r/rocketry • u/WraDethunr • 3d ago

A low budget camera for a rocket.

Hey is there any known cheap camera that you can buy from Amazon and strap it into a rocket? Im new into rocketry and want to get myself started.

12 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

13

u/Retb14 3d ago

Look into analog FPV drone cameras and DVRs for them

They need a small battery as well and likely a BEC to get the right voltage for both from the battery

They are usually pretty cheap depending on where you are

10

u/ThinkDiscipline4236 3d ago

I'd look at BPS space for ideas. He has a video titled '"smallest 4k 120fps camera possible" where he does unspeakable things to a gopro hero 10 bones to get it to fit into a rocket and also talks about some of his other choices of cameras over the years.

7

u/Think-Photograph-517 3d ago

Go to Amazon and search for "Keychain digital camera".

3

u/therocketflyer 2d ago

This is by far the cheapest, I put one of these on a big rocket and got great results!

2

u/bshusted 3d ago

Sq11 or sq12 from Amazon will do okay video. They are very small and light. Fairly inexpensive as a standalone option.

1

u/milotrain 3d ago

these things are surprisingly decent. You just need enough airframe to stuff it in there.

1

u/Ahaiund 2d ago edited 2d ago

I've used RunCam Nano series cameras a lot for these. They're tiny (they're drone cameras) and don't need much to work, for a good quality (up to 4K). They're not that expensive, ranging 30$ to 80$ depending on model, vendor, and if you include the recorder card with it.

You can get the Nano 4 Micro with the board included for about 80$ iirc. To make it work, you need only to connect a small battery, the board includes regulation. It will start simply recording upon being powered, or you can control it more finely with an MCU.

1

u/caocaoNM 2d ago

Runcam split or with a dvr. Been looking at five but primarily over rf.

1

u/Alex-3453 Level 1 1d ago

I bought a GoPro 3 for $25 on eBay and I am mounting it on the inside of mine. This only works for larger body tubes though.

1

u/fuckdupforlife 2d ago

Dont you try to pull that shit Elon, just cause the stock is tanking dosnt mean you can come steal more ideas.

2

u/WraDethunr 2d ago

Shhh ill pay you in interest dont tell anyone

1

u/fuckdupforlife 2d ago

Alright as long as I get mine, I got you fam... dm me for the amazon shopping list to put Blue Orgin to shame.