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Yes absolutely you need to be able to regulate the TEC to achieve your setpoint temperature, and that means some sort of controller is required as well. Rowland's thread gives a couple of examples that work well. I went with the external box that attaches to my pier, which contains a PWM to power the TEC and a temperature controller with a relay to switch it on and off. Cost almost nothing to build. I generally keep my setpoint at 2C, as TEC overrun will take it just beyond that before it switches back on. Condensation is managed by enclosing the camera in an argon filled ziplock bag (although any dry gas that does not transport moisture would work); sealing is a chore when installing the bag, but it only has to hold the gas inside not allow positive pressure, and argon is heavier than air anyway so it tends to stay in vessels. It only has to stay in there for overnight runs and I can top it up the next night. I run dessicant packs inside the bag but they never need changing. I get condensation on the outside of the bag but never inside. I've tried other approaches but keep coming back to the argon bag.
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