September 15, 2024
Description
This is a finder scope I came up with to make it easier to aim our video camera at high altitude weather balloons during our work with Arizona Near Space Research (ansr.org). Â When something is far away and small, using the monitor on the camera to find it is extremely difficult even when it's possible to see it with the naked eye as it is with high-altitude balloons. Â The scope lines up with the camera's field of view. Â So, if you can see it in the scope, so can the camera. Â From there, it's a matter of keeping the object centered in the scope, zooming in, and checking your monitor. Â It looks a bit ridiculous, but it works awesomely. Â We've had no trouble finding, and zooming in to, high-altitude balloons at 100,000 feet since we started using this.
I printed this with PETG with a 0.4mm nozzle, 0.2mm layers, 15% infill, and 1mm perimeters (top, bottom, and sides). Â No supports needed. Â Designed for a Canon XF405 video camera. Â It slides into the hot shoe at the front of the camera's handle and has a support that rests on the rear of the handle. Â I've included the SLDPRT file so you can modify it to fit your camera if you need to.
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial