DEPSTECH WF028-5M

This is my fourth endoscope. They get worked rather hard and generally lose focus after about 6-months. I specialise in high-end cable installation and need tools such as this to navigate the magical hidden routes through beautiful buildings to lay unseen cables required for network related products, be them CCTV cameras, Wireless Access Points, some type of Home Automation device or other.Sadly my last endoscope got stuck under a floorboard and was beheaded and is sadly no more. It is like the Parrot (Monty Python fans will understand the reference - to everyone else, it's simply dead.)This latest camera on a long lead, that I am reviewing here now, is the best one I have purchased to date.There are many positives points to bring to one's attention1. It is far more rigid than previous models. Despite claims seen before, this is the real deal and can be positioned further without the need of rods or some form of conduit.2. It appears to have a more practical focal length and keeps the image in focus.3. The resolution is greater. This does not always mean that the clarity of the image will be better but in this case I can say that it does provide a better detailed image in varying light conditions. Better than it's predecessors.4. The battery life is also impressive and one can get a decent amount of fact finding done before it's goodnight from him and goodnight from me. (For any British Classic Comedy Fans, that was a Two Ronnie's reference)# Would I recommend this ? Yes# Would I buy this again? Probably but I'm always looking for better products particularly when it comes to cable installation work. This is certainly a very respectable tool worthy of a place in my ever-expanding toolkit. I do have my eye on the new Wi-Fi Ferret being sold by Super Rod. I must confess to being a huge Super Rod fan and have many of their products. This product however is a fraction of the price of the Super Rod Wi-Fi Ferret, but hope to get the opportunity to test the Ferret soon. (Amazon or Super Rod - if you are listening..... 😀)

I got a lightening deal on this so paid just over £30 - about £15 cheaper than original price. I'm not sure I'd have been quite so pleased with this if I'd paid top whack.But in terms of picture quality it's a lot better than I expected. See my attached pic - this is a screen grab from the video I took probing the camera into the void between 1st floor ceiling and loft floor, trying to look at water pipes and shower tray waste pipes.The setup is really easy - I have a Huawei P20 Lite running Android 9. All I did was take the camera assembly out of the box, read the little instruction booklet, download an app on Google Play store, install it, switch on the unit, go to Settings/Wifi on the phone and find the wifi network created by the camera assembly itself, connect to that network, then fire up the app, tap the 'start' button in the app, and everything started working.There aren't really that many features in the app - I was a little disappointed it wasn't possible to zoom/change the focal length of the camera.... the listing on Amazon says "Camtele expands the usual focal distance from 3 inch to 16 inch, larger observation scope generated" - I think what that probably translates to is that they've opened up the field of view so you can navigate the camera more easily. But it doesn't mean there's any option to adjust the focal length - there's a distinct area of "good focus" which is basically about 3 inches or so: anything that distance from the camera is pretty sharp and focused, but anything closer or further away is more blurred. It's good enough for looking in ceiling voids, but probably not as useful in really really confined spaces where things are never more than really close, or in large voids where things are all further away from the camera.The black box of the camera assembly has an on/off switch (self-explanatory) and also a little thumbwheel which controls the level of illumination of the 6 leds on the end of the camera - adjusting this brightness really helps improve the picture quality depending on how dark or light the location you're inspecting is.The app allows you to record videos, or take photos. On my phone they end up being stored in the built-in storage in the DCIM camera folder, under a subfolder called DEPSTECH. Each movie or photo file end up in a subfolder below that - each time you do a recording it seems to create a new subfolder for that 'session'.It's possible to view all your recordings and photos from within the app, too.NB the movie files are of type ".AVI" - not all video viewers on Android support this filetype, but an app like MX Player will cope with it fine.The yellow wire to which the camera is attached is quite rigid, but this is sensible as you can deform it into a rough shape that then retains its shape as you poke the whole thing into the space you're inspecting.I guess a more useful thing would be to have some way of moving/steering the camera end using threads or finger loops (like surgeons do in operating theatres) but you'd end up paying way more for the whole thing if it had this.It takes a bit of getting used to in terms of which way is "up" when you poke the camera into the void... and steering it/guiding it takes practice because the instinctive thing to do when viewing the picture on the phone is to move the phone! I found it useful to put the phone in a little tripod and attach that somewhere nearby so I could use both hands to manipulate the camera assembly.All in all, I can see this is going to be a very useful bit of kit.But I don't think I'd have been inclined to buy it if it was full price.

I used this to find the source of a leak in the ceiling. I could see where the water had stained the ceiling, but didn't know where the water was coming from. But taking out a light fitting in the ceiling and putting the endoscope through the light fitting hole, I could see where the water was running along one of the supporting beams, in the ceiling. The actual source of the leak was a long way from where the water eventually dripped through the ceiling plaster, which I would not have known without this handy tool.the endoscope is flexible, but rigid enough to be pushed along the inside of a ceiling void, without bending. It's about a rigid as a straightened-out wire coat hanger. So it can easily be bent around corners, but doesn't flop about like a wet rope.The picture quality is very good. I have an iPhone 6. With a bigger screen it would probably look even better.Being able to record pictures and video from the endoscope is very useful. Sometimes it's easier to see things when replaying the video, rather than watching it live.Holding the endoscope in one hand and the phone in the other hand, at the same time. is difficult. For best results, have you phone on a stand or have someone else hold the phone for you, while you control the endoscope.The other use I had for it was finding a washer that had fallen down behind the kitchen unit. The light is very bright, and even though I didn't need to see using the endoscope, just having a very bright light on something that is very long and thin and flexible, is very useful for finding things in difficult places.Definitely a good investment. I'm sure there will be many other situations when it will come in handy.