Sony Spresense Camera Board (ISX012)

This 5MP camera board is the new member of the Spresense family. It uses a compact high-resolution 5m pixel camera to expand the function of the main board. The Spresense camera board has the Sony ISX012 image sensor mounted together with a lens. The Sony ISX012 has an effective pixel count of 5.11M pixels and an onboard encoder that can acquire pictures in JPEG, Y/C or RGB format. The camera board is directly connected to the main board through a dedicated parallel interface, which can be combined with the AI functions of the main board to provide advanced visual functions for IOT devices.

How to connect and prepare the Spresense main board and Spresense camera board

Caution：Since the camera module is very sensitive to static electricity it is advised to discharge any static electricity from the body before handling the camera module. This can be done by touching a grounded part, like a grounded computer chassis. Static electricity can cause the camera module to malfunction. The lens of this camera is covered with a small translucent blue plastic film. This is for protection, please remove it before use. Please be gentle when removing the protecting plastic film.

The camera module is connected to the main board (CN5) via a flat cable. The picture below shows how the flat cable is supposed to be mounted. The flat cable can only be inserted in one way to work so it is important to take note on which side it should be connected on.

About the flat cable on the Spresense camera board side

The flat cable connector on both the camera board and main board is rather fragile, it is advised not to insert/remove the cable more than necessary.

Please follow the instructions below when inserting/removing the flat cable.

B. Pull out the flat cable.

D. Apply a uniform force to both sides of the lever of the connector and slide the lever slowly horizontally and push it in parallel with the board.

Sony ISX012 image sensor on Spresense specification:

Image sensor

• Sensor type: 1/4 type CMOS image sensor  
• Effective pixel: 5.11M pixels
• Recording pixel: 5.04M pixels

Camera control

• ISO sensitivity: ISO 40～800
• Scene selection: 12 preset
• Exposure control mode: Auto, Shutter priority, ISO sensitivity priority, Long time AE
• Photometry: Multi pattern, Center weight, Average, Spot
• Exposure compensation: ±2EV, 1/3 EV steps
• Shutter speed range: 1/8 s (long AE mode) to 1/42000 s
• White balance: Auto, Daylight, Cloud, Fluorescent, Lamp

• Output still picture format: JPEG(4:2:2), Y/Cb/Cr, YUV, RGB, JPEG+YUV(thumbnail)
• Still data rate: 5M pixel 15 frame/s JPEG output
• Movie data rate: SVGA 30 frame/s YCbCr output
• HD movie support: 1080p(1920×1030 30 frame/s), 720p(1208×720 60 frame/s) JPEG output, JPEG+YCbCr output

Camera module lens specification

• Lens type: 1/4 inch 4 pieces
• Effective Focal Length: 2.74mm
• F-number: 2.0±5％
• Field of view: 78°±3°
• Chief ray angle: <33.5°
• Distortion: <1.5%
• Image quality: Center 1100 lines, Near the corners 900 lines
• Focus distance: 1.5m
• Focusing range: 77.5 to 237.06cm

• Model name: CXD5602PWBCAM1 
• Size: 24.0 mm x 25.0 mm 
• Number of effective pixels: 2608 (H) x 1960 (V) = approx. 5.11 M pixels
• Operation voltage: DC 3.7 V 
• I/O voltage: DC 1.8 V 
• Camera interface: CMOS 8 bit parallel 
• Output format: Y/C, RGB, RAW and JPEG 
• Control interface: I2C 
• Built-in filter: IR cut filter 
• FOV: 78° ± 3° 
• Depth of field: 77.5 cm ～ ∞ 
• F value: 2.0 ± 5% 
• Focus: Fixed focus 
• Operating conditions: Temperature: 10 - 40 ℃, Humidity: 30% - 80% (no condensation) 
• Storage conditions Temperature: -20 - 60 ℃, Humidity: 10% - 80% 

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