Opticom Tech, a leader in industrial video monitoring solutions, announced the addition of a new product to its offerings: the OPT ToughEye-1700K self-cleaning camera, designed to deliver consistent visibility in sawmill environments where dust, debris, and buildup compromise standard camera systems.
Sawmills depend on clear, reliable video to support safe real-time operations, efficient production, and informed decision-making. However, airborne debris can require frequent lens cleaning, which pulls maintenance teams away from higher-value tasks and creates gaps in visibility.
The OPT ToughEye-1700K is designed to help sawmills maintain clear video without operator intervention. The camera’s patented self-cleaning technology is effective against tree sap, dust, mud, oil, grease, abrasive dust, water, and many other contaminants, and requires no water, detergents, compressed air, or manual intervention for its rated lifetime.
“Visibility shouldn’t be a luxury for sawmills; it should be an expectation,” said Heidi Schmidt, global sales manager at Opticom. “The OPT ToughEye-1700K solves a very real problem we hear about all the time — cameras get dirty and cleaning them requires shutting down the line. By keeping the lens clean automatically, this self-cleaning camera helps mills reduce maintenance interruptions and maintain clear visibility for operators.”
The camera is built with the same durability that sawmills are used to from Opticom cameras, which can survive for decades inside mills, many times including direct hits from boards and logs. The self-cleaning adds reliability in areas where cameras quickly become obscured. For sawmills, that translates to:
- No manual cleanings
- More consistent monitoring
- Less downtime
The OPT ToughEye-1700K is available with multiple configuration options to support a range of sawmill applications, including 80-degree or 100-degree lens angles, RJ45 or M12 connector options, and an additional integrated self-cleaning light option. All versions support Power over Ethernet (PoE+), to streamline installation and integration into existing video systems.
“This camera is about reliability and peace of mind,” Schmidt said. “When operators and supervisors know the camera view will stay clear, they can focus on running the mill safely and efficiently instead of worrying about whether the video feed can be trusted.”