New to LightBurn. Awesome job team. The 30 day trial was extremely useful. (Even if I only needed a couple of hours to know for sure!).
I have a small to medium size CO2 laser 300 x 500mm / 12" x 20". I was playing with the new camera calculator and I’m torn between the angles.
I can go with a 160 degree camera and have the mount so shallow height wise that it’ll be in focus when the lid is closed. Is this a good idea? Can I even get through the calibration? Wouldn’t it be awesome for viewing the active print as opposed to just setting up the print? Would the fisheye be too terrible?
Or should I get the 90 degree camera and have it mounted with the lid open? Is that still enough clarity/resolution?
Should I wait on new 8MP cameras or is my laser so small that the 5MP will be perfectly sufficient?
So many questions. Sorry for the million questions I just don’t want to be disappointed with the camera 5 minutes after having it. Thanks a ton everybody!
With the size of your machine, I suspect even with the 160 at a very close angle you’d be ok for resolution. The extreme angle means it will be more sensitive to Z height changes or camera movement, but the closed lid is more stable, so that works in your favor here.
Narrower lens angles just mean a more even distribution of bed area to camera area. With a fisheye lens, you get lots of camera pixels in the middle of the picture, where things at the edges are really squished together. With the 90 and 60 degree cameras, the density of camera pixels across the image is much more even, which translates to the accuracy being more even across the bed area.
If you’re looking for 1mm accurate positioning, the 160 is likely fine, and might even get you better than that if you have a little wiggle room with the mounting height. If you have solid hinges and the door stops at a precise point every time, a narrower lens with a higher vantage point will get you better accuracy. If your lid has a lot of play, that will have a negative effect on the accuracy.
So, weigh all of that - Unfortunately I can’t choose it for you.
Thanks for the explanation! I didn’t see whether or not I’d even be able to do the calibration with the lid down (since I wouldn’t be able to hold the paper), but I want to do the 90degree. Your comment about narrower lens with a higher vantages point will get better accuracy is the winner for me. Thanks again and love the software!
