Surface mount soldering magnification with a used $50 document camera?

[Jeff_Birt]

I was not sure if this forum was exactly the right place for this topic but the document camera I am showing in this video is really a benefit to any of us trying to work on old computers with equally old eyes. I was in fact surprised by how well it works.

In this this video we take a look at repurposing a second-hand document camera for soldering surface mount circuit boards. While these cameras are intended for projecting documents in classrooms and board rooms, we’ll see how this $50, 10+ year old model works for surface mount PCB soldering.




We’ll solder up some surface mount boards which use mid-sized parts and then inspect out work. Then we will also take a look at a through hole board with very tight spacing to see if we can spot the problem it has. Finally, we finish off looking at a modern surface mount board that uses very tiny parts to see what they look like under the document camera.




Can we use an old document camera for SMD work? Join in as we find out.




https://youtu.be/X-CDbCHIR7U

[salaxi54]

Nice one, and thanks for the video! I got me a cheaper solution, with a USB microscope that costs around the 15 USD vicinity, and i get great results off it.
You might want to consider it since it appears to have a bigger degree of magnitude compared to the document camera.

[Jeff_Birt]

I tried one of those little ones while some are better than others they not the tool for me. The digital zoom on the document camera still had more range but there is no point in zooming in more when I could see the 0201 parts. It also has a much larger working area and does not require the camera to be on top of the PCB, right in the way.