Timelapse Garden Video Camera keeps tabs on plant growth / death

For those of you looking to prove just how green your thumb really is, have a gander at the Timelapse Garden Video Camera. Offered up at the always intriguing Hammacher Schlemmer, this weatherproof garden tool engages in the tedious task of taking snapshots of your flora in customizable intervals and then weaving them together into a single 1,280 x 1,024 AVI video. The lens can focus as close as 20-inches away, and with the bundled 2GB USB flash drive, upwards of 18,000 photos can be stored at a time. Amazingly, we're told that it can operate for up to four months using four AA cells, and it even turns itself off at night and back on in the morning in order to not waste capture space and battery life. It's shipping now to hedgers, groundkeepers and everyday plantsmen for $159.95.

[Via OhGizmo]

[stridermt2k Posted Mar 30th 2009 8:28AM]

I heard that the "Plantsmen" film has been delayed due to some legal tiff with the studio.

Bummer.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 30th 2009 8:41AM]

But it could be used for long-period time lapse of anything, right? So I could put them up on my balcony and point them at "my garden", when in fact I'll be spying on my neighbours while I'm not at home or asleep? Awesomeness!

[aquatiger Posted Mar 30th 2009 9:16AM]

They are building a new subway station near my apartment. This would be cool to use to document the construction. Man, I could think of a million things I want to use this thing for.

[cajie Posted Mar 30th 2009 9:47AM]

This is about as exciting as watching a plant grow.
Wait....

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 30th 2009 9:53AM]

Wow - with this thing filming, GA 85/75 construction would only look slow, not COMPLETELY stationary.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 30th 2009 10:21AM]

Let's keep track of an avenue tree frequently maltreated with certain liquids.

[Kid Red Posted Mar 30th 2009 10:36AM]

Sounds like the perfect toy for peeping toms of neighbors with pools...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 30th 2009 11:13AM]

Bad posters! This is not what you need for spying on your neighbors. It's time-lapse. The chances that you will even see a person on this are pretty slim, unless you set the interval very low, which defeats the purpose of "time-lapse photography." To spy on your neighbors you need a standard USB real-time camera.

Sheesh!

[turbo2ltr Posted Mar 30th 2009 12:08PM]

Old. I saw this months ago on "Ask This Old House" in their "what is it" segment.

[axton Posted Mar 30th 2009 12:26PM]

This Old House is amazing.

[Mile Posted Mar 30th 2009 1:19PM]

But you kept it to yourself, didn't you? Did you come here and post about it so peeps like me who didn't see that show would know aobut this? No. You sat around all smug in your knowledge until today, when Engadget opened the knowledge gate and let it out to run free! Thanks, Engadet! (PS, I entered the Roomba giveaway)

[CNLiberal Posted Mar 30th 2009 1:23PM]

I saw the same episode too. Engadget, maybe you should be watching a bit more PBS. It's crazy that they're ahead of you on this one. By several months no less. Maybe if you watched a little more PBS, we could get more Doctor Who episodes out of Russel T Davies.

[maisp Posted Mar 30th 2009 10:32PM]

I saw that episode too (I tivo and archive them for help with future projects). I guess I shouldn't be surprised there are so many TOH viewers on Engadget.

[GuyWithDogs Posted Mar 30th 2009 1:29PM]

As soon as people recognize what these are, they'll disappear from gardens everywhere.

[oipunx Posted Apr 3rd 2009 6:18PM]

MMMM, what about 24 hour gardens? Is the shutoff light Sensitive, or Timed? You know why I ask...