nick hull wrote:
I know this is WAY OT but I need some clues to get started. I want to
use a digital camera as a security camera. The problem is that all
digital cameras that I know about turn themselves off automatically.
Turning them on takes too long; I want to disable the auto off or find a
simple camera that does not turn itself off. It will be powered from
the AC mains so battery life is a non-issue.

The best I've found so far is a game camera, which turns itself on when
it senses a hot animal and takes a picture. Unfortunately it takes
about 5 seconds to turn on, and 5 seconds seems like eternity in some
situations. I want instant pictures. I also would like to take pictures
from an external trigger signal.

It would be a lot easier in a film camera, but the hassle and time
delays (and cost) of developing film makes film impractical.

Any clue where to find such a camera or to find someone who knows how to
modify one?

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

One of the neighbors has a complete security system with at least 10
cameras, all of them get channeled to a computer with a couple of large
hard drives. It grabs a picture from each camera every 3 seconds. If he
needs a set of images he just pulls them from the file. If he doesn't
the system just overwrites the data on a 24 hour clock. Camera wise he
has used a few different ones. His current batch are all USB cameras
with night vision. He tried wireless units but didn't like the problem
of interference from other signals.

--
Steve W.
Near Cooperstown, New York

Life is not like a box of chocolates
it's more like a jar of jalapenos-
what you do today could burn your ass tomorrow!