Many of the cheap endoscope cameras only have a native resolution of 640×480

… this may be sufficient, or may not, depending on your requirements.

If starting with an iPhone as your base, I think it might be best to look at the available Apps first, and choose a remote camera that uses a wireless connection

[any dedicated camera requirements should be identified in the App description]

MichaelG.

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Note: I have two ‘real’ Olympus rigid endoscopes/borescopes, and can assure you they can be very awkward to use !

I bought a $12 (6 billy lids) USB/phone endoscope camera off eBay for a similar thing, looking behind the cylinder block on my east-west engine in the Toyota to locate a small oil leak. Worked perfectly. Even has a little LED headlight. It plugs straight into my Android phone, after I downloaded the app from the camera maker’s website. Sorry, can’t remember any details of camera name or seller, but there are a million of them on eBay.

Getting my hands in back there, and tools, to change the leaking crank position sensor o-ring was another story! As will be your plumbing I suspect.

I have one of the cheap endoscope cameras that connect to my phone by a cable. It is only 640×480 resolution with built in LED light and would be OK for what you need to look at a leak behind your bathroom cabinet. Handy to have but not worth spending big money on something that is seldom used.

Originally got it to look inside a boiler on a steam engine to check condition. Able to capture photo to your phone.  Had it for 5 years and used it twice.

My cheapo didn’t meet all my expectations!

In the right kind of space, it works well enough.  Feeding it down a pipe to see what’s blocking it is OK, but anything more complicated soon gets tricky.   Manoeuvring the camera inside a complex structure is baffling; possibly a skill acquired after a few months of practice!   Where am I and which way is up?  What on earth is that!

Like Paul, my endoscope only has a 640×480 resolution, meaning the picture is often a little too crude.  Made worse because the LED light and brightness control are both on the ‘too simple’ side, so getting an adequately illuminated picture can be fiddly.

All smiles if the endoscope can be steered straightforwardly to the trouble-spot and the picture is ‘good enough’.   Dreadful frustrating time-waster if the camera and operator get lost in the works,  and on eventually finding the trouble still can’t be be sure where or what it is.  My experience is roughly 30% good, 70% waste of time.

Dave

Dave
What causes the large chunk of white space on (many of) your replies?

Ian P

I bought a Depstech WF028 dual lens WiFi setup off ebay for £16.50 last year, which works with a downloadable Android or iphone app, though I’ve only used the former.
It does what I want it to, such as looking inside a shower unit and under a washing machine, as well as examining engine bays for dropped bolts etc.
There are several models all  based around the same WiFi unit, so make sure you know which one you’re buying.
I think the single camera one(s) are higher resolution.
The box for this one claims 1080P video; Faststone claims 1072×1920 for the jpg below of the small micrometer, though I’ve cropped it a bit for display here.
Not stunning quality, but certainly adequate.

Camera phone photo of the setup for the above shot on my clean, workbench upstairs

From 1st August Lidl have this offering

Bill

On 27 July 2024 at 18:09 peak4 Said:

I bought a Depstech WF028 dual lens WiFi setup off ebay for £16.50 last year, which works with a downloadable Android or iphone app, though I’ve only used the former.

[…]

That looks like a bargain-buy to me, Bill

MichaelG.

On 27 July 2024 at 22:32 Michael Gilligan Said:

🙁

Very different pricing now, it would appear.

MichaelG.

I think there’s one on eBay at £35; the one I picked up was a new but opened item; no returns, no warranty.
It did seem worth the risk at the time.
If I needed to replace it, I’d still consider the same model.
For those who want to risk a Chinese direct import, they did start at about £25.
Bill

On 27 July 2024 at 11:21 Ian P Said:

What causes the large chunk of white space on (many of) your replies?

That is a place where you can make hand-written notes on the profundity of his remarks. It is a service provided to his readers.