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Mobius IR conversion

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by cfastie | April 22, 2014 18:02 | 621 views | 3 comments 22 Apr 18:02
Above: The Mobius ActionCam opens with two screws. One more set screw and you can expose the IR
filter.
To convert a Mobius ActionCam so it captures near infrared photos requires opening the camera and
removing the IR block filter. Of the half dozen cameras I have converted, the Mobius is by far the easiest
to open, but removing the IR filter is really hard. What I had read and heard about the Mobius didn't
prepare me for the job. There are good instructions for opening and refocusing the camera, but I did not
find good instructions for removing the IR filter.
Public Lab: Mobius IR conversion file:///C:/Users/caSC/Documents/Public Lab Mobius IR conversion.htm
4 de 8 25-05-2014 03:00
There is no reason to unclamp the ribbon cable or pull the battery plug (top right).
Steps:
Loosen two screws to open clam shell case. 1.
Scratch line across the sensor unit and the lens to mark focus point. 2.
Loosen set screw. 3.
Pry up sensor/lens unit. 4.
Unscrew lens ~12.4 turns to remove it. 5.
Place camera in safe place. 6.
Find the IR block filter on the rear end of the lens and bust it to smithereens. 7.
Clean rear lens element of glass fragments. 8.
Screw lens back on sensor unit and align focus scratches. 9.
Replace sensor/lens unit in case. 10.
Tighten set screw (or not). 11.
Close case and tighten two screws. 12.
Two small Phillips head screws open the case, exposing the sensor/lens unit and the tiny set screw that
must be loosened. The threaded lens will be removed by unscrewing it from the sensor unit. Loosen the
set screw before you lift the sensor/lens unit from the case to reduce stress on the ribbon cable. Some
Mobiius cameras apparently ship with an Allen wrench for this set screw, but mine didn't. When the set
screw is loose (just a little so it can't fall out), the sensor/lens unit can be pried up (see illustration here).
Public Lab: Mobius IR conversion file:///C:/Users/caSC/Documents/Public Lab Mobius IR conversion.htm
5 de 8 25-05-2014 03:00
Scratch a line across the sensor unit and lens to mark the focus point.
Without yanking on the ribbon cable, unscrew the lens and count the number of complete turns (mine was
12.4). Now the lens can be worked on and the rest of the camera can be put in a safe place. The reddish
IR block filter is glued to the rear end of the lens unit. The only way I could remove it was to break it into
many shards of glass and lots of glass dust. The dust mostly fell onto the rear lens element and would not
blow off. My camel's hair brush just smeared something on the lens, so I had to clean it with lens cleaner.
It was the messiest IR block filter removal I have done.
The rear of the lens after the IR block filter was removed. Note the sharp edges of broken glass which
made cleaning the lens an annoying task.
After I screwed the lens back into the sensor unit, I did not tighten the set screw all the way. This allows
the lens to be focused without opening the camera. The factory focus point is great for anything about
seven feet or farther from the camera. To photograph plants up close, the lens can be rotated
counterclockwise just a little. If the set screw is not too tight, this can be done using the notches on the
Public Lab: Mobius IR conversion file:///C:/Users/caSC/Documents/Public Lab Mobius IR conversion.htm
6 de 8 25-05-2014 03:00
front lens housing that just show when the camera is assembled. You will want to scratch the front of the
lens so you can see where the factory focus point is.
The scratch at six o'clock on the front of the lens is at the factory focus point. By rotating the lens a few
degrees counterclockwise, the lens will focus at about three feet (yellow arrow) or at about seven inches
(green arrow). The lens can be rotated with a sharp object inserted into one of the notches around the
lens housing.
I now have a full spectrum Mobius camera which takes really weird photos. Using the Mobius Filter-
O-Matic, I can try different filters to learn how to make the best plant health images.
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conversion response:10327 mobius
3 Comments
mathew commented 25 days ago
mathew said 25 days ago
Nice writeup, thanks Chris. I like the tip on focusing, hadn't tried that.
mathew commented 24 days ago
mathew said 24 days ago
Ok-- I have the ROSCO Fire filter and several others in my swatch booklet. Going to run tests tomorrow,
and try digging into the white balance presets.
warren commented 11 days ago
Public Lab: Mobius IR conversion file:///C:/Users/caSC/Documents/Public Lab Mobius IR conversion.htm
7 de 8 25-05-2014 03:00
Creative Commons License
warren said 11 days ago
Here is Mathew's PDF on conversion, as well, for reference: mobius_instructions.pdf
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