"The guy who figured out the wiring says it needs a relay, that's why! One person that did it with a switch only says after leaving it on that it starts whacking out by flickering, going blank, etc. I suspect it has to do with additional functions of the circuit but I've forgotten more about circuits that I knew in the first place."
I would think you'd have to know the amperage draw of the camera to know certain. That said I can't imagine it would draw as much as a set of lights. Too large a relay shouldn't hurt anything. So a 12 vdc lighting relay should work.
I've one left over from my air compressor rebuild I'd give you but I can't get out of nor you in to Longmont right now. I'll see if I can find an Amazon link for what I bought.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This link shows the wiring of the relay for the air compressor. It should provide enough info for wiring it into your camera circuit.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-ge...sor-build.html