How to effectively re-start the preview having tak

I am attempting to code a tool that takes pictures at a dedicated interval (like a timelapse) and am having difficulty getting the camera to reset following the first capture so that it can then start on the next photo.

Here is a sample of the code used:

// gets called with the oncreate method and loads a preview fine
public void startUpPreview(){ 
    mCamera = getCameraInstance();
    mPreview = new CameraPreview(this, mCamera);
    FrameLayout preview = (FrameLayout) findViewById(R.id.camera_preview);
    preview.addView(mPreview);
}

// gets called from a later loop
public void getPicture() {
    mCamera.takePicture(null, null, mPicture);
    releaseCamera();
    startUpPreview();
}

With the code above, it throws the error:

java.lang.RuntimeException: Method called after release()

I am using the release code taken directly from the SDK guide which works otherwise:

private void releaseCamera(){
    if (mCamera != null){
        mCamera.release();        
        mCamera = null;
    }
}

For a single picture adding a delay with a sleeping thread makes it work:

try {
        Thread.sleep(1000);
        releaseCamera();
        startUpPreview();
} catch(InterruptedException ex) {
        Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
}

But this code does not work within a loop when attempting to take more than one picture. I assume that the loop is completing before all of that photo taking can catch up.

Thanks in advance for any help that any one can provide.

takePicture() starts the capture process which ends with an (asynchronous) call to onPictureTaken() callback. You should not release camera before it is over.

So the pseudo-code that will perform a loop look like this:

onCLick() { // <-- start the loop
  count = 0;
  takePicture()
}

onPictureTaken() {
  savePicture(count);
  count++;
  if (count < maxCount) {
      mCamera.startPreview();
      mHandler.postDelayed(runTakePicture(), 1000);
  }
  else {
      releaseCamera();
  }
}

runTakePicture() {
   return new Runnable() {
      public void run() {
        mCamera.takePicture();
      }
   }
}