How I ruined a Microsoft Lifecam HD...

[Cornelius Varley]

You are probably trying to focus on something too close.

Peter

[Gina]

I don't think you've broken it as it's still responding to light - I think it's a long way out of focus.

[idbvideo]

Thanks guys, I will wait till I get some clear skies and try again.

[idbvideo]

The sensor works and I manged to find some focus out of the scope using a barlow and 25mm EP. Its just a matter of getting a distant object to focus on

[bluemarkus]

anything that has microsoft printed onto it is not worth modding for astro-use but should be cast out into the outer darkness, and whenever people pass by they need to cry out loud "unclean ! unclean !"

so u did a great job on the cam.

[Gina]

I've found the MS LifeCam Cinema makes an excellent astro camera for planetary and lunar. It is more sensitive than most webcams and has a good resolution. The pixel size is about half the others so you get better resolution. Image size is 1280x800 - much better than the 640x480 of the other webcams. Fiddly to modify but well worth it

[idbvideo]

It even looks the part in the raw unmodified body and even more so in the Billetparts adaptor!!!

Still cloudy and not had chance to try it ...

[Auntystatic]

Bluemarkus does have a point and I sort of agree with his views, but no matter how much I love that little penguin I don't see a webcam with it's cute little face branded all over it.

Until we find a great replacement for the toucam the MS will have to do.

[JamesF]

Bluemarkus does have a point

I disagree. The camera clearly works and does a good job for astro use at a reasonable price. Therefore it *is* worth modding, especially given the difficulty of finding something like an SPC880 at a reasonable price these days.

There may be other reasons not to purchase or use Microsoft products, but they have nothing to do with the ability to use the camera for the purpose of astro photography.

James

[Gina]

Quite agree James Sensitive, high res and works well with planets and moon. Haven't tried it for DSO yet but will do. I might provide it with cooling to improve the noise performance. I don't think anyone has found a way of doing an LX mod on it yet. Tried mine on white solar today but it needs a dark filter as it's just TOO sensitive. (Even with a reduced size solar filter)

[kiffy]

the more and more ive been reading this forum, which is quite a bit since i found it last week the more ive been tempted by the wecam idea... ive only just ordered my first telescope so am an utter newbie but as an avid photographer i really want to try photography with the scope and in particular a webcam. i started reading this post and saw the very informative guide on the conversion and thought id try it, then i saw ians post above and his mentioning billetparts adapters, i googled it and found their brilliant adapter and at a reasonable price so i just ordered one

[Gina]

I'm thinking of buying another as they're reckoned to work well as a guide camera for AP. First though I have yet to try guiding so first thing will be to attach the LifeCam to the 9x50 finderscope and try that with PHD. Just need some clear nights to try all these things

[DrRobin]

Hi,

My Lifecam is up for sale on Astrobuysell at the mo. I bought a DFK31 in November and haven't used the Lifecam since.

I got a few pictures of Jupiter from my Lifecam and I reckon they are better than the Philips SPC880/900. The only downside is that there doesn't appear to be a long exposure mod.

I made a quick comparison of the Lifecam v the DFK, they are the same resolution but the DFK delivers a higher frame rate (when in Y800) and it is easier to get the colour balance right. The DFK will do long exposure.

The Lifecam seems very sensitive to red (IR), but this can be balanced in post processing. Resolving detail with the Lifecam seems to approach the DFK (see the photo of Jupiter on ABS) and they do have one significant advantage, the cost.

[kiffy]

i did my lifecam mod a few days ago, was suprisingle easy enough to do especially as i used the billetparts adapter. i tried it last night and couldnt get a focus.. i tried everything with no luck... when i went back in the warm i pluged it into my pc as i have ms software for my pc's webcam and al lim seeing is light and dark, with a flash of colour now and then. is this normal?

[thudbruiser]

Hi Kiffy, yes that all I get with mine when plugged into the pc. Did you try moving the cam in and out of the diagonal.

[idbvideo]

I tried in the dark and could not find a focus in my 200P and thought I had broken it. My problem was because the thing I was trying to focus on was not far enough away or well enough lit. I tried it during the day and was able to focus no problem. Mine also only saw light changes.

YOu should not have a problem focussing if its in a billetparts adaptor cos I think that the sensor is about where your eye would be.

[kiffy]

ill have to have another play by the sound of it

and i guess doing it by day is an easier way of doing it compared to a black sky

[Gina]

Yes, that's what I do - try things out in daylight on a distant object.

[Flying Eye]

I'm thinking of buying another as they're reckoned to work well as a guide camera for AP. First though I have yet to try guiding so first thing will be to attach the LifeCam to the 9x50 finderscope and try that with PHD. Just need some clear nights to try all these things

Gina, this is of great interest to me for another set of reasons, if it's not a great imposition, would there be some chance of you posting some sample pics showing what such an arrangement can serve up please? A Cinema or Studio on a 9x50 is a configuration I've been wondering about for some time.

[Gina]

Gina, this is of great interest to me for another set of reasons, if it's not a great imposition, would there be some chance of you posting some sample pics showing what such an arrangement can serve up please? A Cinema or Studio on a 9x50 is a configuration I've been wondering about for some time.

No imposition at all When I get this set up I shall certainly take photos of the arrangements and some images taken with the webcam. I'm not sure when this will be - it's a couple of steps down the list ATM. OTOH I have now bought and butchered a Studio for planetary AP so the Cinema is now freed up for other uses. Next towards this is to buy an adapter to replace the end cap or I could butcher the present end cap (the piece that screws into the main tube and takes the eyepiece). The eyepiece thread is too small to take the LifeCam Cinema unfortunately. The focal plane is just inside the end I gather so the webcam needs to go inside the end cap but not right inside. I think I would prefer NOT to butcher the end cap in case I want to return the finder to it's original purpose. Also, a bought adapter would be properly aligned, removing one headache from the alteration.

[Flying Eye]

Thanks Gina, when ever it is possible it will be gratefully appreciated.

On the subject of Cinema being mounted in odd places (maybe for the studio too but I've yet to get my hands on one!) I have a neoprene fishing rod grip, I used to be able to get them from fishing tackle shops who sell rod blanks for people who like to make their own rods, the size I have must have been used for my beach casting rods, so shops towards the coast would be an ideal place to look! Anyway, it's a tube of neoprene, and comes in various diameters, and it just so happens that it's a nice snug fit to the Cinema. I just use a scalpel to slice off a ring of this as I and when need one for a new temporary a-focal mount.

Also nice is that being 5mm wall thickness it adds extra to the camera and that means it will, for an example, just fit inside the left eyecup of our Olympus 10x50 binos nice and snug, and more or less be centered into the bargain! Certainly good enough for a zoom setting of 10 and 640x480 giving a nicely filled screen without vignetting.

On some items it fits outside the existing eyepiece and on others inside the eyecup, like with the bins. Knowing this can come in handy at odd times!

It's flexible enough to allow for some mismatch either way, but rigid enough to hold the camera in place most times, some velcro cable wraps around the foot of an un-butchered camera (foot pointed forward instead of the more usual backward) and optic tube/eyepiece (if need be) can add some further stability for very odd angles. At least it's a notch up from gaffer tape!

I'm now wondering about carving the old's kool (sic) cork blank variety for trickier custom fittings!

Hope it helps.

[Gina]

Found it! The adapters for the finder scope to convert for guiding Here :- Accessories @ Modern Astronomy

[Gina]

Thanks Gina, when ever it is possible it will be gratefully appreciated.

On the subject of Cinema being mounted in odd places (maybe for the studio too but I've yet to get my hands on one!) I have a neoprene fishing rod grip, I used to be able to get them from fishing tackle shops who sell rod blanks for people who like to make their own rods, the size I have must have been used for my beach casting rods, so shops towards the coast would be an ideal place to look! Anyway, it's a tube of neoprene, and comes in various diameters, and it just so happens that it's a nice snug fit to the Cinema. I just use a scalpel to slice off a ring of this as I and when need one for a new temporary a-focal mount.

Also nice is that being 5mm wall thickness it adds extra to the camera and that means it will, for an example, just fit inside the left eyecup of our Olympus 10x50 binos nice and snug, and more or less be centered into the bargain! Certainly good enough for a zoom setting of 10 and 640x480 giving a nicely filled screen without vignetting.

On some items it fits outside the existing eyepiece and on others inside the eyecup, like with the bins. Knowing this can come in handy at odd times!

It's flexible enough to allow for some mismatch either way, but rigid enough to hold the camera in place most times, some velcro cable wraps around the foot of an un-butchered camera (foot pointed forward instead of the more usual backward) and optic tube/eyepiece (if need be) can add some further stability for very odd angles. At least it's a notch up from gaffer tape!

I'm now wondering about carving the old's kool (sic) cork blank variety for trickier custom fittings!

Hope it helps.

Interesting - thank you I have my Cinema "padded out" to 1.25" with some double sided sticky foam and insulation tape. The Studio is a bit bigger and I have that in an old eyepiece tube (1.25" extension tube effectively). It has a heat conductor from the back of the sensor chip to the outside case to dissipate heat. The original outer case is a bit big in diameter and far too long so I have abandoned that and replaced it with the EP tube having bent the heat conductor pads out a bit to contact the tube and built up the plastic part with insulation tape. I cut off most of the front part of the plastic case leaving the sensor a few millimetres from the end. It now fits in the EP tube and allows fitting a UV/IR cut filter to protect from dust and replace the IR cut filter removed from the webcam. Must take a photo and post details...

[Gina]

I have some info on the 9x50 straight through finder scope and use with webcam as guider - I'll start a new thread as it doesn't really fit here.

[Zakalwe]

anything that has microsoft printed onto it is not worth modding for astro-use but should be cast out into the outer darkness, and whenever people pass by they need to cry out loud "unclean ! unclean !"

so u did a great job on the cam.

Yeah, you're right..they're clearly rubbish...

^^Taken with a modified Lifecam...