Reply To: New Person – Camera instead of a loupe and…Screwdrivers

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Fred,
There are some real advantages to the camera / monitor approach. I also feel there are some disadvantages which in time may be overcome but at this time are very real hindrances when doing actual repair work.
One advantage is the ability to use very high magnification. It’s difficult when using a loupe to magnify beyond 20x and in fact for me even 20x is a challenge much of the time. The slightest head movement throws things in and out of focus. So for inspection purposes you just cant beat the stability of a mounted camera or sturdy microscope. Also for classroom training purposes it’s definitely the cats meow, and….there’s the problem of holding the loupe in place. Of course this can be overcome by using a loupe head band and in many cases clip on magnifiers for glasses. I use a microscope when close inspection is needed. Fortunately most repair work requires magnification of 10x or less so keeping focus isn’t too much of a problem.
In my opinion a loupe is far better than a microscope or camera when doing actual repair work. The advantage of changing viewing angles in an instant when using a loupe by tilting, raising or lowering your head is powerful. You can change from a top view to edge view or any angle in between in less than a second without having to move your hands to make a camera adjustment or worse yet having to tilt the movement risking leaning or falling over of parts. If a tweezers or any other tool obstructs the view a simple and fast head adjustment usually can correct the problem without having to interfere with the operation by having to lay down a tool or part. Multiple cameras might be helpful but not sure how much bench surface you would need to occupy. For me my bench top space is valuable real estate. If you could rig something up that is clear of the bench or possibly hanging overhead and could switch cameras with a foot switch or better yet some type of voice recognition device that would be pretty cool. Also maybe in the near future there might be some affordable robotic type camera stand that can change angles and height quickly by syncing with head movement. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that something like that or better hits the market before much longer. That might be a fun Arduano/servo project for some of our electro mechanical buffs up here!
Happy Holidays!
Bob