.

But I will still research for a stealthy renewable power source because if I want to reduce the weight, it must be able to charge itself.

[HIGHintention]

You can improve the IR response of most cameras by removing the internal IR filter, sometimes easier said than done, it's usually right in front of the imaging chip in the lens pack. This will also result in blooming of the image during daylight and you may be totally washed out in bright sunlight of the camera doesn't have an automatic exposure control/automatic iris. You might be able to get past that by adding a neutral density filter to the front of the lens to reduce the overall light received by the camera a bit but you'll need some bright IR LEDs.

.

ok, I might try this and see what IR LED that I can place in discrete locations to light up the scene within the camera parameters.

Can I trigger the IR LED by the camera by using "IR flash"(that I can build) on the camera that will trigger the other IR just like the external flash used with a camera?

[Sar]

ok, I might try this and see what IR LED that I can place in discrete locations to light up the scene within the camera parameters.

Can I trigger the IR LED by the camera by using "IR flash"(that I can build) on the camera that will trigger the other IR just like the external flash used with a camera?

IR LEDs come in many sizes and power ratings and can be focused and guided just like normal light. They will likely use more power than your camera will if you're trying to get it bright enough to light at much of a distance or a large area but fortunately they only need to be on for a second or two at a time.

Yes, you could make a sort of IR flash, just design the LED or LED array to be triggered by an external pulse and have a programmable or adjustable on-time for each trigger pulse. Use a photocell so it is only used when it's dark and saves battery during the day.The details are left up to your power source, trigger pulse source and timing needs.

You can find 10 watt IR LEDs for about $20US which should do well, just remember the human iris doesn't clamp down in response to IR so don't stare into one of those things just because it doesn't 'look' bright to the naked eye.

Another possible option to light up a large area would be a Xenon flashlamp (like a normal camera flash) they output a fair amount of IR, you could use a broadband IR filter over it to eliminate most of the visible light. I cannot recommend this as I have not tried it, but certainly worth investigation. The down side would be that you have to charge the flash circuit before you took the picture, so you would need to automate some of the sequence other than just a basic timed camera trigger. Leaving the capacitor charged all the time would eat your batteries.

You haven't mentioned what type of camera you are using which would affect the details of this project a lot(Will it run on 3.7 volt, or do you need 7.4?). Is it going to just be a cheap no shutter digital camera, or are you looking at placing an SLR up there? What are the current requirements of the camera? This information will affect your battery size requirements.

It sounds like a fun project, there are a lot of existing 'DIY outdoor time-lapse camera' projects out there and they all seem quite different to fit people's specific needs.

[Yago]

Agree with Sar , need to know the camera type .

The maximum ISO performance of the camera is critical , a high value means good low light sensitivity (ISO1600 and above would be good) .
The max aperture of the lens too , IE a low F number such as F2.8 .

The IR ,might be good if you can get it to work , most digital cams are sensitive to some IR .
I would prefocus the lens and leave it them on manual , you won't have time or the feedback to achieve auto focus , and it will save some battery life too .

Under a canopy will be dark , make no mistake that it will take some doing to get a good picture .
Interesting idea , I do some wildlife photography , so I'll be watching the thread to see how it all pans out .