Camera Assembly (lotta pics)

[skylabimaging]

So I recently joined the ranks of those who've crashed their Inspires ....Totally my fault, no visible damage to the aircraft but the camera and gimbal were wrecked...After spending a day basking in my personal sorrow I decided to turn this into a positive, not just for me but for any of you who could benefit.

I took apart my Inspire camera ...Yep, stripped that ***** down to the lens housing. Sorry about some of the pictures being blurry, time to retire my Nikon. And if there's anything more specific you'd like to see post up with any questions, I can rip it all apart again and show more specifics

(Disclaimer: This isn't as complicated as some people have told me it was but it's also not for the non-technically inclined. I can not stress enough to not lose any parts or rip any of the ribbon cables, these parts are NOT sold individually and you'll end up needing a replacement unit or sending in for repair. I hold no responsibility for what you do to your camera. Don't blame me, just passing along pics n stuff)

And so they said.....Press forward

You'll need a few things to get started. Some kind of picking tool (I've had this little right-angle "dental" pick) a small jewlers style phillips head screwdriver and finally a 1.5mm hex driver.



The first thing you need to do is get this plastic guard thing off, I just used a small blade and unclipped the 2 parts, they will just fall off, the bottom one might stick you can pull it off and set them to the side



The next step is to remove the four (4) hex screws on the bottom shell piece. Set them to the side.



So with the screws out, you can remove the top shell, there is a heat sink with shield and heat tape, this piece can be removed with 4 phillips screws (time for the jewlers phillips head) You'll end up with the outer shell which can be used to hydro dip your camera to match your Inspire (or maybe matrice100)

 

[skylabimaging]

So now for the bottom piece. There's a ribbon cable here, the little metal tab looking thing, use your pick tool (or whatever you have) and just gently pry it up and it will be off.



There's 2 more of 1.5mm hex screws inside holding the bottom piece on the frame. Take those off and the bottom assembly will come loose, the front matte box thing pops out of the bottom piece as well so take that off.



Now you need to be very careful here. There's another ribbon cable, this one is tighten down by this little black latch, I've circled and drew an arrow to the latch in the 3rd picture. Just pop the latch up and gently wiggle the cable out and the bottom piece comes off. Now if you're going to get these pieces hydro dipped, you'll need to remove this ribbon cable which is just held on with some type of double sided tape or mayb glue.

 

[skylabimaging]

The Fan: the fan will probably dangle around from it's wires just keep mind of them, they are small guage and could break easily (go figure dji) Anyway, remove the 2 screws, than move the cross bar. Be sure to make a note (or take a pic) of which way the fan faces (don't rely here, I didn't do this, so I'll have to find out on my new camera) Anyway once you have that all stripped down, you'll get the white back plate for moar hydro dipping.




The next part is easy, you should be seeing 4 circuit boards covering the camera frame just remove the small phillps screws with the jewler tool. There's also this metallic tape (not sure what it is) but just gently remove it and try not to touch it so you can reuse it.

 

[skylabimaging]

Before you remove the circuit boards, there is another ribbon cable that needs to be removed, again gently pry it off with your weapon of choice, the circuit boards will be able to remove from here and will have taken apart the camera. You can see where the lens screws into the sensor area here.



This is an overview of all the pieces for this little project.

 

[skylabimaging]

To put everything back together is pretty simple just remember all the ribbon cables and just work backwards but here's some tips I found along the way.

The first is this orangeish plastic sheet over one of the screw holes on the circuit boards, just be careful not to tighten too much, don't know what it does but dont wrench that screw down too rough.



Ribbon cables!!



The plastic match box thing goes on at the same time as the bottom piece and locks in place.



Hoepfully if all went well, you got it all apart and back together again

 

[IrishSights]

Have you taken the lens out yet? I'd be interested to know how easy/hard it is. To convert the camera to take images for NDVI i would expect there to be an IR cut filter on the back of the lens which could be replaced with a red IR filter. I've done this on GoPros and Canons.

 

[skylabimaging]

Have you taken the lens out yet? I'd be interested to know how easy/hard it is. To convert the camera to take images for NDVI i would expect there to be an IR cut filter on the back of the lens which could be replaced with a red IR filter. I've done this on GoPros and Canons.

I have...once you get the assembly down to the metal frame and lens you can just use some channel locks or regular pliers and unscrew it. Doesn't need to go in the oven or anything just a bit of glue keeps it on. Be sure to mark the lens so when you tighten it, you keep the focus point.

I can't comment on spacing between the sensor and lens though, probably isn't very much so just be mindful of that when installing an ir filter....good way to save some dough over the 1200 version or ragecam work.

 

[skylabimaging]

Here's a couple photos of the lens removed from the housing

 

[IrishSights]

Thanks for that. It looks like the cut filter is recessed into the barrel. How is it held in? Is there a screwed ring or is it stuck in? Looks like it might be harder than most to remove and replace.