Super simple flash camcorder

[ajhendy7]

Hey so I was hoping for some help on a design for a very simple video camera. The goal is a super compact, rugged camera that records to SD with only an on/off button.

Background:

I am a climber and want to build as inexpensive, durable, and simple point-of-view video camera. I dont need an external screen, zoom, or any buttons - just the ability to record to a microSD card when its turned on. And be small. Did I mention cheap?

I already have the casing design but have run into a wall as to how to store the video from a CMOS camera module onto SD.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Andrew

[Hero999]

The problem you've run into is one of the reasons why video cameras aren't cheap. It requires a powerful computer to compress the image data from the CCD and write it onto the SD. This is because uncompressed standard definition vidio (720x480 25 framse per second with a CD quality sound track) requires 26MB of storage per second so a minute of footage would require over 1.5GB of storage.

It will probably cost much more money for you to design and make one than it would to simply buy one. Video cameras are produced in large quantities so the manufacturers get huge bulk discounts on components.

For example, you'll probably need a voltage regulator to stabilize the supply to the camera's sensitive electronics. To get decent battery life you'll need a switching regulator.

My local distributor sells the LT1111CN8 DC-DC converter chip (RS Components stock number 545-6587P) for