Make an infrared webcam

posted Mar 14th 2005 5:29am by Barb Dybwad
filed under: digital cameras hacks

IR webcam hack

First off — don’t go getting all Silence of the lambs on us, aight? But if you’ve got some legitimate, non-creepy reason you want to record video in infrared, Geoff Johnson’s gonna show you how to do it. He’s gutting a fairly generic USB camera made by Sweex, and is careful to note which steps are Sweex-specific and which are not. You should be able to get this working with any ol’ USB cam you’ve got lying around with possible slight modifications.

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Comments [77]

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HOLY CATF**KING CRAP! this is the coolest thing ever. make sure you follow the link to the US currency

Posted at 9:56 pm on Mar 14th, 2005 by einstienbc

lol those film pieces are a pain to keep in place. but do not try to use super gule to hold them, which i did. say bye bye to web cam lens.
i guess im still trying to get good at this DIY stuff. it shouldnt have been this bad though.

Posted at 11:18 pm on Mar 14th, 2005 by a soggy waffle

crap it said “legitimate AND non creepy”.

Posted at 11:20 pm on Mar 14th, 2005 by Ryan

i tried this with my logitech quickcam….i no longer have a working quickcam.

the infared filter is hidden behind the lens, which is glued down and must be removed. i managed to pry one side of this lens up, so i thought that it wasnt glued down. pulling more resulted in the thing snapping in half. so..its glued down. i now have a new out-of-focus infared camera.

Posted at 12:34 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by sonic_molson

Wasn’t this on Slashdot? I actually think it’s kinda funny to see cool stuff show up more than once on different places I go to, so I’m not complaining. I see this type of thing happen in tech magazines, too–in fact, much more and later than I do here. Of course, maybe I’m just not reading the right things. ~shrug~ This one looks fun, though.

Posted at 1:32 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by Joshua Holbrook

Awesome hack. I just did it myself with an old webcam I had laying next to the computer. Soggy Waffle I used superglue before reading your comments and it worked fine!

It’s a shame the sun is setting where I am. Without a large source of IR I can’t see much.

Allow me to add some information in the goodness of science. Not only is Coke (kinda) transparent in IR, Pepsi Max is too!

Posted at 2:53 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by gav

Actually this is pretty oldschool, as you can do it with a normal film camera as well. But, nice to see it repositioned for webcams:) We were taught in university to use an exposed piece of slide film (leave the lens cap on and click a shot), instead of a negative. If you use large format film, it can be used to create a makeshift filter over a camera lens.

They made a big fuss here in Japan a few months back, because sony released a vid cam that did not have the filter in place. Why the big deal? Some types of material are basically invisible in the infrared spectrum…like the stuff a lot of swimsuits are made of….

Posted at 5:18 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by kris

well when i used super glue it caked all over the lens and the photo paper, and i cant get it off

Posted at 7:35 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by a soggy waffle

If would be cool to hook up a clustered panel of IR LEDs and use those for lighting. Once you figure out the forward voltage of the webcam, you can see how much voltage you have to play with.

Posted at 9:34 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by matt

just as a little helper because I tried this today… you may attempt to use a fired .45 (.50 would be beter but .45’s are more common) shell casing as a guide for cutting out the little circle for logitech webcams. a small paperclip properly modified (bent into a circle) and wedged in place will hold the film pieces in place very well.

Posted at 10:38 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by Pedro

Just did this with a logitech quickcam express. It has a little holder for the square IR filter that made it easy to place the film pieces, no “fixing” with wire or glue needed. Now if I could just get the stupid thing to consistently work with the USB on my computer….

Posted at 11:08 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by nigel

if anyone is wanting to get rid of an old webcam i will gladly accept them… pedro_gonz@hotmail.com

Posted at 11:10 am on Mar 15th, 2005 by Pedro

15 min hack worked like a champ… I’m working on some dark IR illuminators, any thoughts? A mag light with a filter seems to work but is a bit too ghetto. An LED solution seems more elegant.

Posted at 1:12 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by Lentilboy

Cool. I tried this with a cheapo webcam I had laying around. Works great. I used wood glue to fix the filter..

Now to find a good use…

Posted at 2:19 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by Noggin

did this mod with a lego cam. The hardest part was getting the ir lens out. After that, no problem. Used elmers glue around the edges to hold the filters in place, then reaspebled.

Worked great, even got it in focus, untill i accedentally unscrewed the lens cover and exposed the sensor to light directly…..

Posted at 2:37 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by alex

This is kind of funny! I did the same a couple months back with a Logitech Quickcam 3000 and it really works well. Instead of using the film to block visible light I used the Kodak WRATTEN Gelatin filter(No. 87C) It’s meant to do that job and it’s very easy to cut to the squared shape filter holder.

Posted at 3:00 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by scope

Is there a way to convert webcam video directly to analog bypassing the computer? If so you could hook the webcam up to one of the USB batteries and a video tape chassis and have a portable self-contained IR camera.

Posted at 4:11 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by Adam

#16: duh, just remove the IR filter in a camcorder

Posted at 5:25 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by arty

so this is a night vision cam???

Posted at 6:09 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by Jim

did it with an old webcam i had lying around, the ir filter was easy to get to, but the only way to get it out of the way was to break it, so i did. it was getting dark outside so i used the remote control for lighting…

Posted at 6:17 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by kevin

I am amazed (not), I remember hooking up an IR cam to my Indy ages ago, see: http://johnbokma.com/fishtank/cammod.html

I remember it was like 50 USD and no need to hack / tweak. The cool thing is it can make very good close up shots (see http://johnbokma.com/fishtank/index.html )

Posted at 6:28 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by John Bokma

I tried it with my Logitec Quickcam, but I couldn’t get the filter out. I ended up just scratching the lens a whole lot, and now I have an unworking quickcam, like #4. Alas

Posted at 7:01 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by bodenothing

#20 we are all impressed and amazed with you. (not) But thanks for pointing out that you’re not amazed by said article. Next time you see an article that your not ‘amazed’ by, why not conserve your energy and spare us your post? A genius of your caliber should be utilizing his time better… maybe by cleaning out your larvae infested ‘fish tank’. Nice site by the way… (not)

Posted at 7:05 pm on Mar 15th, 2005 by buddog

wasn’t this on hackaday before? And wasn’t there a brand of webcam which coated the lenses with a ir filter “paint” that made it so you needed to get a ir filter-less lens?

Posted at 4:26 am on Mar 16th, 2005 by CDE

Wow this is pretty sweet, I couldnt really think of a good way I can use it. But now at least i know its a possibility

Posted at 2:30 pm on Mar 16th, 2005 by Kendall

What would happen if you removed the IR filter and didn’t add a visible light filter?

Posted at 3:01 pm on Mar 16th, 2005 by Toby

Excellent hack! I’ve been wondering about something like this and input on a PDA type device? Anyone out there know how to input video to a PDA. Figure that the cost of even a low cost IR security webcam, IR LED light, and a preowned/old PDA ought to give a decent image, better than a 1st/2nd gen night vision.
Anyone seen anything like that?

Posted at 8:47 pm on Mar 16th, 2005 by LowKey

i used my lego cam, but i couldn’t find anything that looked like an ir filter. just stuck the negative thing in and it can see the ir light just fine. The only problem is is it’s not fixed. sometimes half of the veiw is in ir only light and the other in normal color. what is weird is i can see the ir in the color half also, and i seriously did not remeber it being able to see it before. I repeat: I DID NOT TAKE ANY IR FILTER OUT. which is kindof weird.

Posted at 9:13 pm on Mar 16th, 2005 by robojoos

Tried this hack with an old model Logitech Quickcam Express. The glass thing holding the filter crap in can’t be removed, it’s glued in there good.

However, I can always just put the hting in a teddy bear or something.. Now to make it wireless :)

Posted at 12:42 am on Mar 17th, 2005 by Will

I did this with both my logitech quickcam and an old digital camera (Ir cam to go! :D)

and what -WOULD- happen with no filter at all?

Posted at 2:16 am on Mar 17th, 2005 by Ant

I did it with a quickcam express. I just cut the plasic away from the outer lens to get at the holder, pulled out the filter and stuck in a small peice of negative so i can shake it loose to get colour again. Glued it back together with contact. Works like a charm! Just shake for IR and Shake again for colour! he he he.

Posted at 4:03 am on Mar 17th, 2005 by Scott

every webcam i’ve seen has a LED on the front to let you it’s on. has anyone tried replacing it with an IR LED to provide illumination?

Posted at 4:35 am on Mar 17th, 2005 by aaron

for illumination, i used a bar of IR leds from an old pair of wireless headphones. these get really hot though

Posted at 7:38 am on Mar 17th, 2005 by einstienbc

to #26..

If you don’t place a Visible light filter in then when you use it with normal lights on or in sunlight then the sensor will do one of two things. 1. Explode..just kidding.. #1 is actually not focus correctly. The #2 is be washed out or have other color incorrectnesses.

If anyone has any used or even damaged webcams they want to get rid of, send them my way ( I’ll pay for shipping or something like that).

Justin
justins.junk@gmail.com

Just remove the to get my email address.

Posted at 3:07 pm on Mar 17th, 2005 by Justin

I tried it with a $20 web cam from CompUSA (Labtec). Works great! There is plenty of free space in the thing. I think I can try to add a few IR leds and power them off of the USB.

Posted at 3:39 pm on Mar 18th, 2005 by Joel Johnson

I am a complete noob at anything to do with electronics, but even I got this one working. My problem is finding out how to get my stuff to stay on the lens.

I had fun looking at stuff I own with this :)

Posted at 10:25 pm on Mar 18th, 2005 by pingu

I read this hack a couple of days ago and thought – hey, a bunch of IR leds and I’ll have a nightcam. Cooked 12 of them together and voila! Now I have a nightcam in my office :)
It’s all on my page http://www.jarnaker.com/ir
Anyone wants to build a bigger IR light? I was thinking of putting together an array of 5*5 or so.

Posted at 9:30 am on Mar 21st, 2005 by Christoffer

:o neat!!! ;)

Posted at 12:18 am on Mar 24th, 2005 by Angeline

Hi,

don’t dare to try this one with one of these Aiptek PenCam 3-in-1 clones, the anti-ir glass is combined with an essential lens, in fact the hindmost lens is coated with some anti-ir covering, you can’t remove it from the lens. I now got a totally blurred picture, but at least it gets bright when i point my tv remote at it :).

Posted at 1:19 pm on Mar 24th, 2005 by jochen goerdts

Hey! This is a great (and cheap) little hack. Thought about it for all of 5 seconds and realised a great improvement that someone with a bit more free cash might want to try. Would it not be possible to hook 3 of these together, each with a different filter, transmitting different parts of the IR mid-band to get a false-colour thermal imaging camera? Only problem I can see with this is that the cheapest filters in that part of the spectrum are

Posted at 8:59 pm on Mar 25th, 2005 by Desert beagle

works great on my logitech web cam, i had to use few drops of isopropanol alcohol to remove the glue on the ir filter

Posted at 12:05 am on Mar 28th, 2005 by eric

This is such an awesome idea. I tested it on my 3Com Home Connect USB webcam with sucess. So I took this same principle and modified my FujiFilm Finepix 2300 2.1MP Digital Camera. I also slipped a piece of the burnt 35mm film in front of the flash and now have an awesome IR digital camera. I may get some better filters in the future but so far so good.

Also check this pic out,
http://irukadesu.com/Stove/Stove5.jpg
Very cool!

Posted at 9:27 am on Mar 28th, 2005 by Ka nai`a

Didnt have the bottle to dissect the lens on my Logitech Quickcam express, so I removed the whole holder and lens and stuck a pocket hand-lens out in front -it works well (without an ir filter) the black comms cover on an RCX is crystal clear. There is however a telephoto lens effect due to the longer focal length

Posted at 2:50 pm on Mar 29th, 2005 by Chas

Just did it, and added a few IR led’s to it, works great. Logitec quickcam. Used hammer and small screwdriver, drove the screwdriver between the lense and the barrel, pulled out and the lense poped out.

Posted at 5:09 pm on Mar 31st, 2005 by ct

i think i might do this with my lego cam from the vision command set, then sync it with my mindstorm to make a night vision security robot. does anyone have any idea how to create a program that would follow the “Robber”?

Posted at 5:04 pm on Apr 24th, 2005 by madc0w

This is actually amazing I made one today. Anyone seen anything cool apart from the tv remote, using this?

Posted at 11:47 am on Apr 30th, 2005 by matt

Do it with an eyetoy and use it on your Ps2 :)

Posted at 11:36 pm on Apr 30th, 2005 by Weirdguy0101

great hack! Just to let you guys know that it worked for my Logitech Quickcam Messenger (this cam is not supported at all under Linux, so it’s quite useless for me :p ). I’ve “blinded” the camera with two layers of non-exposed and processed color film. Althoug the focal point changed drastically it was easy to refocus (by moving the “screw”). Very nice, congrats!

Posted at 10:39 am on May 2nd, 2005 by Pedro

so what would be hard about making an IR spyglass or set of binoculars with this… granted you’d need a huge source of IR light, but no electrical connections for the actual eyeglass.

Posted at 3:43 pm on May 4th, 2005 by Jim

Gave it a shot on an EasyCam Pro (model: ho98064) and it works! The IR filter is square and pops out if you break the circular piece of plastic around it. I used superglue around the edges of two squares of exposed film to replace the IR filter and whallah! Of course, I lost the install CD for the cam so I didn’t know it worked until I found the drivers. They are a bitch to find, by the way. If anyone else needs them, follow this link: http://www.jascoproducts.com/computer_software_cams.html

It’s interesting to see which lights give off infrared and which don’t. The sun obviously does. My cell phone doesn’t. Regular light bulbs do.

A bit of trivia. Army NVGs can see low light as well as ir and they have a little ir lamp on them to help see in total darkness. Sometimes people would forget to turn the lamp off and you could spot them from quite a distance.

Posted at 5:00 pm on May 7th, 2005 by whirlyman

For those people out there who are like me and can’t seem to find any negatives around the house, a small piece of your least-favorite vhs tape will work too. The image is very dark, though I’m not sure if that’s because of the vhs tape or the camera.

Posted at 5:14 pm on May 27th, 2005 by Scarabdrowner

The heating elements in toasters are basicly just like light bulbs for infra red ( http://pfsoup.blogspot.com/2005/06/glod-in-infra-red.html ), so a possible light source, might be warm though.

Posted at 4:35 pm on Jun 8th, 2005 by Glod

Try looking on the back of the $5-$10-$20-$50-$100. Get an infrared Heat Lamp (lots of infrared)Kinda warm…..would be nice in winter :) Without infrared filter added(exposed negative)The sky and clouds look cool….colors are a mix of VISIBLE & INFRARED. Did someone mention Bikini’s (shame on you) :)

Posted at 12:05 am on Jun 18th, 2005 by James

If you have a Logitech Quickcam Express, as I have, there is no need to modify it, since it already shows IR light. Just point your TV remote or any kind of remote at the camera and you will see a white light that isn’t visible to our eyes. Magical!

Posted at 4:55 pm on Jul 8th, 2005 by Dave

i’ve tried all the remotes i have in my house for ir light it works cause i can see on the cam. is there anything that will be brighter?

Posted at 10:09 am on Jul 12th, 2005 by joe

Can anyone confirm whether this works with “Logitech ClickSmart 420″ or “Logitech USB ClickSmart 310 Dual Cam” ??

Posted at 4:43 pm on Jul 19th, 2005 by rufus

hi everyone. this is a great hack.
before i tried removing the ir filter, i tried to catch the remote control ir light. and i was successfull.
next i opened the camera (mustek gsmart mini 3), and checked out for the ir filter. but i didnt found that. the camera has a red lens without any green like filter. it looks like this camera hasnt the ir filter. any comment?

Posted at 6:03 pm on Jul 19th, 2005 by gamex_ultra

do somebody had done images with the visible light filter (exposed film)? I need a vision system that allow me to only see the objects illuminated by the IR light in a day light ambient.

Posted at 9:47 pm on Jul 31st, 2005 by ALberto Moral

This is being featured on Attack of the Show right now!

Posted at 7:13 pm on Aug 8th, 2005 by Kibiyama

Does anyone know how to do this hack w/ a creative webcam pro? The IR filter is circular and between two other lenses…
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Posted at 2:11 pm on Aug 9th, 2005 by yoshimitsu

useful application???
I have a gas station and am trying to video license plates. the biggest problem is glare in the camera. wide dynamic camera’s are expensive and still only partially effective. if i set up an IR camera with IR lights for night and a visible light filter would this eliminate the glare problem and give a clear picture of the license plate? any help in this area would be appreciated>

Posted at 8:32 pm on Aug 28th, 2005 by Shane

Sounds really cool, I tried it and I ruined one webcam I think a stupid Qcam which I found in the garbage and while trying to separate the lens and a rubber ring with a knife I cut my finger and I can see the bone…
So I’ll call it a day and I’ll retry it tomorrow

Posted at 10:07 pm on Aug 28th, 2005 by Ben

Does this work because of the circuitry of cameras? is there a way to magnify infrared enough to not need anything other than the filtered lens?

Posted at 4:57 pm on Sep 2nd, 2005 by TBG

i mean is there a way to do it without an image intensifier? i can afford one, but am just wondering if i need to spend the money/time

Posted at 12:15 am on Sep 3rd, 2005 by tbg

hello every one. i did this hack with a video camera and it whent really wel except its really blury and i was wondering why i mean when i zoom in its ok but i really dont want to zom in becouse then i only see really zoomed in things so please help if you know whats wrong becouse i have no clue so please help thank you :)

Posted at 3:31 pm on Sep 17th, 2005 by cmann125

ok ok ok…how about instead of bothering with all this crap…you take a camcorder…and put it in night shot…ooo wow look you can see infrared….how amazing

Posted at 12:14 am on Oct 16th, 2005 by John

Dave: Most digital cameras let a bit of IR through, but not very much. The idea with removing IR-blocking lens is to increase the amount of light, so you get a much better picture.

gamex_ultra: That red lens is probably the IR filter. They’re not always blue/green. But they’re probably always something other than clear.

john: You’re missing the point completely. Perhaps you forgot what site you were browsing?

I took the IR-blocking filter out of my Fiji 6900z. I had to get a custom peice of glass cut to replace the filter. Most people probably will if you want correct focusing. I found the best place to get it cut was at a watch repairer.

I have some photos in the Infra-red section of my photo gallery: http://photography.soupisgoodfood.net

Posted at 4:18 am on Oct 21st, 2005 by Justin Bell

Ok well….Great point actually

Posted at 1:33 pm on Nov 6th, 2005 by John

it’s worked with quickcam express! though i didn’t put film in it, i just removed ir filter

Posted at 1:26 am on Nov 8th, 2005 by agaz

Errr.
Excellent and all that.
But im an idiot and somehow managed to do this by ACCIDENT.
my webcams really cheap and doesnt even have the brand written on it.
anyway, one day i was using it and noticed that half was kinda, doubled up and light in the corner. thought something was stuck behind the lense and took it off.
the IR filter mustve fallen off because when i shoved it back on my camera is now IR all the time!
Took me a week to figure out what happened heheh. anyone know how to get some sort of filter back on so i dont look like a scary albino all the time?
thepirateferret(at)yahoo(dot)com
if anyone knows.
cheeers.

Posted at 9:59 pm on Nov 19th, 2005 by Liz

I removed the ir-filter of my Logitech Quickcam Express this way

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8378/logitechquickcamexpress7fn.jpg

Everything can be repaired later.

Posted at 3:39 pm on Jan 9th, 2006 by mahada

Bought a cheap ClickSmart 310 dual cam just to see what it was. It worked ok with QC Express drivers – so go figure.

But image quality was worse than expected – soft focus and flare. Disassembled and discovered that one side of the IR filter had a fine-textured pebbled surface (excess glue?) After replacing with black film squares, the images are … strange … but much sharper.

The 310 is fixed-focus, however, it looks like the designers provided an option to assemble it as adjustable-focus. If you can break through the locking glue without damaging the lens barrel, and if you then snip off a tang and add a drop of glue to another location, it still looks stock, but is adjustable.

Posted at 4:21 am on Feb 24th, 2006 by levinel

The web site has moved (or is moving) the more up to date version is at http://www.hoagieshouse.com/IR

Posted at 3:04 am on May 30th, 2006 by Geoff Johnson

You can also use the metal-coated plastic that is used inside a floppy disk.

Posted at 1:17 am on Jun 21st, 2006 by jason

All cam are sensitive IR, with an apropiate Filter? I’m thiking to use Eye toy Cam to transform to Ir Cam Toy.. with 026 Bright Red .
http://www.leefilters.com/LPFD.asp?PageID=321

Posted at 6:58 pm on Mar 28th, 2007 by charlie

I used a microcamera(http://imagenes.solostocks.com/media/4/8/2/media_1361284.jpg) & with a hole punch i cuted film to create the filter. Isn’t necesary to glue the filter because it fits perfect apliyng a little pressure (like it were a rubber plug). only takes 4 min.

Posted at 3:42 pm on Apr 6th, 2007 by Albert

Could something like this be used to capture light from IR LED’s ?

I need some sort of camera for that to capture movement.

Posted at 9:49 am on Mar 17th, 2008 by ginger