Cheap USB inspection camera's

[mikeford]

A couple of my friends have picked up the $20 to $50 variety of endoscopes, or borescope, or inspection camera's on ebay from China. Most like them for what they can do, look for damage inside a motor, in a wall, or floor, that sort of thing.

I'd like to get a good one, camera head must fit inside a 14mm sparkplug hole, and it needs lights etc. If a cheap one is about as good, cheap is better, max maybe $50 unless it was lots better than $20 ones. Suggestions?

 

[snoturtle]

had never thought to look for one of these on Ebay
has thinking about the one from Harbor Freight but not anymore

Seems to be some around 30 that have flexible ends near the camera and not just the camera on a wire with little control

For me that seems to be the only thing that sets them apart as there are all pretty cheap

 

[mikeford]

Standard China rules, take all specs and claims with a grain of salt.

Differences are;

Maybe basic quality, 20 of them look the same, but have prices that vary over a range of $17 to $75. I sometimes buy on the low end, but generally avoid the lowest unless I can't figure out how they could be different.

Length of USB cable, not a small issue as the cable is waterproof, but using a USB extension would not be, and some people really do flush one down the toilet to check the pipes.

Size of the camera head, some are 15mm or larger, spark plug holes are 14mm, so no more than about 12mm will fit, smaller is better.

Light in the camera head, good guess this is an area of quality difference.

Number of real pixels in camera, 300k seems common, most seem to be color, but maybe not. Pay no attention to output format, those are frequently interpolated, which is FAKE.

Controls and features. What looks best are the ones with the handle and controls at the end of the USB, and a shorter semi flexible connection to the camera head.

Accessories. Some have a mirror at 90 degrees to poke in and look to the sides when there isn't room to turn the head sideways. Some have a hook or magnet to retrieve things.

Bluetooth maybe a future option.

Maybe worth getting a larger body dedicated microscope type.

All seem fixed focus between 1 and 6 inches, adj focus maybe eventually. F2.4 seems common.