I have always looked after a good camera setup for my 3D printer, and one of the challenges was finding a good camera angle. With a traditional setup, it was hard for me to see the first layers when printing, and checking small prints. Most of the time the hotend was blocking the camera view. Then, I saw someone put a camera ON the hotend. Genius! This way, you can always see the layers when printing!

I used an Endoscope, because of the small size and relatively close focus distance. The focus distance is not that big of a problem for me, because I wanted to position the camera a little further back to see the whole layer being printed.

I wanted it to be simple to attach and remove, therefore I designed it to pressure fit onto the fan. You can secure it with a M4 bolt and nut, but in my case the pressure fit was secure enough.

Watch the YouTube video:

Parts:

- Endoscope (AliExpress) (Soft cable)