iPhone App For Time Lapse Photography In Background - For Near Space Photography.

[maesoph]

Dear All:

I have conducted several Near Space balloon launches using an iPhone 4 to take pictures. Unfortunately, my camera apps have failed on each flight. The latest flight had 3 separate cameras and all three failed. How sad is that?????

WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR.....

I would like an App for my iPhone 4 that does the following:

• Takes pictures in background with the screen completely off (screen kills battery life).
• Take a picture every 10 seconds (give or take) for a set time - 2.5 - 3 hours probably.
• Save the pictures as they are taken - do not store them in a proprietary format and then weave into a movie at the end.

That's it... (sounds pretty simple, right?) I spent an entire day downloading time lapse photography apps trying to find one that did what I wanted. The best I could find was "Gorilla Cam" and I paid for the deluxe version - and that's the one that failed most recently. It just quit taking pictures about 10 minutes in to a 2.5 hour flight so it was almost a complete waste. "Gorilla Cam" also does not allow for background picture taking so I have to dim the screen as much as possible which is really annoying as I can't tell if the app is working once I do that.

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. For the next flight in April or May, the payload is going to include an iPhone 4 and a GoPro. I expect the GoPro to work without issue but I still want photos from the iPhone if at all possible.

 

[APX7000]

I have a feeling your cameras are failing on you because of temperature at such high altitude. I'm a weather guru, so deal with 65,000 feet down to ground level. I've seen 850mb readings that put the temps at -34F, while at ground level it was in the low 60s F. So we're talking about a 94 degree difference in ground temp vs 18,000 feet above my location. At 65,000 feet temps can be -70F even in summer.

Li-ion batteries perform very poor at low temps. Current draw can be 500% or faster vs. other battery chemistries at low temps.

Most li-ion batteries have over & under temp protection. If the battery gets above or below the pre set level, it automatically shuts off to protect the battery. I think this is what's happening when all your cameras fail.

Li-ion batteries perform so bad at low ground level temps, Alaska has banned their use for public safety two-way radios. Below 0F and its hit or miss if a radio would work simply due to the li-ion battery.

Your going to need to find a battery chemistry that works at very low temps, or build some sort of heater for your cameras.

 

[scifan57]

The altitude itself could cause problems as well, as iPhones have a maximum rated operating altitude of 10,000'. You may have to place your iPhone in a pressurized housing along with a heater to ensure it will keep working at very high altitudes.

 

[maesoph]

Gentlemen:

A couple things.... I am a mechanical engineer and my partner in this project has a PhD in AstroPhysics... The Near Craft we are using is extremely well insulated and we have an active heating system inside. The next flight will include temperature data, but based on the condition of things when we retrieve the Near Craft, I doubt it gets below 50 degrees F.. The iPhones themselves continue to operate absolutely normally - it's the app that's crashing. It's not really crashing, it's like someone pushes the "stop" button. Perhaps there is a home security type app that takes pictures in the background in a time lapse fashion.

 

[maesoph]

As for altitude, I am aware of the iPhone spec, but these phones are successfully sent into near space relatively routinely. The 10,000 foot limit may be derived from the fact that it's only been tested to 10,000 feet because they saw no sense in testing at a higher altitude - not that there are technical problems above 10,000 feet.

 

[maesoph]

Stealth Cam almost does what I want.... It might do - I'll have to figure out exactly how to run it then decide.