Endoscopes

They're two a penny nowadays, I bought one at a similar price from Amazon earlier this year. If you're prepared to wait a little longer (I wanted mine in a hurry) you can get just the same hardware from AliExpress much more cheaply.

I use mine plugged into my laptop usually, bigger screen.

Does these devices give an out-of-focus image very quickly, as you move it nearer & farther from the distance where the image is sharp?

In other words, is the depth of field large?

Here's a 5m endoscope for £5.14, spend another £3 for free delivery:

I went for a USB one and regretted it, because whenever I'm grubbing around in the loft or whatever it tends to wiggle the USB-C connector in the phone and break the connection. There are wifi ones where the unit is separate from the display which don't suffer from that problem, but they may be tied to their phone app. At least with the USB ones they usually work as regular USB webcams.

(USB webcam support on Android and iOS is quite poor - I've ended up using various 'USB camera' apps but they can be quite crashy, not helped by the above. Most of them have Chinese apps of varying dubiousness)

Mine has maybe 20cm max depth of field, so you do have to wiggle it around to get things in focus.

Theo

Thank you for the info.

I asked about depth of field because I have a dental endoscope which goes badly out of focus if you move it one centimetre close or farther to a tooth. I didn't want an endoscope for general use which is as limited as that!

Mine is similar to this:

"Oral Endoscope, HD Oral Camera"

Depth of field is an indication of the range in which an object will be in focus, so a large depth of field equates to more wriggle room in the back and forth direction if you will. The price of these things is heavily dependent on the bore diameter. There's a premium for really small diameters as they can get through small gaps which would defeat cheaper boroscopes. A 5 meter boroscope of under 10mm bore diameter would make examining yourself for colo-rectal cancer a breeze and it wouldn't break the bank. Sub 5mm and you're looking at nasal passages and whatnot. What an age we live in!

I just ordered one of these from AliExpress to check out the blockwork behind the plasterboard on an internal wall. Maybe check out the plumbing in my bathroom too.

Do you need to install any extra software to do this?

I installed guvcview and with that it all 'just worked'.

The main issue on these is the lighting you need, isn't it?

J^n

most have a light in the end.

Dave

My son's girlfriend was working in the Hospital in Endoscopy. I said 'I have a little endoscope I bought off ebay - it plugs into my phone and I look inside my beehive with it'.

She looked shocked and very worried, then said 'What part of your body is your 'beehive'?'

TW

The USB ones mostly show up as USB webcams, so you can just them in whatever software will display webcam video - there may be something built in to your OS, or you could use a web app that shows the camera. You could use them on a Zoom call with yourself (or your close enemies) if you like :)

Theo

... which is insufficient, in my (limited) experience

HA HA HA! Thanks TW, for a good laugh on a bad day!

John

You said it, CD! :-D Your suggestion implies we're closer to the day when the old phrase "he disappeared up his own fundament" will become fact!

Another laugh, on a bad day - thanks!

John