Do i need an ESP32-CAM to control a OV2640

Projects General Guidance
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In my project, I am using an ESP32 to control a lot of sensors and modules. One of these modules needs to be a camera. Is it possible to connect an OV2640 camera directly to an ESP32 or do I have to use an ESP32-CAM module.

On another note, I also have a composite camera. Is it possible to use that one?

2

You can get an FPC 24 connector (thats the one on an OV2640) to 0.1" adapter.

So if you replicate all the connections the ESP32CAM uses for the OV2640 it should work.

Tried it that way on an ESP32S3 and that worked.

Lot less bother to just use an ESP32CAM, all the pins not used by the camera are broken out, apart from the I2C pins, so you wont gain much by using a standard ESP32 dev board, you wont have a lot of spare pins for a 'lot of sensors and modules'

3

Okay thank you.

If i connect the ESP32-CAM with a normal ESP32, will the processor be too busy with the camera to process anything else?

4

That probably dpends on what your doing with the camera and what the 'anything else' is.

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Hello FRNIXX -- As with everything electronic, all things are possible without buying the exact piece you need. AND as with everything electronic, the right piece is probably cheaper than making your own. The entire list below can be ordered from China for under ten bucks.

  • The OV2640 with any lens and length of cable is available.
  • The ESP32-CAM has the cable connector to fit the camera. Other ESP32 boards may not. This board has TX and RX communication pins for TTL, but no USB support.
  • The ESP32-CAM-MB, a shield or hat for the ESP32-CAM, has a CH340 chip to support USB. Before you buy, look to see whether the board has a micro-USB or USB-C connector.

You may need to hunt up the CH340 driver for your computer. You will need to stuff a library of ESP32 board descriptions and sample code into your Arduino IDE.

The Arduino IDE will load the necessary code to this whole package. Your ESP32-CAM is likely a clone of the AI Thinker ESP32-CAM. Your mileage may vary. Pin assignments differ between versions of ESP32-CAM. You can either try many board descriptions or mess with the code in the sketches.

Even after you've gotten the code right, the ESP32 may not recognize the camera. Some have observed that this is a power problem (look elsewhere on this site). This problem is, at first anyway, indistinguishable from a code problem.

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