Which Webcam For 3D Printed Time Lapses?
Time lapsing 3D prints has been one of my passions ever since I first discovered the Octolapse plugin for Octoprint, the program that allows you to connect a Raspberry Pi to your 3D printer and create amazing 3D printer time lapses. My favorite time lapses can be found in my Time Lapse 3D print Gallery The most difficult part of the process has always been figuring out the best Octolapse webcam to use when creating my time lapses. This article will explore three of my favorite 3D printed time lapses, each of which used a different webcam. My 3D printed time lapse of Groot in wood PLA used a Wyze Cam V2 webcam, a personal favorite, a time lapse 3D printed hot air balloon, was made with a Logitech C270 Webcam and and one of my most recent optical illusion 3D printed time lapses used the Logitech C920 camera. Each of these webcams have their own advantages which I will discuss in detail below. One thing to note, I only post information that I think may be of use. I am not marketing any of the webcams listed below.
Wyze Cam V2 For Octolapse Time Lapses
I had a very simple reason for trying the Wyzecam v2 webcam for my time lapse 3D prints, the price. Amazon had a special deal for Prime Members that also had an Amazon Echo device, where the Wyzecam V2 only cost $10. This was a deal I could not pass up and I had read good things about using the Wyzecam for Octolapse time lapses. I will say the setup of the Wyzecam was not an easy plug and play. I had to change several settings, download some drivers to my Raspberry Pi, but I finally got it working. I will say that the image quality at 1080p on the Wyzecam V2 is excellent as you can see in this 3D printed Christmas Tree Time Lapse However the downside is that the Wyzecam is meant to be a security camera and this shows in the fisheye effect on the time lapses I took with it.I finally had to move on and try another webcam so my next purchase was a Logitech C270
Logitech C270 Webcam With Octolapse
I purchased the Logitech C270 webcam as an upgrade for myWyze Cam and was fairly impressed with the image quality, but had some roadblocks to overcome. The price on the C270 was right when I found one at a thrift store of $10. They typically cost around $30-$50 on Amazon so even new, they will not break the bank. The C270 takes video at 720p. One of my favorite time lapses taken with the C270 is this Gandalf Bust There are many mounts available on Thingiverse for this model, but the one area that I feel the Logitech C270 fails when it comes to Octolapse is in its inability to change its focus in the Octolapse settings. There are printables that allow you to add a manual focus wheel to the model, but I found this clunky and much prefer the ability to change focus inside the Octolapse app itself.
Octolapse Using The Logitech C920 Webcam
My current favorite webcam to use for my time lapse videos is the Logitech C920. I found that this camera provides all I need for my time lapse videos and overcomes the weaknesses of the C270 and Wyzecam. The C920’s focus can be changed from within the Octolapse app, which I absolutely love and the picture quality is excellent and can record in 1080P. One of my most recent time lapses was recorded with this webcam and I loved the image quality even when some overexposure threatened to ruin the print. Optical Illusion Time Lapse On Logitech C920