PS3 Eye Camera Head Tracking - flat lens mod (IR filter remval)

[Delanclip Head Tracking]

Hi All,

we have recently discovered how to modify the super tough flat lens version of the PS3 Eye camera and though it may be usefull for somebody as it is still available to buy for cheep. (£3.50 at cex in UK at this moment in January 2025)

You will not find any other manuals how to modify flat lens ps3 camera so i thought i can share it!

Here is my tutorial: https://delanclip.com/proven-ps3-camera-ir-filter-removal-flat-lens/

This camera is fantastic to build DIY IR head tracking setup and makes it cheap and affordable!

I hope it helps and Happy New Year!

[Snack Reacher]

Really like my delanclip buddy, just wanted to say thanks for saving me some dosh. If you ever wanted to improve it i think switching to rounded ir leds on the clip would improve the tracking range of the flat ones on mine. Keep up the good work! I use a surefire IR filter over the lens of my ps2 to only let ir light into the camera, makes a masive diffrence in performance on bright days with sunlight creeping in behind me whilst playing.

[Dura_Ace]

My first head tracking unit was the delanclip. Solid experience. That unit also uses a PS3 camera with an IR filter on it.

I recently went back to his site and took a look. He now sells an actual PCB board with a camera on it. So now you can buy the board, make your own LED headphone attachment for cheap and use opentrack.

I think he went the PCB board option since getting hold of new, or used PS3 cameras that are not even made anymore might be problematic for his business.

I am using their USB powered LED unit attachment on my headset with the TrackIR 5 unit. I did not want to get some flimsy plastic one from trackIR so stuck with the delanclip LED unit.

But i am gonna buy delanclips wireless LED unit. I am getting sick of that usb wire attached to my headphones now. Ive ridden over it with my chair caster wheels twice. So now i have a hook loop screwed into the wall on the left and pin the cable to that now so i dotn run over it any more. It bends the USB metal input and is a pain to straighten out.

I have the delanclip in case the track IT goes belly up.

EDIT...i just saw your username. So you must the owner. Thanks for a solid less expensive than trackIR entry into head tracking.

[Pete Gaimari]

I've been more than happy with Trackir with the Pro Clip for many years.

[startrekmike]

Yeah. If one is careful and thinks ahead a bit when it comes to handling the TrackIR Pro Clip, it shouldn't be a big issue. Mine only gave up the ghost when the plastic sheathing over the USB wire got old and brittle and started breaking (taking the thin wires inside with it).

Wireless options are good (if a bit heavier which can be an issue depending on how your headset fits). I personally use the RJSimTech wireless clip and consider it the best option in terms of mounting versatility. It isn't exactly cheap but it is well built and (more importantly) well designed.

[Pete Gaimari]

I read a lot of guys break the ProClip but i've used one for a lot of years and haven't broke one yet.

[startrekmike]

Originally posted by BuzzU:

I read a lot of guys break the ProClip but i've used one for a lot of years and haven't broke one yet.

If I had to guess, I would say that a lot of the problems come from scenarios where folks leave the clip on their headset all the time or simply don't take some degree of special care when handling it.

There is this pervasive narrative that the clip is delicate because it is "cheaply made" but I think it is more accurate to say that it is delicate because it was designed to be as light as possible while also offering a useful amount of adjustment. This isn't to say that it is priced well or anything but it does work well if one handles it with some degree of care.

[Dura_Ace]

Originally posted by startrekmike:

Originally posted by BuzzU:

I read a lot of guys break the ProClip but i've used one for a lot of years and haven't broke one yet.

If I had to guess, I would say that a lot of the problems come from scenarios where folks leave the clip on their headset all the time or simply don't take some degree of special care when handling it.

There is this pervasive narrative that the clip is delicate because it is "cheaply made" but I think it is more accurate to say that it is delicate because it was designed to be as light as possible while also offering a useful amount of adjustment. This isn't to say that it is priced well or anything but it does work well if one handles it with some degree of care.

For 54.99 pounds sterling i expect better than some flimsy and "delicate" little piece of plastic with some LED's on it.

Delanclips' unit is far more durable being made out of metal.

You can pay 60 squid for a little piece of brittle and "delicate" plastic. I will stick to the metal, thank you very much.

Do you even know how much an individual piece of injection molded plastic cost?

I do. My GFs mother worked at a factory where they pumped them out by the hundreds of thousands per hour. She was in charge of one of those machines that pumped them out.

We had side jobs doing individual Q and A on the pieces inspecting every single one.

These things cost fractions of a penny to make so by definition they are cheap. Your "delicate" piece of plastic might cost an actual pence to make. A single pence.

[Troll Norris]

FullHD on 32" display is terrible combo. Too low pixel density for unblurred picture. I have display with 2560x1440 resolution since 2017. Remember few most important things when choosing display. Pixel density (depends on display size and resolution) and GAMUT. I am quite often surprised how people ignore one of the most important specs which every display should have - to project colors properly. In my opinion 100% sRGB GAMUT would be standard. But it is not.

[Onno]

Originally posted by Dura_Ace:

Originally posted by startrekmike:

If I had to guess, I would say that a lot of the problems come from scenarios where folks leave the clip on their headset all the time or simply don't take some degree of special care when handling it.

There is this pervasive narrative that the clip is delicate because it is "cheaply made" but I think it is more accurate to say that it is delicate because it was designed to be as light as possible while also offering a useful amount of adjustment. This isn't to say that it is priced well or anything but it does work well if one handles it with some degree of care.

For 54.99 pounds sterling i expect better than some flimsy and "delicate" little piece of plastic with some LED's on it.

Delanclips' unit is far more durable being made out of metal.

You can pay 60 squid for a little piece of brittle and "delicate" plastic. I will stick to the metal, thank you very much.

Do you even know how much an individual piece of injection molded plastic cost?

I do. My GFs mother worked at a factory where they pumped them out by the hundreds of thousands per hour. She was in charge of one of those machines that pumped them out.

We had side jobs doing individual Q and A on the pieces inspecting every single one.

These things cost fractions of a penny to make so by definition they are cheap. Your "delicate" piece of plastic might cost an actual pence to make. A single pence.

I'm not saying that you're totally wrong here, but the cost of the product is actually determined in part by how much you can ammortize the cost of the tooling in the unit price. If production numbers are low, then the relative impact of tooling cost can add up quite a bit.

[Pete Gaimari]

TR5 is $149.00

TR5 with ProClip is $169.00

No need to pay more and like I said. I never broke one.

[startrekmike]

Originally posted by Dura_Ace:

Originally posted by startrekmike:

If I had to guess, I would say that a lot of the problems come from scenarios where folks leave the clip on their headset all the time or simply don't take some degree of special care when handling it.

There is this pervasive narrative that the clip is delicate because it is "cheaply made" but I think it is more accurate to say that it is delicate because it was designed to be as light as possible while also offering a useful amount of adjustment. This isn't to say that it is priced well or anything but it does work well if one handles it with some degree of care.

For 54.99 pounds sterling i expect better than some flimsy and "delicate" little piece of plastic with some LED's on it.

Delanclips' unit is far more durable being made out of metal.

You can pay 60 squid for a little piece of brittle and "delicate" plastic. I will stick to the metal, thank you very much.

Do you even know how much an individual piece of injection molded plastic cost?

I do. My GFs mother worked at a factory where they pumped them out by the hundreds of thousands per hour. She was in charge of one of those machines that pumped them out.

We had side jobs doing individual Q and A on the pieces inspecting every single one.

These things cost fractions of a penny to make so by definition they are cheap. Your "delicate" piece of plastic might cost an actual pence to make. A single pence.

So I currently use a RJSimTech wireless clip and it does a pretty good job at demonstrating the trade-offs that we see with similar setups. The RJSimTech clip is very durable, wireless, and also somewhat adjustable in a way that a lot of other non-TrackIR clips simply aren't. All of these factors have one major consequence. They increase the weight. The RJSimTech clip is fairly heavy and depending on the fit of your headset, that can end up becoming an issue.

In contrast. The TrackIR Pro Clip is built to be as light as possible and if you are the expert in plastics that you say you are, you should know that making something like that lighter means making it less durable. This is made more complicated by their clear desire to make it very adjustable. They wanted it to work with a wide variety of headsets and mounting angles. This also makes it less durable when compared to more simple designs.

Does this justify the price? If you had carefully read my original post before hitting reply, you would know that I am not so sure about that. I think NaturalPoint has always had a problem with fair pricing (and fair business practices for that matter) but that doesn't really change that the clip itself is somewhat delicate not because they designed it badly or manufactured it poorly. It is because it needed to be light and adjustable at the same time. As I and others have said in this thread. We never had ours break because we handled them with some measure of care. It isn't really hard to avoid damaging them when some thought is put into it.