Motorized IR-cut-filter on IMX219

Hello,
i have 2 questions about your product:
[B0154] Arducam NOIR 8MP Sony IMX219 camera module with Motorized IR cut filter M12 mount LS1820 Lens for Raspberry Pi

  1. Is the Camera compatible with the raspberry 4 and your python3 library?
    Because i was not able to toggle the LED.

  2. Toggling the LED seems to work with the raspberry 3 b+.
    But i can’t see any diference on the pictures between LED status 0 and 1. Normally green plants should be violet in night-mode.
    I can only hear 2 silent clicks when i toggle the LED.

Please help me out.
Thank you in advance.

I found the problem for question 2:

the lens is way to close on the mechanics, so the filter get blocked by the lens to slide properly in and out. if i screw the lens a bit out it works, but the picture will get unsharp!!

Normal??

Hi Sascha

  1. Yes, the Raspberry pi4 doesn’t have a LED enable pin on the camera port to drive the IR-cut. So you have to connect the IR switch signal manually from the camera board to Raspberry pi’s GPIO.
  2. If the lens is screw all the way into the lens holder, it will stuck the IR-cut mechanism. So you have to fine tune the lens to get both in focus and not stuck the IR-cut filter.
    Let me know if you need more help.
    Regards
    Lee

Hello,

  1. Where do i have to connect the red and the black cable of the filter on the GPIO-header?

  2. I tried to finetune the lens until the IR-filter can slide freely. but then the picture gets unsharp. so this doesnt work for me unforunately.

To add some information: I have the rev.B Version.

Hello Sascha,

We would like to help you fix your issues as follows:

1. Where do i have to connect the red and the black cable of the filter on the GPIO-header?

Attached picture you could check cable connection between Arducam Motorized IR-cut-filter camera board (Rev.B) and Raspberry Pi 4 board.
And the demo code from Arducam Github is Here.

2. I tried to finetune the lens until the IR-filter can slide freely. but then the picture gets unsharp. so this doesnt work for me unforunately.

As you know, the lens holder or IR Cut switcher depends on the thread length and BFL (Back Focal Length) of the lens, and you would get an unsharp image if the lens and the holder / IR Cut switcher is not compatible with each other.
So we appreciate if you could send us some pictures (front and side view) of the camera with IR Cut and the lens.

Best Regards
Arducam Support Team

Thank you for the quick reply.

We used the Lens wich was included in the default package -> HX-1820.

Cann you suggest other lenses with more wide-angle (about Horizontal FOV 100 degrees).

How much should the BFL be to attach other lenses correct?

 

Thanks in advance.

Here are pictures of the Setup.

Hello,

i was not able to switch the filter on a Pi4 as you shown on the wiring diagram.

Nothing happened when i execute the example code.

Sascha

Sometimes the IR mechanism was stucked when you screw the lens too deep into the lens holder. You have to manually reset the IR cut glass back and forth to make it smooth, and use tweezers to short the IR and GND pins, you can see the IR mechanisim move and making swithcing noise. After that you can put the lens together and try on Pi 4 board.