External, long term power Source for Time Lapse Project. at DVinfo.net

John Forsythe · January 16th, 2013, 09:17 AM

I want to setup my GoPro3 Black outside to take 1/min until a 64gig card is filled to capacity. The battery life using a battery backpac will not fulfill this requirement.

I am planning on modifying a pelican case to have the powersource be protected from the elements along with modifying a waterproof gopro case.

Does anyone have experience with this? I am looking at using either Amstron - OEM Manufacturer of Laptop, Camcorder, Digital Camera Batteries -- Amstron UltraXP 1.8 Portable Battery Pack for iPhone

or

V60 Universal Laptop Battery or V39 USB Battery, iPad External Battery or Voltaic V11 USB Battery Pack

I am envisioning setting this up in various places in the same environment over a few weeks/months

Thank you.

Mark Watson · January 17th, 2013, 08:22 AM

John,

At max. res of 12MP, I think you're looking at 2 weeks or more of shooting time. I'm not sure what size a file the GoPro makes for a 12MP photo, but it'd be in the area of 2.5 - 3.5 MB I'd guess.

So, if you just figure 4MB/photo to be safe, that's 16,000 photos. If one photo per minute, that's 266 hours (or 11 days). I haven't done anything like that, but if I had no time to experiment, I'd just buy a motorcycle battery + charger (Total of about $90.00) and either rig something up so my USB cable is powered directly from the battery or I'd use a power invertor to make 115vac and plug the USB wall charger into that. This second option wouldn't be nearly as efficient as a direct connection since there'll be some power used up by the invertor, maybe 25-30%. That's just a swag on my part.

HTH

Mark

John Forsythe · January 25th, 2013, 09:28 AM

Well, VoltaicSystems makes solar panels. One even says, recharge your GoPro with it. The solar panel is $25. I also am going to purchase one of Voltaic's external battery packs.

I think the camera would overheat before it maxed out a 64gig card.....

Chris Joy · January 29th, 2013, 02:06 PM

I'm looking at doing something similar with a cheap USB battery to power the GoPro for more than the ~2-3hrs I currently get when shooting a timelapse. My niece has her bat mitzvah coming up in early March so I'm going to test it there, just put it high up in a corner and get a shot once every few seconds and speed it up for a 2 minute version of the whole party. Should be funny. The party is planned for 4 hours total and I don't want to mess with battery changes as I'll be shooting some video for a highlight movie of her weekend. Would be interested in what other people are doing.

January 16th, 2013, 09:17 AM	#1
John Forsythe New Boot Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Richmond, Va, Usa Posts: 20	External, long term power Source for Time Lapse Project. I want to setup my GoPro3 Black outside to take 1/min until a 64gig card is filled to capacity. The battery life using a battery backpac will not fulfill this requirement. I am planning on modifying a pelican case to have the powersource be protected from the elements along with modifying a waterproof gopro case. Does anyone have experience with this? I am looking at using either Amstron - OEM Manufacturer of Laptop, Camcorder, Digital Camera Batteries -- Amstron UltraXP 1.8 Portable Battery Pack for iPhone or V60 Universal Laptop Battery or V39 USB Battery, iPad External Battery or Voltaic V11 USB Battery Pack I am envisioning setting this up in various places in the same environment over a few weeks/months Thank you.

January 17th, 2013, 08:22 AM	#2
Mark Watson Major Player Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Whidbey Island Posts: 873	Re: External, long term power Source for Time Lapse Project. John, At max. res of 12MP, I think you're looking at 2 weeks or more of shooting time. I'm not sure what size a file the GoPro makes for a 12MP photo, but it'd be in the area of 2.5 - 3.5 MB I'd guess. So, if you just figure 4MB/photo to be safe, that's 16,000 photos. If one photo per minute, that's 266 hours (or 11 days). I haven't done anything like that, but if I had no time to experiment, I'd just buy a motorcycle battery + charger (Total of about $90.00) and either rig something up so my USB cable is powered directly from the battery or I'd use a power invertor to make 115vac and plug the USB wall charger into that. This second option wouldn't be nearly as efficient as a direct connection since there'll be some power used up by the invertor, maybe 25-30%. That's just a swag on my part. HTH Mark

January 25th, 2013, 09:28 AM	#3
John Forsythe New Boot Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Richmond, Va, Usa Posts: 20	Re: External, long term power Source for Time Lapse Project. Well, VoltaicSystems makes solar panels. One even says, recharge your GoPro with it. The solar panel is $25. I also am going to purchase one of Voltaic's external battery packs. I think the camera would overheat before it maxed out a 64gig card.....

January 29th, 2013, 02:06 PM	#4
Chris Joy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 220	Re: External, long term power Source for Time Lapse Project. I'm looking at doing something similar with a cheap USB battery to power the GoPro for more than the ~2-3hrs I currently get when shooting a timelapse. My niece has her bat mitzvah coming up in early March so I'm going to test it there, just put it high up in a corner and get a shot once every few seconds and speed it up for a 2 minute version of the whole party. Should be funny. The party is planned for 4 hours total and I don't want to mess with battery changes as I'll be shooting some video for a highlight movie of her weekend. Would be interested in what other people are doing.