Help Choosing A Camera

[jquest90 (Michael Hunt)]

I am brand new to lasers. I am interested in buying a camera for my Xtool D1 Pro but I am extremely confused on which camera is right for me. As small as my bed is 420mm x 390mm, i think the 90 degree would be best for me. However, I have read where others have had a hard time focusing a 90 degree camera. The 120 is sold out. Should I consider the next bigger size?

[Colin (Colin Worobetz)]

Have you used the camera selector in LightBurn? ‘Help > Camera Selection Help’

Once you’ve determined how high your mount will be you can make a better choice. Generally speaking, go with the lowest angle / highest mount point you can manage comfortably, as wide angle lenses have more distortion.

[jquest90 (Michael Hunt)]

I have not seen this. Thank you for the information!!

[SMEAC (Shannon Beaman)]

I just ordered a LB 8MP 85 for my 400x410 Atomstack A5. My thought process was this; my shop ceilings are already low at ~80” (it’s the houses old carriage house that sometime in the 40’s had a slab poured into it and what was the feed/hay loft closed up to make an actual loft which is great for lumber/slab drying/storage and the 1000 things that one must hold onto or needs like holiday decorations, my dust collection system is built in up there, my air compressor, and two dehumidifiers as well); so mounting to the ceiling over the table where I’ve set up the laser isn’t too darned high, gives me plenty of space for doing larger items, will be out of my way, and because it’ll be fixed to the ceiling, won’t get jarred and thrown out of whack all the time (I’ve noticed that’s an issue for many people especially those who attack inside a hood, to the lid of a hood, or even those who utilize quality extruded aluminum mounting booms). Then there’s the whole fact that my first laser, this A5 M40 doesn’t have stops to home to. Also, I figure the reduced distortion and longer/narrower FOV will reduce that distortion, thus increasing accuracy. The trade off is that resolution then becomes important, so a 5MP is less than adequate I think for me. My thoughts on being less than adequate is because my primary first reason for purchasing a laser is to use it in place (where I can) of my makers mark branding iron (which are often difficult to get consistently clean/clear brands from; plus this way I can use different scales (smaller for Molding Plane bodies I make it when I want it more discreate; think scale of all elements needs to be complementary). Also will use to do really like single pass line burns to lay out designs that I will then carve with chisel and sweeps by hand. Finally, I think it will be useful for laying out inlays in the same manner as marking out carving patterns. I’m sure there are many other things I’ll learn to get into, but that means primarily that I will also want be able to do traces and repositionings. I didn’t want to get a 5MP and then wish a year from now that I had an 8MP; after all, I’ll probably buy a co2 laser at some point or maybe a CNC; LightBurn will graduate to my machines and so it’s not a short term investment. Like basically, don’t look at it as part of your laser, but rather fully part of design and documentation; as important as my 6” combination square and shop log/sketchbook. As for the reason that I’m dropping the money on a LightBurn camera; we’ll I’ve read and seen many places that LightBurn had their firmware loaded into theirs specifically and that many guys buy even top end cameras with even greater capabilities of Amazon/Etc, but are incapable of getting the resolution in the LightBurn program that their camera is capable of because LightBurn has hamstrung those cameras not running the specific firmware/protocol that’s contained on the cameras LightBurn sells. I guess one could flash a 3rd party camera, but I’m too old to bother squeezing water from stones. This way, it’s lightburn’s product and so my problems are their problematic too. In the end, I pay a little more, but the benefits outweigh the money I could save doing the 3rd party route.
I’m primarily a hand tool only woodworker building furniture and Windsor chairs; I’m about 95% handtools and 5% powertools. I only use powertools to mill rough lumber; so a jointer, thickness planer, and very occasionally a bandsaw so that I can resaw and cut my own veneers. The whole laser is indeed a power tool, but firstly; it’s a tool and is really in its own category. I’m not going to be doing a bunch or craft stuff, plaques, sellable gifts, or even making templates, so it’s not like the furniture/tool/chair making and laser worlds are going to merge like they do for some guys. I know that power/modern tool woodworking is the primary genre these days, but the whole system of design, the process, and even the tactile feel/nature of the two make them categories that really only have wood in common. The laser, and hence the camera is going to serve primarily like my existing uses of electricity; it’s going to supplement, save me some time maybe here and there, and most of all be a scalable/customizable branding iron/makers mark that equates to a drawer full of branding irons. I guess all together I have about $550 dollars invested in laser, hardware, honeycomb bed, and software. That would be the equivalent of maybe 4 full custom cut branding irons or 1-2 branding irons and and additional 4-5 interchangeable branding heads. I lose about 9 sqft of shop space and spend a bunch of money, sure…; but now I have infinite branding, the benefits of carving layouts, inlay/marquetry uses, and now with a LightBurn 8MP 85 FOV mounted to the ceiling, I have a way also of increasing that accuracy and being able to trace/document/modify those things with a software/camera that will transfer seamlessly to another laser without hassle. Just my 2¢ and the economic model of how I’ve rationalized dropping nearly $600 dollars on an idea I had. This is my hobby and no money will be recouped; only pride in building the finest I can, adding a challenge or new skill to each build project, and the enjoyment of ever solving problems (that is what the essence of being a maker, solving problems for the squirt of dopamine )
V/R, Shannon