GiraffeCam 3.0 Rigid Flexible Endoscope Borescope Inspection Camera - Android PC Mac, 2.0 MP HD (6.5 Feet)

Very cool gadget. The yellow cable is a very stiff pose-able flex cable allowing you to set a curve or angle on the camera and then snake that into a tight spot to view what you want. I was originally looking for an endoscope as a self contained tool, but they all cost much much more than this AND most of them had a lower resolution screen. This uses your phone/tablet display which is a higher resolution screen. It also has a combo USB/micro USB connector, which is not an extra loose adapter to loose like other devices. The one thing I would really like to see made available is a mirror set that attaches to the camera to enable looking to the side at sharp angles. Most endoscopes have this option and when you need to put the scope through a hole and look inside a wall, having a 90 degree or 75 degree mirror on the end would really help.

UPDATE #2: GiraffeCam sent me out a new working unit shortly after I contacted them. Good customer service :) UPDATE: The USB cable coming out of the small black brightness controller box on the end of the yellow cable has failed. It is intermittent. Too much strain I think. A better design would be to have a female USB socket in that black controller so that a USB cable can simply be swapped out if it fails or you need to connect to a different phone or computer. I'll be requesting a replacement. Perhaps in the meantime a partial solution would be to securely tie-wrap the USB end to the yellow cable in order to provide a strain relief to the USB cable. I'd also highly recommend using a USB extension cable so that when you're maneuvering the camera around you're not yanking on the USB cable at the other end. This really is a handy tool and comes out a very reasonable price. I used it with my Samsung S6. It would be good if it was brighter, although it is pretty bright already and more light coming from the viewing angle can sometimes create too much glare. It depends on the surface you're looking at. But I used this to inspect inside the wings of my airplane and found some important things that I would have missed if I didn't have this. One annoyance I found is that maneuvering the semi-rigid endoscope caused a lot of pulling and jerking around of my phone on the other hand. This could be alleviated by making the black flexible usb connection cable longer. And perhaps it would relieve some stress where the black usb cable connects with the yellow endoscope. In the meantime I'll look for a USB extension cable to put in there to accomplish this.

I'm giving this 5 stars because it performs as advertised. A lot of people have wondered about the flexibility/stiffness. The closest thing I can compare it to is romex cable. It seems very similar and for all I know, it might be.I holds its shape to whatever you bend it to. I haven't used it in a real world situation yet, but I tested it as soon as it arrived. Windows 10 setup was seamless plug and play. Plug it in, select camera and it's working. I haven't tried it with an Android yet. I got the 2 inch focus and it gives a pretty good image in that range. The more light the better, but the LEDs seem to work fairly well in my test which consisted of exploring the inside of a closed cabinet. On a price vs. value comparison it's fantastic. I looked at borescopes which range anywhere from $80 to $3000. Of course one of the things you're paying for with those is the screen/monitor. Why not use your phone/laptop which a much bigger and better screen and video capture capability and save big bucks.

Lens cracked during initial use. Was placed behind drywall to look for mold, and it did not hit anything with any force that would have cracked the lens. Shocked at quality of lens, as you would think (based on the number of things it can be used for) that it would have been made a little thicker or with shatterproof film on it. Otherwise, it was very sturdy and easy to maneuver Picture quality(the few we were able to get) turned out very clear. Would give a 4-5 star, if it wasn't for lens issue.

For the price it is worth it. It is very rigid and will hold its place. Only problem is when you move camara its very rigid and difficult to keep your device steady to look at in my case I use it with Samsung S7. Only one thing they need to change in the design is making a LONGER flexible cable that plugs into device so when you move the camara your screen is more steady. Camara quality is OK focus I rate at 7/10. Keep in mind price. I use this in the automotive field.

The O.D of the camera described before I made my purchase was incorrect. The fact they do not have an app specific to their own product is sub-par, especially in 2016. They've pushed via email to review their product two times in one week. The overall quality of materials is terrific, the mini usb is great, the quality of the bend to form as well. Make an optic half the size, so I can see through injector nozzles in heavy duty diesel engines. Please.

This camera worked exactly how I expected it to. I plugged it into my Windows 10 tablet and it just worked with Windows' Camera app. I was able to use it to solve the mystery of the bad network cable in the wall. :) I bought it instead of some of its lesser priced competitors because of its rigidity, and I'm glad I did. However, that rigidity did make it a little tough to work with with the tablet. Luckily I had a flimsy 6 foot USB extension cable handy. Using that with the GiraffeCam made it infinitely easier to use. I also offered to use it to help one of my kids diagnose a sore throat. My generous offer was politely declined, but I'm sure it would have worked great there too. :) My litmus test for any gadget is, "if this disappeared today, would I buy another one to replace it?" The answer to that for the GirafeeCam is a resounding, "yes!" tk