Need opinion on camera to send into space

Hello. I'm looking to send a weather balloon into the atmosphere and take some interesting shots along the way. I realize alot of people have already done it, but I'd like to try it for myself. Being that I know almost nothing about photography, I would like some opinions on an ideal camera to send up there. I have about a $300 dollar camera budget, and I only want to do this once, so I really appreciate any opinions I can get. I'm really interested in the near space shots, so that's what I would like to design my rig around. I don't know what time I'll be sending it up, but I think the dusk / dawn photos will be the most interestings, so I'll probably release the balllon accordingly. I think I need a camera with good stability, good autofocus, a large aperture, a continuous shot function, and an ability to function correctly when it's cold. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

You can go to Pentaxforums.com and search forums, there was a post from this guy who sent a weather balloon with Pentax K10D or Pentax K20D several times last year.
Both K10D and K20D are weather sealed, and you can have used K10D for around $300 now. Good luck with your project.

wheelie pete wrote in post #8865195
Hello. I'm looking to send a weather balloon into the atmosphere and take some interesting shots along the way. I realize alot of people have already done it, but I'd like to try it for myself. Being that I know almost nothing about photography, I would like some opinions on an ideal camera to send up there. I have about a $300 dollar camera budget, and I only want to do this once, so I really appreciate any opinions I can get. I'm really interested in the near space shots, so that's what I would like to design my rig around. I don't know what time I'll be sending it up, but I think the dusk / dawn photos will be the most interestings, so I'll probably release the balllon accordingly. I think I need a camera with good stability, good autofocus, a large aperture, a continuous shot function, and an ability to function correctly when it's cold. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

How do you plan to get the images? I assume it is a recoverable balloon and instrument package, or are you planning on the finder to send it back to you? I think you would like to maximize the memory storage since you would want to program as many exposures as possible (assuming a high percentage of unusable shots).

Out of curiosity, where exactly do you plan on launching this craft? As we all saw in Colorado last week, it is not exactly something the authorities take lightly when one is launched without prior coordination.

In order to track the camera, I'll install a GPS enabled phone inside the packaging. Of course, it could land in a river or some other inaccessible place. It's rather easy to do this. Some folks from MIT just did earlier this year. I want to do the same thing but with s better camera. There are some basic FAA rules concerning weather balloons. You just have to follow them. If I installed an 8GB or larger card, it should be enough for the entire flight.

You're going to want to set it to MF and tape the focus ring at around the hyperfocal distance. Rather than trying to have it autofocus, from that altitude every shot should be in focus even at f/2.8.

Good advice. If I go with a camera with manual lens, I will set it to the hyperfocal distance. I still haven't decided what camera to go with, or even if I should use a point and click.

wheelie pete wrote in post #8869362
Good advice. If I go with a camera with manual lens, I will set it to the hyperfocal distance. I still haven't decided what camera to go with, or even if I should use a point and click.

well the kids at MIT hacked their camera to shoot every few mins, the camera u get would need to be modded this way also, so u are prob limited to what u can choose

Or you could always buy a timed trigger. Or for some cameras a TI-83 calculator.

I have an Argus I would donate

Greetings,
My friend and I are planning to do endeaver this this coming summer. Our calculations have given us a 90,000 foot ceiling and 5 hour ascent with less than a 700 gram payload. If you would be willing to donate your apparently rugged camera for this experiment we would be more than grateful.

I sent mine up on May 1. It went to 106,502 feet and we got it back. Intact.
https://photography-on-the.net …hp?t=870099&hig​hlight=MIT