Time lapse enclosure for smart phones

How to build a weatherproof enclosure for taking time lapse photos using a smart phone.

This enclosure is not 100% waterproof but can reasonably survive rain while protecting your smartphone.  This enclosure was used over a 5 day period including two days of rain and easily kept the camera dry.

Using this enclosure, you can take time lapse videos like this.

Step 1: Parts you will need

1.  Two pieces of plexiglass, each slightly larger than the smartphone
2.  A few scraps of 1" thick wood or plywood
3.  A smartphone with a time lapse application and built in camera
4.  Small tripod
5.  Charger cord for the smartphone
6.  Miscellaneous screws

Comments

[Ranie-K]

Nice instructable!

Here's a box I made for my PowerShot for the same purpose:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Weatherproof-Camera-Box

[Shiftlock]

Much simpler, and just as functional. I made an even simpler version which basically was nothing more than a ziplock baggie that was taped to a block of wood. If you can prop up the phone/camera, all you really need is a waterproof bag, as long as you make sure it's stretched tight across the lens. I found that some brands aren't clear enough, though.

[Ranie-K]

Yeah -that works perfectly fine for most camera's but mine has a moving zoom-lens that would freak out if a plastic bag was stretched taught over it.

[Shiftlock]

You are absolutely right, and that was the only problem I had with the plastic bag solution using my Casio Exilim. My fix was to use double-sided tape to attach the plastic bag to the front-most lens segment, so the zoom lens can move in and out unhindered, and the bag moves along with it. It's not an ideal solution since I have to re-tape the bag to the lens every time, but doing that is still a lot less work than constructing a permanent waterproof housing. Then again, taping your camera onto a ziploc is a less classy, so to each his own. *shrug*

[rrrmanion]

really good idea, but i would have made some adaptations

1) add another rectangular section to use as a lens hood, eliminating lens flare.
2) made it so the rain drops on the outer part didn't interfere as much.
3) used a battery to recharge the phone, instead of the generator.

[Krizbleen]

Agreed. I don't know a whole lot about photography, so wasn't able to predict the lens flare. A hood would have helped with that plus the raindrops, although I do like the fact that you can see it was raining!

A supplemental battery would have been a good idea, but I knew I was going to be near the generator and could plug the charge in. The phone itself will run several hours before quitting, even without supplemental power.

Also, on days when I knew it was not going to rain, I left the end cap off and slid the phone out slightly so it had a clear view and was not looking through the plexiglass. That backfired slightly on the windy day when the phone was blown back and forth in the routed slots. That's why it appears to rock during one of the days.

[rrrmanion]

yeah, the best thing to do would be to use some strong glass, ad clean that intensely, and certain filters might have been useful, but it's more difficult with that on a phone. my dad's cousin does this sort of thing, only about 50 times more advanced, using a D-SLR, A laptop, an industrial timer, a solar panel and a battery,
this allows him to create a day by day time-lapse of long building projects, these images are emailed to his clients every day, using a 3g adapter, and then they can be used in court cases if there is any delay, these devices can be fitted on rooftops with minimal installation, are protective housing which makes them look not to unlike a speed camera, and it's all quite advanced so cost thousands

[puzka]

Hmm, where are the Koalas? :-)

[Krizbleen]

Koalas are the mascot for the school. There is a set of Koala phones the kids can use to talk to each other and the Koala logo is in mosaic at the entrance as well.

[puzka]

cool, we have Koalas living on our property.....

[DiGiTALMADDOG]

nice project - what app did you use on your iphone -- thinking i will do this ( when i get my old 2g back from my brotherinlaw when he gets a new phone ( soon i hope) ) -- would be nice to have this capture and upload to a website

also the first few days did you eliminate the nighttime sequence of pictures or did you let the phone take pics all night long

thanks for the info

[Krizbleen]

I used an app called iTimelapse. It does not upload to a web site, but does just about everything else. That would be a pretty cool feature, actually.

The first day, the portable generator that was powering the iPhone, among other things, ran out of gas and the phone took pictures until the battery died. For the rest of the build, the camera worked all day.

Each morning, I would set the camera up and start the time lapse and each evening I would stop the camera and take it home with me. iTimelapse allows you to specify times to start and stop and how many total pictures to take, among other things but I didn't want to leave the phone on a construction site all night!

[chndt2008]

Charming! I have been a phone holder