Transparent or clear nose cone availability?

[jqavins]

I know that some companies are 3D printing lenses for glasses. I don't know what they do to get rid of bubbles etc. It'd be worth looking into, to see if something similar can be done at home.

This is purely hunch, but I have to doubt that it's within the range of home printers. The layer lines on the extruder type machines are way too large for optics, I'm really quite sure. The lines on consumer level resin printers, as far as I've seen (only a couple of samples) are a whole lot better, but for optics still not nearly good enough; there'd be so much post post processing needed that it doesn't seem worth doing rather than just CNC machining the lens from scratch, at least as viewed from this armchair. Is there better printing technology yet, technology that could do the job? Well, you're learned that some companies are doing it, so yes. In range for the consumer? As I said, I really doubt it.

 

[Maxwelljets]

Here's a page from FormLabs going into detail on how they 3d printed an entire camera, including the lens. Formlabs is on the upper end for sure, but I'd still consider them to be part of the home printer category. They go over 3 methods they used to polish the lenses, and it seems that their best results came from simply dipping the finished lens back into fresh clear resin and then curing the new layer of resin on the entire surface of the lens.

Here's the page where they show some of the results. They're remarkably good for homemade optics, but still not great.

 

[Ralph M Bohm]

Do you already have the camera and have you been able to get it to work well? I was curious because the reviews (recent ones, that is) on Amazon are pretty horrendous and imply the product is discontinued with zero manufacturer support. If you've gotten it to work though, it might still be a great option at $60.

It's arriving later this week.

 

[Peaceful_Warrior]

I don’t know if this helps answer any questions here, but I’ve been working on a couple of projects involving clear plastic (acrylic) for the purpose of incorporating cameras into model rockets. For one 2” diameter scratch built rocket I used a clear plastic disposable champagne flute, among other repurposed household items, to construct a nose cone (see first photo attached below). The nose cone has an aft-end access hatch (made out of the screw-top and metal/plastic lid from an old bottle of Ensure — it still smells like vanilla) that allows for the placement of a small altimeter and camera inside the cone. The view through the clear acrylic champagne flute is acceptable, but due to minor waviness in the plastic, it’s not perfect. I also have a short section of 2” diameter clear acrylic body tube I intend to use to install a 360° camera positioned to view the horizon (see second photo below). The clear 2” diameter acrylic body tube is perfectly clear (note that in the photo is is still in its protective wrap). It will be essentially invisible to any camera mounted inside it.

 

[teepot]

I use clear round fillable ornaments. They come as two halves. One half is the nose cone. Or I use the whole ball as a nose cone. They come in a large variety of sizes. I have 29mm, 2", 3" and 4". They fit the BT's like they were made for them. Search Amazon for fillable ornaments. I have also used clear fillable ornaments shaped like a Christmas bulb.

 

[jqavins]

View attachment 626009

Is the pill bottle part of the final assembly?

 

[teepot]

Here is a couple of examples of how I use the clear plastic ball halves.

 

[BABAR]

original poster @Ralph M Bohm has not replied to this thread for about three years so maybe late, but if it’s a 360° camera but it doesn’t shoot through the Apex for the nosecone seems to me the answer would be to have a acrylic, clear tube section and then just put a standard nose cone on that. It sounds like it’s 360° “in the round” rather than a full hemispherical field of view, since he wasn’t too concerned about the nose Apex.

Another option would be the front end of a plastic soda bottle. Cut off the screw on adapter and put a regular nose cone in it (may not be perfectly confluent but would work..

probly need to replace it every few flights, but it’s cheap and easy.