AndySki
Perfect for my needs
I needed a small USB camera to connect to my 3D printer setup so I can remotely monitor print progress without repeatedly running over to the workshop to check "in person". I had a cheapie webcam that I think I paid less then 10 dollars for, and although it worked with my equipment the results were less than satisfactory. The lens appeared to be made of plastic so the view wasn't exactly super-clear, plus it had a low quality plastic ball and socket joint that let you aim the camera from its mount, but it couldn't be tightened so it would not always stay aimed correctly. Worst of all, it was a manual focus model and the focusing ring was very hard to reach inside the barrel of a shroud it had around it. This USB camera from ELP is just what the Doctor ordered for my setup. It's nice and small so it doesn't take up much space on the bracket I printed for it. Also, it's a much higher resolution then my prior camera, has a great quality lens, the field of view is just about perfect (and free of distortion) and most importantly this one DOES have auto-focus. I attached a couple of photos to this review of the camera in my setup - one view of how it's mounted on the bracket and another of the picture of the display on a PC monitor. This second picture doesn't look as nice as the actual view, of course, as it's just basically a "picture of a picture" and the image sensor on my cellphone camera interacted with the pixel grid on the monitor to give a little bit of moiré patterning. But trust me, it's super clear in real life! I played around with the auto-focus a bit, moving objects and my hand to different locations on the print bed, and was happy with the speed and accuracy of the focusing action. The cable that comes pre-attached to the camera is advertised as 1 meter (a little over 3 feet) in length. It seemed longer than that to me, although I didn't actually measure it. For sure it's AT LEAST 1 meter. I didn't need that much length for my application so I coiled the e