I took out the IR filter lens by breaking it, and now my webcam seems to be severely near-sighted! Does anybody know what could have done this? I have posted a photo of the lens assembly and a screenshot of reacTIVision showing how the webcam is capturing the images. You can’t even tell what’s in the photo. (It’s a balloon.)
There are also some weird-shaped blobs in the image, especially in the lower half. I think this might be caused by the actual component that’s capturing the light, but I don’t know. It seems to be in a regular pattern.
Can anybody tell me if there’s hope or if it’s beyond saving?

I added a screenshot of the camera taking a picture of me. I am sitting about a foot and a half from the webcam and am illuminating my face with the IR LED from a remote. It should be crystal clear; it’s not.

i think this is normal… when you remove the filter it makes the lens shift focus… you can try shaving down the plastic lens mount or replace it with a standard m12 mount.

Those blobs are caused by light entering the holes in the back of the pcb. placing some duct tape over the back of the pcb should fix it. If you are using a bandpass filter that should fix the focus when you put it in, otherwise you will have to file down the lens mount or get a larger M12 lens and lens mount to allow you to adjust the focus.

When you say file down the lens mount. what part exactly do you mean ?

daddyoli - 18 October 2009 12:13 PM

When you say file down the lens mount. what part exactly do you mean ?

you have to file the base of the lens mount, but be very careful and check the focus as you work on it because you only need to file a small ammount off