Distorted camera image

Distorted image seen in GF app:

Can’t see right hand side of tray, in fact last inch is missing. That 12" ruler seen in picture sits inside tray. Image also seems distorted off to right, despite being in focus in center.

  • lens is very clean
  • the PG is rectangular
  • tray has been quadruple checked for position - it’s feet are well formed and the dimples are clear, it sits firmly and happily and appears to be flat as a pancake.
  • the camera arrived loose on the right hand side as per my other solved thread, but has been gently reattached.
  • the lid doesn’t seem to be straight. It has no gap at the front right and 3-4mm on the left.

Lid should be the same on both sides. Almost but not quite flush. Might want to shim the bottom feet. It’s likely that the unit is not on a flat surface.

Other than that it does appear that the camera is pointed askew. Most folks can’t see the left side.

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Unfortunately, we were warned early on in the PRU days to not attempt to adjust a loose lid camera - it screws up the alignment badly. They are supposed to be glued into place to keep that from happening.

Your best bet at this point is to wait to hear from Glowforge what they want to do about it. Maybe they can talk you through adjusting it correctly, or they might choose to replace it.

I’m sorry. :neutral_face:

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I’m not clear if I’m on the same page Jules. To be clear we didn’t adjust lens/focus. What was hanging off the lid was the last 1.5" inches of the entire 5" plastic camera housing. It’s position and focus were not moved.

Gotcha! Unfortunately, I think they’re going to have to fix that - just sticking it back up against the glass might not be enough to repair the damage.

(It also might, I don’t know, I just think you need to hear from them, not us. We can’t check the metrics for it…they can.) Sorry. Not much we can do to assist on this one. :neutral_face:

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Thanks rpegg, have checked out levels and they seem to be fine:

It’s not so much “level” than it is that the case is rather flexible and can twist.

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Agreed, level is nice but really doesn’t matter unless it’s way off. Flat is the important part. Few desks or tables are actually dead flat despite what they look like.

@glowforge9, I just test shimmed mine individually with a wood business card on each of the corners. It was amazing how much play that introduced in the lid when on the wrong corner. If you have strong fingers you can gently lift the weight of each corner just a little to see what I mean.

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Ahh, understood @rpegg, thank you . So we carefully popped GF on the hardwood floor for optimal flatness and lid fit came good - gap now same all way round. Interesting and noted for future. However, no useful change in camera distortion or coverage :confused:

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The camera is definitely pointed incorrectly. The zero spot on the ruler seems to be placed over the left edge of the crumb tray. You can’t cut there. The head won’t go that far over. It’s probably showing an inch or so too far to the left.

Looks like a Support fix only unless your camera has come loose again.

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Many thanks for help all, I’ll be chasing this up via email with support.

I’m so sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, we can’t resolve this issue remotely. I want you to have a reliable unit, so I’m recommending we replace this one. I’ll send an email shortly to arrange a replacement.