ELP Manual Zoom High Speed USB Camera Module - 2.8-12mm 4X Varifocal Webcam

I bought this to attach to a star tracker to help with aligning my camera for astrophotography. The USB interface seamlessly connects to my Android phone to allow me to use this camera in the field. The ability to zoom/focus proves invaluable for aligning the reticle within my mount. I am excited to finish aligning everything, then use this camera to go out and easily align my mount with Polaris for accurate star tracking!

I'm impressed with this camera module. I will be using this in the shop for high resolution photography in the shop. First few attempts look great. The camera is truly just plug and play, the picture above is just using the camera software included with Microsoft Windows 11. The camera will focus closely without distortion and even has a minor zoom function, just need to build a case and mount. Will update later when I have more time to experiment.

I will say that I'm impressed with the quality photos from this little camera. Focus is pretty decent, and while I wouldn't say HD photos, it does a good job regardless. Easy to use, and would recommend.

not good

Needs a solid, stable mount or the video gets a bit "wavy"

Out of the box there are various large dark blurry spots on the image, clearly a result of dust on the sensor. I've bought more than half a dozen various ELP camera boards, flaws are quite common. You may be luckier than I was this time. Apart from the bonus dust on the sensor this is a well designed product. The lens is easy to adjust, unlike some. It's not a pro SLR lens or anything like that, but it seems pretty good. I use these with Orange Pi SoC boards, Armbian Linux, and mjpg-streamer to make IP surveillance cameras which I poll with Blue Iris software. The product also includes an in or out solenoid operated IR cut filter not required for my application. Without the dust on the sensor I'd rate this at least a 4. LATER: I disassembled the lens mount to get at the sensor, washed it with 91% isopropyl alcohol, and got rid of most of the dust or whatever it was on the sensor. The image is greatly improved but some spots remain. I also glued the in/out IR cut filter in the IR cut position so I do not need to bother wiring up the solenoid. I should not have to repair brand new merchandise, so the 2 star rating remains.

I will probably come back and edit this in a few months but for now .... I wanted a USB camera to use as low powered inspection microscope. I had an old USB microscope camera that never worked well and decided to replace the camera board and lens. I want a working distance of 12 to 24 inches from the front of the lens to the workpiece. Browsing Amazon I found a "warehouse" special on this camera with the 2.8 to 12mm varifocal lens. I elected to make it the heart of my FrankenCamera. First be aware that this camera comes with a second board (not shown in Amazon's pictures) for the IR cut out filter. After a bit of fudging around I get the board mounted inside the old case. The advantage here is I now have the camera enclosed and it has a 1/4-20 tripod mount. THe case also supports CS lens mounting .. so I can use either 'S", 'CS' or 'C' mount lens. I also happen to have a Pentax 'PK' to 'C' mount adapter. All pictures taken with ambient room light. It seems that the frame rates that are a bit optimistic however I was able to achieve 30 FPS in all modes with MJPEG. This camera implements lower resolutions via cropping rather than binning. The 1920x1080 is cleaner and brighter than the lower resolution modes. I am using the Linux Mint operating system. I have tried both the 'GUVCVIEW' and 'QTCAM' software. Both work. The attached photos came from the 'GUVCVIEW' package. It has the advantage that the image can be flipped and/or mirrored in real time. I first tried the provided varifocal lens ... disappointing. At 11 inches from the desktop to the camera lens the height of the field of view (1920x1080@30fps) was 10 inches with lens at full wide angle. At full telephoto the field of view decreased to 5 inch height. That is a ratio of 2:1 not the advertised 4:1. Even at that I can not read the microprint on a 1/4 ounce bottle of testors paint. I then tried several Pentax lens. The one that worked best was a old SMC Pentax 50mm F1.7 lens . The distance from the lens to the desktop was 9-1/2 inches (the camera was in the same position). The advantage was I could read the label and the lens was MUCH easier to focus. I have ordered a Bosch 4-50mm manual lens in 'CS' mount. I believe that will offer a much better solution for my purposes. Two stars deducted for the 2:1 varifocal lens.

I did receive the item that was advertised. I ended up getting the ELP-USB130W01MT-FV. It is basically the same camera minus the back plate drivers plus the video capture speeds. It was clocking 24 HZ at 720p. I need to have higher fps for the project that I am doing. That was why I picked the camera that was advertised not this one. I guess you don't get what you paid for. :-( Update - Sent a complaint to their customer service. They told me that this should still hit 60fps at 720p. I restarted my computer and plugged it in again. I only got 45fps. I guess it is better than nothing. It still seems like a better deal for the price than the other ones on Amazon. They also updated the photo and product information. Since, I most likely would have bought it with the updated info, and since they updated the information the next day. I will raise it to 3 stars. I also bought 2 of them, but I am going to have to return one, because it had a semi-transparent dot in the view of the camera. And since I need 2 cameras for the project I am going to have to purchase another one. I must say that the one that doesn't have the dot seems to work very well, and the lens seems to be of good quality. It is metal and solid and the distance and focus slides real smooth. I am not a camera guru so don't quote me on that.