Canon Camera Hackers Manual

Contents

8.1 Kite Aerial Photography 2318 Kites, Balloons,and MultikoptersDespite its name, the Stereo Data Maker is probably most often used forKite Aerial Photography (KAP) and other kinds of remote aerial photogra-phy. In particular, its excellent support for remote operation, time lapsing,and the integration of external devices via a serial interface has gained theSDM a good reputation in the KAP community.The original version of the CHDK is also used often for remote and unat-tended operation. In particular, its support for the Lua scripting languagemakes it suitable for very sophisticated applications. For example, one ofthe weather balloon missions mentioned in the introduction of this bookused a slightly modified version of the original CHDK. A Lua script handledthe scheduling of both photo and video operations, as well as a shutter-priority exposure control.8.1 Kite Aerial PhotographyIn Kite Aerial Photography (KAP), a camera is lifted by a kite and takes pho-tographs autonomously or when triggered by a remote control. Small,lightweight cameras such as the Canon Digital Elph SD (Ixus) series are idealfor KAP. Nearly any stable single-line kite design can be used to lift such alightweight camera. An interesting option for KAP—although expensive—is the Helikite from Allsopp Helikites Ltd., a combination of a helium-filledballoon and a kite. The advantage of this design is that it can be operatedin both windless and very windy conditions, so you don’t have to rely toomuch on the weather—quite important for the professional photographer.Typically, the camera is mounted on a rig which is suspended some-what below the kite. By means of gravity, the rig and the camera are keptaligned with the horizon. There is still some movement, but less than therewould be with a camera directly mounted to a kite. Nevertheless, shortshutter speeds are recommended, and the camera’s Image Stabilizer (IS)can also help.In its simplest form, the camera is mounted directly on the rig in a fixedposition and performs the operations autonomously controlled by a time-lapse script. The script should allow for an initial delay, so that the kite canreach its working height before operation starts.