Kickerstarter: Soldering iron that includes a camera

MichaelMeissner

MichaelMeissner

Senior Member+
I just got notification of a new kickstarter project that ends on March 10th, 2026. It is a battery operated soldering iron that includes a camera and light. The soldering iron connects to your Android or Apple phone to give you an expanded view of what you are soldering. The super early bird special is Hong Kong $772 (roughly $100 US at present rates), and there are 47 available (out of 250) as I post this. The normal early bird version will be Hong Kong $850 ($109 US). It is expected to ship in May. It is unclear if there are additional shipping charges or tariffs:
Now from the pictures, it is unusual in that the iron is horizontally oriented instead of vertical.
 
Looks like a disadvantage to be at a right angle - you don't see pens, paintbrushes or craft knives at 90 degree angles, and there is a reason for that I suspect...
 
MichaelMeissner said:
I just got notification of a new kickstarter project that ends on March 10th, 2026. It is a battery operated soldering iron that includes a camera and light. The soldering iron connects to your Android or Apple phone to give you an expanded view of what you are soldering. The super early bird special is Hong Kong $772 (roughly $100 US at present rates), and there are 47 available (out of 250) as I post this. The normal early bird version will be Hong Kong $850 ($109 US). It is expected to ship in May. It is unclear if there are additional shipping charges or tariffs:
Now from the pictures, it is unusual in that the iron is horizontally oriented instead of vertical.
Click to expand...
From Kickstarter:
Will I be charged more later?
That depends. When you redeem your proof of pledge, you may be required to pay applicable sales or value-added tax and/or shipping fees, depending on the reward and where it is being delivered.
 
I can understand the issues. I have had a few kickstarter projects that did not deliver.

And I wondered about the horizontal orientation of the soldering iron. According to the comments, it is due to needing to put the camera and LED light on the iron.

As I approach my 68th trip around the sun, being able to see the components when soldering is becoming an issue. The head mounted magnifier system I use is uncomfortable to use with my glasses.

I now have special safety glasses for soldering and wood working. These safety glasses uses Polycarbonate lenses and side shields.

I have gone back to using bi-focals for these safety glasses. I have switched to using progressive lenses for my normal reading and computer glasses (I still use tri-focals for distance glasses). I find having the explicit transition from reading glasses to intermediate in the bi-focals helps when I'm focusing on small things. It does take practice to know the angle of my head to switch distances, but I have many years of practice using bi-focals, tri-focals, and progressive lenses.

Some of the online places I have ordered glasses from do not offer safety glasses in bi-focal format. I use the Chinese company Optical Factor which can make safety bi-focals. Now, the frames that they provide aren't as sturdy as the frames I get from (Zenni), but for the specialized use of soldering and woodworking, they are acceptable. I wish Optical Factor also offered safety glasses in Trivex, but they don't. I also wish Zenni offered safety glasses in bi-focal format, but they don't.

FWIW, the sunglasses I wear in my profile come from Optical Factor, and I added leather side shields to block out the sun. However, I could not get Optical Factor to make the glasses combining polarization and bi-focals. They sent me a pair that was not polarized, but it was dark. I complained, and they sent me another pair that also did not have polarization. So I eventually sent the glasses to a company (Use My Frame) that replaces lenses in existing frames and I got the polarized tri-focals that I wanted. My first pair of glasses frames eventually broke, and I needed to order a second pair. I find when I'm outdoors, I need to use polarized sunglasses to reduce my migraines.

If you are wondering, there are different materials that lenses are made out of:
  • CR39 plastic: Most lenses are made with CR39 these days. It has high optical clarity at a low cost. It does not have UV protection, but that can be added as a coating. You cannot use CR39 for strong prescriptions or rimless glasses.
  • Polycarbonate: These lenses have a high impact resistance and natural UV blocking. However, CR39 and Trivex glasses have better optical quality than polycarbonate lenses. Generally polycarbonate lenses are more expensive than CR39 but cheaper than Trivex.
  • Trivex: Trivex glasses combine high impact resistance and good optical quality (better than either CR39 or Polycarbonate). The downside is they cost more. In my last set of glasses, I found I could not order Trivex glasses that were tri-focals and offered photochromatic transitions, and I had to go down to CR39.
  • High index plastic: These are special lenses made for strong prescriptions.
  • Glass: Glass offers the best optical quality and scratch resistance, but the lenses are heavier and not impact resistant. Generally glass is used for specialized high power prescriptions.
 
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MichaelMeissner said:
As I approach my 68th trip around the sun, being able to see the components when soldering is becoming an issue. The head mounted magnifier system I use is uncomfortable to use with my glasses.
Click to expand...
I hear you! I am also in a similar count... But I have maybe been lucky that my eyes have not changed that much over the last many years, and my progressive lens are sufficient.

And I also find it much harder these days to do much soldering. For the most part my solution has been to avoid it. Other than to maybe solder in pins at .1"... These days if I needed a newer one I would probably order some from Proto Supplies or the like

I also have never liked the head mounted magnifiers... I mostly just use a desk mounted LED magnifier, which is not great...

If you end up getting one, it will be interesting to see how you like it!
 
With my (67-year-old) eyes, I asked my wife to get me the following for Christmas (truth be told, at her request, I selected & purchased it for myself & then told her that I really appreciated her getting it for me . . . that approach works very well for both of us !!) a couple of years ago: Adonstar AD249S-M Digital Microscope (this is the current version . . . the specific model that I got is no longer available: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C23WCG7X). It has been great !! It allows me to solder 0.5mm pitch quad pack ICs & very small electronic components with ease. Only occasionally have I wished that I had spent the extra money on the model that allows connection to an external HDMI monitor (for radio club demonstrations, meeting projections, etc.), but the video recording to microSD capability has gotten me by just fine.

Mark J Culross
KD5RXT
 
The kickstarter solder iron seems nearly interesting

Same unit (now with HDMI output) with larger solder station platform, spool and tool holder and helping hands - just needs a fume fan :)

With formerly near eye cataract replacement lens in left eye both eyes ~worthless near vision I have been using these 'progressive readers' - two pair $24 and I got three mag sets. One great for computer desk, one a bit more mag for soldering. The desk set can stay on - covering computer screen, near distance low and fading mag to top allows leaving them on around the house with minimal blur beyond 10 feet.
'Street' progressive RX lenses are great for 'general outside use' - but the computer screen focus area too small requiring head movement that these do not.
 
defragster said:
The kickstarter solder iron seems nearly interesting

Same unit (now with HDMI output) with larger solder station platform, spool and tool holder and helping hands - just needs a fume fan :)

With formerly near eye cataract replacement lens in left eye both eyes ~worthless near vision I have been using these 'progressive readers' - two pair $24 and I got three mag sets. One great for computer desk, one a bit more mag for soldering. The desk set can stay on - covering computer screen, near distance low and fading mag to top allows leaving them on around the house with minimal blur beyond 10 feet.
'Street' progressive RX lenses are great for 'general outside use' - but the computer screen focus area too small requiring head movement that these do not.
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I must admit I never considered using these electronic microscopes. For my setup something that goes straight down with a large screen probably won't too well. I have my soldering station inside of a roll-top desk to prevent the furry demons of chaos (i.e. my cats) from jumping up and knocking things off the table or injuring themselves with the hot soldering iron. In the roll-top desk overhead space is at a premium. I also think separating the camera part and the display would work best.

But perhaps something like this would work:
Something combining a digital microscope and fume extractor would be an interesting combination.

I can see different use cases for a stand alone camera compared to the kickstarter soldering iron with camera. I do wonder how easy would it be to adapt to using an iron with horizontal orientation.
 
The Kickstarter iron looks interesting. However, with only 10W, I think there could be problems with soldering parts on large ground pads or 4-layer/6-layer PCBs. My iron has 80W and I use rather broad tips even for small parts (603), because even with 80W, soldering on large ground pads with small tips is quite challenging.
My recommendation would be an analog stereo microscope, I do all my soldering with that using an LED ring light. But I know, it is pretty expensive, I use a Wild M3. As an entomologist, I have it on my desk for insect ID anyway and can re-use it for soldering and solder joint checking.
 
somewhat off topic. I started using glasses for near-sightedness in the 3rd grade. I started using bifocals at age 37. Watersports were always a hassle, even with a prescription mask for snorkeling and scuba. I had cataract surgery over a decade ago because of loss of contrast that made it really hard to see screens. I asked the ophthamologist to use a standard single vision lens and try to correct for distant vision (his inclination had been to opt for near-sightedness since that was what I was used to). I see better than at any time I can remember and use just +1.25 for reading. I do use more magnification for soldering and sometimes for threading a needle. Waterskiing and diving are so much better when you can see!

A couple of years after the cataract surgery I did have a laser procedure to let schmutz that had collected behind the lens out (basically the equivalent of skin cells flaking off collecting there). Obviously not every eye problem is so easily or successfully handled but my experience was much better than I ever anticipated.
 
A while back, I bought a stereo microscope for soldering and fine work. It works great and has enough offset from the work to get a soldering iron into where it needs to go. I had to install a Barlow lens to do that. It even has a camera port on it, but I've yet to install a camera. Haven't found one that has simple independent focus.

For really small stuff I use a hot air gun. I apply some tiny solder balls to the pad and turn the heat to the correct temperature, and lower the air flow so I don't blow the parts off the pads. If I'm worried about that, or have a dense board, sometimes I will use a lower melting point solder which works a treat. The biggest problem I face is my tweezers often get tweaked and they don't grip tiny parts well. Never been able to repair them well enough to go back into service, as it's tough to realign them to 0201 gripping capabilities again.

I'm finding that I need to use the microscope more and more as time goes by. Eyes are changing and I have cataracts which reduces contrast. I can slightly compensate by increasing the illumination.
 
Fluxanode said:
What scope did you buy, I have been looking but on a budget?
Click to expand...
Was an AMScope unit with two eyepieces and a port for a camera. Not in low budget territory, but has proven it's worth many times over. Have it permanently at my desk. I just slide the head into position when I need to take a look at things.

Someday I'll get a camera for it, but haven't seen anything that has sufficient value proposition. I'm not spending $500 for a camera, if the reviews say it stinks. Maybe $100, but the pickings are lean in that price range, and the quality can be limited.
 
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