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Ltn.F.Baracca #1 12/01/2011 - 15h41

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Hi!

I was reading about the problems with IR lens removal PS3Eye.

We know that the Lens work also for Focus camera,and  that remove it,take more disadvantages than advantages (besides the fact that after you can not go back).  :blink:

Easy Solution.

It will be sufficient to clean the lens IR (without removing it) with a cotton applicator soaked in alcohol or gasoline, then repeatedly by rubbing a bit of pressure.

You will see that gradually begin to take off the red IR filter.

With a little patience,ten minutes about, you should report the lens transparent like a normal glass.

Now put the one negative film (like a floppy disk) in front your cam...and you will have a awesome freetrack to 120 fps whitout problem about sunshine o negative reflex! ;)


Sorry for my bad English but I'm sure you understand the concept of the method!


Regards
Edited by Ltn.F.Baracca on 12/01/2011 at 15h46.
Vink #2 12/01/2011 - 17h48

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Thanks a lot. This will save time when removing IR filter glass to other people. Mine is already cracked. :)

BTW, IR glass is just a glass with no lens effect, removal do not affect focus. It is just a filter for infra red waves.
Edited by Vink on 13/01/2011 at 01h20.
Ltn.F.Baracca #3 13/01/2011 - 01h41

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Vink @ 12/01/2011 - 18h48 a dit:

Thanks a lot. This will save time when removing IR filter glass to other people. Mine is already cracked. :)

BTW, IR glass is just a glass with no lens effect, removal do not affect focus. It is just a filter for infra red waves.



Hi Vink!

May be you right but the people here explain that after remove the IR Lens the Focus it was off!
:rolleyes:
http://nuigroup.com/forums/viewthread/2953/

I prefer dont risk and belived that it's better dont move that Lens...just IR or not! ;D

Regards
Edited by Ltn.F.Baracca on 13/01/2011 at 01h48.
Vink #4 13/01/2011 - 08h49

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Mabby too much strenth applied to a Lens unit when scratching out a glass???

My IR glass was chipped while removing, but focus didnt suffer.
Wolvenmoon #5 18/02/2011 - 04h13

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I will try this. I am extremely excited. I had thought it was impossible.
Wolvenmoon #6 18/02/2011 - 05h43

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Tried this. Scrubbed it until my hands got tired, then continued scrubbing for an additional 6 minutes using 91% isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips. Do I need to cut the lens out? What solvent did you use specifically?

I'm just wholesale soaking the lens facedown in rubbing alcohol for a bit. The whole assembly isn't submerged but the IR filter is under the alcohol.
Wolvenmoon #7 18/02/2011 - 05h54

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No dice. What other solvents should I try?
Wolvenmoon #8 18/02/2011 - 06h51

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Edit: The following is me panicking because I had the back of my PS3 eye off. Ignore it but I'll leave it here in case another newbie panics. This method is harmless ( mostly, my focus is messed up and I have tons of motion blurring now ) but otherwise ineffective from what I can tell.

Okay, have to strongly recommend people do NOT do this. I now have the most awesome circuit board pattern on my camera when it sees dark things and all the focus is fuzzy. Not sure what happened. My theory is maybe there's a mirror effect going on in there, because the circuit pattern only shows up when it's dark.

Edit: Scratched up the area surrounding the lense. No effect. Rubbing alcohol'd the lense and sensor. No effect. Dry wiped them both. No effect. Smacked them together. Problem was still there.

Gave up for the night, scratched one in the scoreboard for the PS3 eye, put it back together so I could salute it before I threw it in the trash, and the problem was gone.

Now I'm just glaring daggers at it.

Edit: Focus on it is still screwed up, and it has me all blurry on the image. Great.
Edited by Wolvenmoon on 18/02/2011 at 07h42.
Rajveer #9 23/02/2011 - 17h35

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Wolvenmoon which version of the PS3 Eye do you have? You can find out from here:

http://www.peauproductions.com/blog/2009/04/17/the-two-types-of-ps3-eye-stock-lenses-pictures-of-each/

It's possible you have the newer one, where the IR lens cannot actually be reached.
snaipperi #10 22/02/2013 - 11h46

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Old thread, but because it comes up as the first when googling with the relevant keywords, here's a solution for the focus problem after removing the IR lens:

You can shorten the objective housing by a few (1-2) millimeters, so that the objective housing sits a bit closer to the sensor. I shortened it with sand paper. Getting it right is a bit difficult so there are few options you can do if you shorten it a bit too much:

1) Found this method from some German website that does not exist anymore: you can constuct a small frame to the objective housing from some flexible material, such as rubber foam mat. This frame is between the PCB and the objective housing. Because the material compresses and uncompresses, you can adjust the focus with the two screws that keep the objective housing in place.

2) Lazy man's method: put pieces of paper (or anything thin really) in between the objective housing and the pcb, so that the focus is correct. I did this, and the focus is now sharper than before. :-) Below is a picture of my solution

SpoilerPosted Image
Edited by snaipperi on 22/02/2013 at 11h52.
mossbros #11 18/04/2013 - 15h45

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After modifying my PS3 Eye (bad one) I also had the same problems with blur but I've found a solution that doesn't require having to adjust the camera while it's open.

To fix the blur issue you simply half turn the FOV setting on the lense so its between the two settings normally avalible, there seems to be an area between the two FOV's where the lense will focus just fine.

I'm assuming this is because the lense moves away from the sensor just enough that it comes back into focus.
thagerty #12 15/05/2013 - 23h08

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If you have the newer PS3 eye (sleh-00448), you don't need to modify it at all! This link tells you how I set mine up....

http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=3624
doveman #13 18/06/2013 - 17h13

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thagerty @ 15/05/2013 - 23h08 a dit:

If you have the newer PS3 eye (sleh-00448), you don't need to modify it at all! This link tells you how I set mine up....

http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=3624



Doesn't seem to be true, in my case at least, as it can't properly track my LEDs even with a good external filter (2 layers of red, green, blue film) totally blocking daylight.

In fact, it seems only one model can have the IR filter removed without destroying it and mine seems to be that model (with the curved outer lens) and is the sleh-00448, so I presume all the "good" ones that can be modifed are the sleh-00448.

http://www.peauproductions.com/blog/2009/04/17/the-two-types-of-ps3-eye-stock-lenses-pictures-of-each/

EDIT: Actually, it seems I had one bad LED which was making them all dim and the red, green blue film seems to block some IR as well as daylight, as with two layers of it the LED points were much reduced, so I'm only using one layer now and with the bad LED replaced it might be usable, although it still tends to lost my top (R) point on my cap when I tilt my head back.

I'll try and find a better daylight filter that doesn't block any IR and then maybe it will be fine.

EDIT: This graph shows clearly that the PS3 Eye IR filter almost completely blocks the IR, so it's amazing it works at all without removing it! http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=3205

It also shows how floppy disc film blocks over twice as much IR as developed, unexposed, film but even that blocks a substantial amount of IR in addition to daylight but it probably allows through sufficient (with the IR filter removed) to not be worth worrying about.
Edited by doveman on 20/06/2013 at 10h35.
Stormrider #14 21/06/2013 - 09h04

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Hi doveman,

I read your posts with great interrests.
I use a ms vx-3000 webcam for freetrack, but I read a post about the ps3-eye model(SLEH-00448) which should wordk without removing the ir-filter.
I found one realy cheap, second-hand, and start experimenting.I tried a few type of filters but I could not get it working the way it should be.Just like in your case.
I found on youtube a video how you could easily remove that ir-filter.
Because it looks like something is blocking my ir-leds to much.So I tried what they did in that video,I removed the lense of which they said that is the ir-filter.I was a hard job to get it out without damaging everything to much.But I got it out in the end.
But........ without that part my ps3-eye doesn't work anymore.I can see something, but is not useable as a webcam anymore.So the part I removed is not only a ir-filter but also a lense which you must not remove because you need it for proper working of the ps3-eye.
So I have a SLEH-00448 with the bad type of lense.I just wonder how many different types of ps3-eye are there?


If I find another ps3-eye I will continue my experiment.

greetz Stormrider
doveman #15 21/06/2013 - 09h35

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Hi Stormrider

I too have the SLEH-00448 and I believe that is the "good" model, as it has the IR filter lens at the back where it's easily accessible, whereas the other model (I believe there are only two) has it between the other two lenses and so is impossible to get two without removing/destroying that first.

Both models have the IR filter, it's just that with the "good" model it's possible to remove the IR filter lens, or as has been suggested here, scrub off the filter without removing the lens, which as you've unfortunately learnt can stop the cam from working :(

Even if you can't see a proper picture anymore, perhaps it may still be able to track the LEDs? You could try turning the focus ring so that it's half-way between positions as mossbros suggested.

If you have to buy a new cam, you might want to get something like the Logitech Quickcam, which I understand has a very easy to remove IR filter. I think it can only run at 30fps, compared to the PS3-Eye's 60fps but that may be sufficient and an easier option.

I think before removing the filter, I should try and see if I can make a better daylight filter than the one I'm currently using (3 pieces of red, green, blue coloured film) as that does seem to be blocking a large amount of IR as well. I'm using a 6.8 Ohm resistor but even with a 10 Ohm resistor, it does seem to pick up enough IR to track, I just think if more IR could get through it would work a lot better in certain situations, such as when tilting my head back, when it tends to lose track of the top LED. Using a clip might be an alternative as well, as then the top LED can be positioned lower down than it can in a cap-style arrangment, and so the cam may be less likely to lose track of it.

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