Video tutorials - focus your Mobius lens from infinity to macro

[richcam]

Been struggling to focus my Mobius fitted with the A lens when being used as a dash cam then noticed a couple of videos posted onto YouTube which go through the whole process from focusing to infinity and in macro mode which I had no idea about.

Will be having a few more attempts at focusing my Mobius to infinity tomorrow if the weather is reasonable.

The 1st video is entitled Mobius Camera Quick Tip: Fixing and adjusting the focus:

Link to the 2nd video video is entitled Mobius action cam: Focus adjustment for macro:

 

[9a6or]

The calibration of the lens for short distances in the second video is clever. I'm a bit OCD but I would avoid a few things shown in the video like pushing on the heatsink to pop out the mainboard, touching the lens glass with a caliper, cutting too big a hole in the case or scrathing an indicator line in the lens paint.

 

[richcam]

The calibration of the lens for short distances in the second video is clever. I'm a bit OCD but I would avoid a few things shown in the video like pushing on the heatsink to pop out the mainboard, touching the lens glass with a caliper, cutting too big a hole in the case or scrathing an indicator line in the lens paint.

I agree, there is no point in scratching the housing. I used a 'needle point precision corrector' by Pentel, basically it's used to paint over typo errors on pages of text, but does work remarkably well for this particular purpose of providing a reference point for the lens and housing.

And I laughed as he gouged out loads of plastic from the housing to allow the lens to be adjusted when it is actually quite easy to adjust the lens in the loose state, then tighten up the allen screw and reassemble when properly focused.

All I have done so far is split the housing, move the battery out of the way, lift the lens out of the housing, loosen the adjustment allen screw and then adjust the lens by rotating one way or the other, but the adjustment is so very fine and I keep forgetting which way to rotate the lens, is it clockwise or anti-clockwise, so it still isn't spot-on.

Someone on here ought to post a diagram on here to remind users which way to turn the lens to infinity or macro (doesn't have the same ring to it as to infinity or beyond!).

 

[9a6or]

I think he had to widen the hole so that the lens could be screwed through the range between infinity and a few mm close up. Based on his cardboard with markings, turning in clockwise moves the focus to infinity, out anticlockwise shortens the focus for a macro shot.

I also used white corrector paint on the lens housing, it works fine but rubs off after a while. A permanent marker pen line would stay on for longer (although less visible) and wipes off with alcohol. Note that I haven't tried this yet, the risk is yours.

Depends on the lens, but the C lens doesn't need to be removed for adjusting its focus. Removing puts stress on the ribbon cable which is not good. Keep it in place, loosen the Allen screw and adjust the focus. The C lens in my previous Mobius was so tight that my fingers were hurting afterwards... so the Allen screw might as well be taken out. I haven't adjusted the C2 lens yet (no need) let alone opening my new precious Mobius.

 

[Bungus]

Shouldn't matter which way you've turned the lens. Mark the starting point as you've done. Pick a object you wish to focus on. Turn lens left or right till it's sharpest, turn a bit more till it lose focus, then turn other way to sharpest and a bit more, between that will be the setting you want. Did mine on my HDTV with sd card removed.

 

[richcam]

Shouldn't matter which way you've turned the lens. Mark the starting point as you've done. Pick a object you wish to focus on. Turn lens left or right till it's sharpest, turn a bit more till it lose focus, then turn other way to sharpest and a bit more, between that will be the setting you want. Did mine on my HDTV with sd card removed.

Good points Bungus,

I think where I went wrong the last few times was the fact I was trying to focus the lens using the MacBookPro monitor which is only 17 inch, so will try using the 24 inch iMac to see if I can improve on the focus to infinity.

Have noticed that is indeed quite difficult to rotate the lens for focusing because the outer housing is so smooth, so perhaps the manufacturers might consider machining ridges into the edge to make gripping it easier to rotate left or right?

 

[richcam]

Based on his cardboard with markings, turning in clockwise moves the focus to infinity, out anticlockwise shortens the focus for a macro shot.

This small snippet has proved to be very useful to know when making minor adjustments to the focusing

Will find out tomorrow whether it is now spot on...

 

[richcam]

Went out with the family into Nottingham today, the weather was very bright and sunny so no excuses for poor video quality. What I did notice was the glare from the sun on the windscreen when driving toward the sun. The 0806 also suffered the same problem till I fitted a CPL and managed to rotate it correctly into the right position (ignoring the white line provided by the manufacturer!) which reduced the glare quite substantially.

So have been tweaking the focus of the lens after noticing it was still very sharp on the dashboard so rotated the lens inwards (clockwise) by about 1/4" and have attached the images below to see what you think.

Have read on here of another user changing the sharpness settings to +80 with the 'Wide Dynamic Range' set to ON, so have made the changes tonight to +40 and WDR to ON and will find out tomorrow if any useful improvements to the video quality have been made.

 

[richcam]

For some strange reason this forum won't let me post more than two pics at a time which is quite annoying, perhaps the webmaster needs to check why this problem keeps occurring because other members are also having problems with uploading images onto the forum!

Anyway, hopefully a few more images and note the number-plates in the distance.

Am very pleased with the results so far, and these videos are from a Mobius using a Lens 'A'.



UPDATE: The forum won't upload any more images, it seems to upload then disappears! ---- WEBMASTER SORT THIS UPLOAD PROBLEM ASAP!!!