Logitech Quickcam Fusion IR conversion

To better spy on my sleeping son, I've converted a Logitech Quickcam Fusion to see in the infrared spectrum. The general procedure is well documented throughout the web but I hadn't found anyone who's done it with this particular camera, so here's my story.

First of all, I don't recommend that anyone buy this webcam. It's nice and all that, but Logitech's software is shitty as usual and I'm pretty much fed up with them. In this case, the drivers made my desktop computer unbootable, and even after uninstalling it, now my scanner doesn't work. I'm not sure that is Logitech's fault, but let's just assume so.

Anyway, I installed the cam on a laptop I didn't care too much about and was willing to leave under my son's crib indefinitely, without any problems. Then I downloaded Windows Media Encoder to stream to other computers I can monitor things with, and that all works fine. But on to the mod.

Procedure

  1. Unscrew 2 screws to remove [cover]. This reveals the [PCB].
  2. Unscrew 1 screw holding down the PCB.
  3. The hole at the other end of the PCB, right where the arrow points, was held down around and by the plasic shaft that one of the screws in step 1 came out of. It took significant careful violent prying to get the PCB off of this shaft, which sustained some damage, but not enough to require repair.
  4. The [lens] was at this point screwed into the big black mounting cylinder at the bottom (as pictured) of the PCB, right above the arrow. It was held still by a drop of hot melt glue, easily pried off.
  5. Mark the alignment of the lens in the mount by scratching both at the same point.
  6. Unscrew the lens from the mount, counting the number of turns carefully. The lens is focused by screwing it in/out, hence the marking and counting. My count was around 7 1/2.
  7. The IR filter was a red-tinted bit of glass at the bottom (the top, as pictured) of the lens. Its held in by some sort of stickiness around the edges. I patiently pried this out with the [not part of cam] knife pictured. It sustained some chipping there, and split in half, but come out it did.
  8. I must lead a moral life. The IR filter is (more or less) exactly the size of a hole-punched hole. And there's a hole punch right here in the drawer! So punch a hole in the black part (at the ends) of a strip of color film. Keep the hole, let the rest of the film stray off.
  9. Keeping your greasy fingers off of it, put the punched-out film where the IR filter - now its your visible light filter. (I might get rid of it - if visible light gets in, all the better. But this made it more fun to monkey with for non-baby-watching purposes.) There's enough sticky stuff there to hold it still.
  10. Screw the lens back in, noting where the threads catch so you can count your rotations; then match the marks you made back up.
  11. Put her back together and go!

Lighting

In my innocence I thought body heat might be enough to be visible. It isn't, so I'll need to get some sort of IR light source more practical that a TV remote.

There's a blue LED on the PCB which causes a halo to glow around the Logitech logo on the cam. I'd like to desolder that mama and replace it with a IR LED, and drill out the logo. Then my cam will provide its own lighting.