USB Endoscope camera for Android phone/laptop computer
I bought a USB Endoscope camera that hooks to either my Android phone or laptop computer. This is a brief review. Some terms you will need to know: USB Standard Type A connector, USB Micro B connector, USB Full Duplex connector. These are described HERE.
This camera won't let you do brain surgery, but it is plenty good enough for my needs (finding the water lines under my TT flooring before drilling holes to screw something to the floor). The "semi-rigid" cabling was useful in pointing the camera.
The USB camera comes with a USB Micro B connector, but they include a USB MICRO B to USB Standard Type A adapter. Using that adapter, and the software on the mini-DVD that was included, it worked just fine with my laptop.
My Android phone has a USB Full Duplex connector, and nothing came with the USB camera to allow me to use it with that connector. However, the phone came with both a USB Full Duplex to USB Micro B adapter AND a USB Full Duplex to USB Standard Type A adapter.
I installed the software on my phone (from Google's PlayStore, CameraFi) and used the USB Full Duplex to USB Micro B adapter to hook up the USB camera. That was the simplest solution, using only one adapter. Nothing. Neither the phone nor the software would detect the presence of the USB camera.
Then, just because, I removed the USB Full Duplex to USB Micro B adapter, and put on the USB Full Duplex to USB Standard Type A adapter AND the USB Standard Type A to USB Micro B adapter. Even though that was two adapters, it worked like a champ. The phone displayed the camera output very well. The only drawback is that the USB Full Duplex to USB Standard Type A adapter won't fit through my phone's case. I have to remove the phone from the case to use it. Since this will be a rare occurrence, that is not too much of a drawback.
This camera won't let you do brain surgery, but it is plenty good enough for my needs (finding the water lines under my TT flooring before drilling holes to screw something to the floor). The "semi-rigid" cabling was useful in pointing the camera.
The USB camera comes with a USB Micro B connector, but they include a USB MICRO B to USB Standard Type A adapter. Using that adapter, and the software on the mini-DVD that was included, it worked just fine with my laptop.
My Android phone has a USB Full Duplex connector, and nothing came with the USB camera to allow me to use it with that connector. However, the phone came with both a USB Full Duplex to USB Micro B adapter AND a USB Full Duplex to USB Standard Type A adapter.
I installed the software on my phone (from Google's PlayStore, CameraFi) and used the USB Full Duplex to USB Micro B adapter to hook up the USB camera. That was the simplest solution, using only one adapter. Nothing. Neither the phone nor the software would detect the presence of the USB camera.
Then, just because, I removed the USB Full Duplex to USB Micro B adapter, and put on the USB Full Duplex to USB Standard Type A adapter AND the USB Standard Type A to USB Micro B adapter. Even though that was two adapters, it worked like a champ. The phone displayed the camera output very well. The only drawback is that the USB Full Duplex to USB Standard Type A adapter won't fit through my phone's case. I have to remove the phone from the case to use it. Since this will be a rare occurrence, that is not too much of a drawback.
