IMAGING
Discharge the flash
capacitor before doing
any work on circuitry!
SINGLE-USE DIGICAM FOR
KITE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Simple, lightweight timer circuit triggers a shot
every minute. By Limor Fried
Kite aerial photography (KAP) is a fun hobby for shots, so you can only take one picture
engineers and artists alike, and the resulting im- per launch.
ages can be beautiful. However, one unlucky gust Fortunately, there are digital equivalents that
can send your camera tumbling to the ground. use electronic switches and need no winding. I
That’s why disposable cameras are a good choice use the Dakota Digital PV2; it’s $19 at Ritz
for KAP beginners. Their low cost means there’s Camera ( ritzcamera.com) and Wolf Camera
no big loss if they crash. They’re also lightweight, ( wolfcamera.com), with a $10, non-LCD version
and most are pre-focused to infinity, which available in CVS stores. The PV2 holds 25 photos.
means they’re good for taking scenery shots. As with a film disposable, you send it away for
Many KAP rigs have been designed to take processing.
film-based disposable cameras aloft. (See MAKE Here’s how to make a kite-ready timer circuit
Volume 01, for complete instructions on how to that triggers the PV2 once per minute, after an
build your own kite aerial photography rig.) initial delay. You can also adapt it to trigger other,
But film disposables require winding between non-disposable digicams.
