Yager's post at #9 above sounds like a good method.
There are cheaper cameras out there. In fact, I saw one less than $100 in Harbor Freight's ad recently. however, it's both cheap in cost and cheap in quality...
Did notice some snake cams on eBay, cheap since they are USB device and will plug into a laptop. Also sure they are not as great as the ones costing 100's of bucks but how many times will you really use it?
Did the same thing while changing my plugs and tubes. How did you make out? Did you drop the sump and get the piece out? Has anyone else had this problem?