Portable Imaging Board - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: MarcusG
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 01, 2025, 02:35:49 pm
content: Hi all,I've managed to pickup a second hand TE-EV1 (note not the V1 phone dongle) from Thermal Expert that I'm looking at turning into a portable thermal recording unit for some "thermal photography" as well as for some inspection/spotlighting work. I have an old Canon 60D shell that I've stripped down and was hoping to repurpose this in order to maintain a similar form factor to what I'm used to. I've tested the unit on my PC and it seems to be working alright, although there is a large maybe dust spot on the sensor. I don't have much experience with this sort of thing so I've got a few queries I was hoping someone might be able to provide some guidance on:1. Recording System/Board - I had been looking at something along the lines of a Rasberry Pi that might be able to be able to run the camera at a decent frame rate. It's a 30Hz version for reference. I don't really have a preference on OS provided software is able to run on it. As mentioned I'd be hoping for something I could fit inside the 60D shell before, but making a custom enclosure is not too much trouble for something that might be a bit more capable as a system.2. Software - I've used the Thermal Expert software to test the camera but it's a little limited in terms of customisation and functionality for what I'm looking at. Ideally I want to put a touch screen on the back of the camera to control the main functions of the camera, with a second little EVF mounted where the viewfinder of the camera was, then mounting a little button under the original shutter button that could be used to capture images. Can anyone give me some pointers on where I might be able to start in terms of software for this? I've setup Thermovision from JoeC on my computer but not quite been able to configure it correctly as yet. The EV1 is not visible in the dropdown for options to selection from in the program (only the V1) so I think that might be the problem?Apologies in advance if I've missed any key info, electronics/programming is not my normal domain!Regards,MarcusEdit: Added a couple of up-scaled images for your viewing pleasure!

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2025, 07:53:04 pm
content: You could do the same as Fotric and mount a mobile phone on the rear of the camera. Used mobile phones are cheap, especially if they have a fault, such as a faulty SIM slot or failed network connectivity etc. The Wi-Fi is used to download APPs.I reviewed a Fotric 200 series camera on this forum if you want to see more about the design.Fraser

author: MarcusG
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 04, 2025, 07:11:15 am
content: Quote from: Fraser on March 01, 2025, 07:53:04 pmThanks for the reply, that is pretty close to what I'm looking for! I'm not sure how to go about setting up peripherals for that (eg. secondary viewfinder for panning, shutter button), but I'll do some more digging!

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 05, 2025, 07:42:34 am
content: For viewfinders you got a couple of options. Cheap and tinker would probably be to buy the component and hack wire it into the phone somehow. They might require you to get some kind of USB c to display out splitter going.A more simple solution would be a loupe - just a magnifying glass with an eyepiece meant for smaller 4-5" screens. These will be purpose made for some camera model but will generally work with a phone sized scree.A professional viewfinder will take HDMI or sdi input and cost a ton.For the button you can usually use the phones volume rocker, as long as the app supports it - but the default phone apps all do. Some outdoor branded phones come with additional programmable buttons and usually support the take a picture command. In the worst case you can do a capacitive pad with a level like the good hold google cardboard had.