Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

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Ben82
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Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by Ben82 »

Hi All,

I'm looking at buying an (USB) inspection camera/bore scope this weekend (to go digging around in the walls of the house).

I've found one that our "halfords" do that is for about £23. And I've found some videos that have been taken with the one I'm looking at getting:



and



Anyone here who has (or has used) a bore scope, able to comment on whether the quality of those videos is pretty much on par with what one would expect from one? To me the videos are "ok" not really the best quality (but they aren't really going to be camcorder quality anyway) nor really the worst that I've seen.
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by xantia_v6 »

Having used a usb borescope camera a couple of times to look inside walls and floors, I have been somewhat disappointed with the field of vision and ability to illuminate dark spaces. Also be very careful not to let the lens surface touch anything that might scratch it, or the device will become practically useless,
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by Ben82 »

xantia_v6 wrote:Having used a usb borescope camera a couple of times to look inside walls and floors, I have been somewhat disappointed with the field of vision and ability to illuminate dark spaces. Also be very careful not to let the lens surface touch anything that might scratch it, or the device will become practically useless,


Hmm, Thanks. Not really sure what would be best, I guess I could give it a go, and go through the hassle of returning it if it turns out to be fairly crap.
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by CitroJim »

You'd have thought, given their application, these devices would have a scratch-proof lens. They can do it on watches and phones easily enough...
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by Stickyfinger »

The Lens is the most expensive part, so plastic is used for cost...no grinding etc
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by CitroJim »

So why has the cheap sports watch I bought from the 'bay for 6 quid have a scratch-proof lens then?

Goodness knows it's been well tested...
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by Stickyfinger »

Its not a lens is it, its a clear plastic cover.

Morning btw, woken up at 4am by our local owls having a "toot-along" !!
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by CitroJim »

Wondered what you were doing up so early too Alasdair...

I just woke up at my normal time...

Already baked a loaf, spent 30 mins in the gym and completed all forum admin!
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by xantia_v6 »

I should have been more precise. My camera has a (non-removable) plastic cover on the end whith the lens and illumination LEDs behind it. If the plactic cover gets scratched, light from the LEDs gets refracted back, greatly reducing the available contrast of the camera.
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by dnsey »

I wouldn't spend that much on a camera anyway.
I bought a perfectly functional one for £6.50. At that price, if the lens cover should get scratched, it could be considered disposable (although personally I'd look into replacing it with a glass watch crystal).
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by Ben82 »

dnsey wrote:I wouldn't spend that much on a camera anyway.
I bought a perfectly functional one for £6.50. At that price, if the lens cover should get scratched, it could be considered disposable (although personally I'd look into replacing it with a glass watch crystal).
It's kinda more what's available that I can get for my week off this week. Only way to get them for ~£7 over here is to get them on eBay from china, so will probably be a 2 week wait. Had I known the walls here would be a pain, I probably would have made the decision to get one a lot sooner :)
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by Stickyfinger »

Is it Mice or Elk in the walls ?

I would of thought you would be able to tell without a camera :)
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by Ben82 »

Stickyfinger wrote:Is it Mice or Elk in the walls ?

I would of thought you would be able to tell without a camera :)
It's certainly something hard between the studs, but it doesn't move or make a noise, so want to have a nose around in there before the wall looks like swiss cheese from me making even more holes. :)
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Re: Inspection Camera / Bore Scope

Post by CitroJim »

We used to have a family of possums living in the roof of our house in Darwin..

We let them be. The sound of them scrabbling around at night was somehow comforting and they didn't do any damage...
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