small, battery powered IR video camera

[samsw1]

This may not be the right place to ask about this, but I haven't found anywhere that seems like a better fit, so here goes.

I'm looking for a small infrared video camera that I can insert into a buried plexiglass tube in order to see what's happening underground in turtle nests, as part of some ongoing nesting research. The problem is, I really have no idea where to start. There are so many different cameras out there, some of which are clearly junk, that I'm getting nowhere. I would like the camera to be small enough to fit in the tubes (six inch diameter), capable of being powered by a battery of some type (for portability in the field), and capable of focusing on objects very close to the lens. Also, It would be ideal if the camera could be hooked up to display on a laptop computer in the field. I realize that this might require several components used together, and that's okay. Finally, price is a concern. If I could get such a camera set up for less than a couple of hundred dollars, that would be great.

Again, this might not be the right place for this question, but if anyone has any suggestions in terms of equipment, or a different forum to ask for advice, I would really appreciate it.

[SmartWombat]

Shouls be possible.
Look at small fixed-focus home surveillance IR cameras.
I can get one here in the UK for £49 and it's wireless.
So I don't need to mess with extra connectors.
It comes with a connector so that instead of using the mains power supply, it can run for 4 hours from a PP9 9v battery.
So with a little technical work it could be made to work in the field from a standard 12V battery.

A 6" tube is far bigger than this type of camera needs, I could fit it into a 2" tube.

[Skyman]

most mini dv cameras record in the IR spectrum. to test this point the camera at a remote control and watch what happens. 6" is pretty big for a camera these days. if you need something much smaller, you can get pencil cams and helmet cams. Most of these are designed to plug into the av input of a regular camera, but you can get 30 meter av cables so unless the hole is really really long then I don't think having a couple of calbes running out to the recording camera is going to be an issue. I am not sure if these record IR spectrum, but I think they would as it is cheaper to leave in IR sensitivity than filter it out!

A trip to a good local camera shop should get you in the right direction.