The OV5640 120-Degree Ultra-Wide-Angle Camera Module with Adjustable Manual Focus Lens is a high-performance 5.0 Megapixel CMOS image sensor expansion engineered specifically for ESP32-CAM development boards, ESP32-S3 Eye / CAM modules, and compatible DVP embedded vision platforms. Built around the OmniVision OV5640 image sensor, it features an upgraded 120° wide-angle field of view (FOV) optical lens with a threaded adjustable manual focus ring. Connected via an industry-standard 24-pin 0.5mm pitch flexible flat cable (FFC / DVP interface), this module incorporates internal hardware JPEG compression, auto-exposure (AEC), auto-gain (AGC), and automatic white balance (AWB). It serves as a superior high-resolution upgrade over standard 2MP OV2640 modules for AI machine vision, facial recognition, smart video doorbells, IoT security surveillance, robotics navigation, and time-lapse capture.

Specifications

• Sensor Model: OmniVision OV5640 5MP CMOS Image Sensor
• Compatibility: ESP32-CAM (with OV5640-supported firmware), ESP32-S3-CAM / ESP32-S3-Eye, and standard DVP 24-pin camera sockets
• Active Array / Sensor Resolution: 5.0 Megapixels (2592 × 1944 pixels / QSXGA)
• Optical Format: 1/4-inch CMOS Active Pixel Array
• Pixel Size: 1.4 µm × 1.4 µm (OmniBSI™ backside illumination architecture)
• Lens Type: 120° Ultra-Wide Angle Lens with Threaded Adjustable Manual Focus Ring
• Field of View (FOV): 120° Diagonal (Wide Angle / Low Distortion)
• Focus Range: Approx. 3 cm to Infinity (Manually adjustable via lens rotation)
• Interface / Bus Type: 24-Pin 0.5mm Pitch DVP (Digital Video Port) Flexible Flat Cable (FFC)
• Cable Length: Approx. 75 mm (Standard FPC ribbon)
• Supported Output Formats:
  • Hardware Compressed JPEG / MJPEG
  • Raw RGB, RGB565 / RGB555
  • YUV422 / YCbCr422
  • Grayscale (8-bit)
• Maximum Frame Rates:
  • QSXGA (2592 × 1944): Up to 15 fps
  • 1080p Full HD (1920 × 1080): Up to 30 fps
  • 720p HD (1280 × 720): Up to 60 fps
  • VGA (640 × 480): Up to 60 fps
  • QVGA (320 × 240): Up to 90 fps
• Operating Core Voltage: 1.5V DC ± 5% (Internal regulator)
• Analog Supply Voltage (AVDD): 2.6V to 3.0V DC (Typ. 2.8V)
• I/O Supply Voltage (DOVDD): 1.7V to 3.0V DC (Typ. 1.8V / 2.8V / 3.3V)
• Power Consumption:
  • Active / Streaming: Typ. 140 mW (VGA @ 30fps) to 280 mW (Full 5MP JPEG)
  • Standby / Sleep: < 20>
• Dynamic Range: 68 dB
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 36 dB
• Operating Temperature: -30°C to +70°C (Stable image: 0°C to +50°C)
• Module Dimensions: Approx. 25 mm × 24 mm (Lens Head) with 75 mm FPC Cable

Features

• High-Resolution 5MP Imaging: Upgrades 2MP (OV2640) systems to crystal-clear 2592×1944 still captures and 1080p Full HD video streams.
• 120° Wide-Angle Panoramic View: Captures broad coverage ideal for security cameras, doorway monitoring, and wide-area robotics obstacle detection without severe fisheye distortion.
• Adjustable Manual Focus: Threaded M12/mini-mount lens allows precise focal tuning from ultra-close macro inspection (3cm) out to deep infinity surveillance.
• Hardware JPEG Compression Engine: On-chip hardware JPEG encoding significantly reduces data payload sizes, allowing smooth Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming over ESP32/ESP32-S3 boards.
• Comprehensive Image Processing (ISP): Built-in automatic exposure (AEC), automatic white balance (AWB), auto black level (ABLC), color saturation, sharpness, noise reduction, and gamma correction.
• Standard 24-Pin Plug-and-Play FFC: Connects directly into standard bottom-contact FPC camera latch sockets on ESP32-CAM and ESP32-S3 development boards.

Common Applications

• Smart Video Doorbells & Security Cameras: Wide-angle doorway surveillance and motion-activated security video streaming over Wi-Fi.
• AI Machine Vision & Object Detection: Running TensorFlow Lite, Edge Impulse, and YOLO models for face detection, license plate reading, and object classification on ESP32-S3.
• Robotics & Drone FPV Navigation: Wide-angle obstacle avoidance and forward camera feeds for autonomous rovers and small Wi-Fi video streaming bots.
• Industrial Quality Inspection & OCR: Close-range macro reading of text, QR codes, barcode labels, and PCB surface inspection using adjusted focus.
• Time-Lapse Datalogging & Wildlife Cameras: Long-duration automated photo logging saved directly to onboard MicroSD cards.

Usage Tips

• ESP32 PSRAM Requirement (Crucial): Full 5MP resolution frames require substantial frame buffer memory. **Ensure your ESP32-CAM or ESP32-S3 board has external PSRAM enabled (4MB / 8MB)** and configure `frame_size` to `FRAMESIZE_QSXGA` or lower in the ESP-IDF / Arduino camera driver.
• FPC Ribbon Insertion: Carefully lift the black locking latch of the 24-pin socket on the ESP32 board, slide the blue stiffener side facing upward (or gold contact pins facing the PCB pads depending on socket orientation), and gently press the lock down flat. Never force the ribbon while the latch is closed.
• Focus Adjustment Technique: Power the camera on in a live web server stream (e.g., standard ESP32 `CameraWebServer` example) and gently rotate the knurled front lens element clockwise or counter-clockwise until your target distance comes into sharp optical focus.
• Adequate Power Supply: The OV5640 draws higher peak current during initialization and high-resolution JPEG bursts than the OV2640. Power the ESP32-CAM with a stable **5V DC supply rated for at least 2.0A** with a 470µF electrolytic capacitor across the 5V and GND rails to prevent brownout reboots.
• Driver Initialization: In Arduino IDE / ESP-IDF code, ensure you define the camera sensor as `CAMERA_MODEL_AI_THINKER` or your specific board model, and verify that the driver includes support for the OV5640 sensor ID (`0x5640`).

Datasheet