Anyone who has set up OctoPrint and OctoLapse knows what a hassle smooth print time-lapses can be. The Mintion Beagle Camera promised to do it all by itself, plugged straight into the printer. I was 100% sure it would be rubbish. It isn't.
The old way: Raspberry Pi and a DSLR
Until this camera, my time-lapses came from a Raspberry Pi 4 running OctoPrint and OctoLapse, shooting with my Sony a6500. The results were amazing, but the setup was a pain: install the operating system, configure the camera, add commands in Cura's post-processing. I also got retraction problems, so I didn't do it often. I'd also spent about 100 euros on a Logitech webcam that never went beyond 1080p.
Setting up the Beagle Cam
In May 2022 Mintion sent me the Beagle Camera to review. It's a small 1080p camera with its own "brain" that creates OctoLapse-style time-lapses without OctoPrint. The box includes a USB-C power adapter and a cable to connect it to the printer. That cable is micro-USB, while most of my 14 printers use the square USB-B port, so I had to use one of my own. My suggestion to Mintion: include one. Otherwise it felt premium, not like a plastic toy. Setup took about five minutes:
- Download the app and pair the camera.
- Give it your home Wi-Fi details so it joins your network.
- Connect the camera to your printer with a USB cable.
- Open the camera's IP address in a browser and select your printer model.
- Upload your G-code, choose the time-lapse quality options and press print.
From the web interface you get a full control panel: temperatures, a G-code viewer and more. There's no need to add any post-processing script in your slicer.
The results
It records 1080p at 30 fps, which is perfect for social media. Of course it's not comparable to my DSLR, which I can export in much higher resolution, but most people want something quick to share. And here's a surprise: printing on the same Longer LK5 Pro, I got no retraction blobs where the head moves away for each frame, unlike with OctoPrint. The one limitation is the fixed focus at about 20 cm, so if your print is closer or further away, it'll be a bit soft. It cost 69 euros when I made the video. I don't earn anything from it. They sent it for free to review. We really need a new name for these time-lapses that aren't OctoLapses. Ideas welcome!