Which Camera Should I Buy?

The OpenMV Cam RT1062 is our latest and greatest OpenMV Cam. It offers the most functionality and performance.

For a reduced price, you can buy the OpenMV Cam H7 Plus, which may be more performant than the OpenMV Cam RT1062 in some situations as it has faster internal SRAM and external SDRAM memory buses. However, the OpenMV Cam H7 Plus lacks high-speed USB, ethernet, battery-charging, and ultra-low-power modes (microamps of current draw). In summary, using the OpenMV Cam H7 Plus in deployed applications will be much harder, given the lack of features beyond image processing. However, if you are just using the camera via USB and directly interfacing to other devices via it's 3.3V GPIO pins then it's a very good choice.

Our lowest-priced model is the OpenMV Cam H7 R2. It features the same processor as the OpenMV Cam H7 Plus but lacks SDRAM and has a lower-resolution camera sensor. As long as the resolution is kept low (320x240 and below), it's a powerhouse. Like the OpenMV Cam H7 Plus, it lacks high-speed USB, ethernet, battery-charging, and ultra-low-power modes, which limit how you can use it.

Note we do sell a WiFi Shield that you can attach to the OpenMV Cam H7 Plus and OpenMV Cam H7 R2 to get them online.

Other Models

Arduino makes the smallest OpenMV Cam, the Arduino Nicla Vision - it's the size of a postage stamp! The Nicla Vision uses the same processor as the OpenMV Cam H7 R2 but features onboard WiFi along with high-speed USB, battery charging, and ultra-low-power modes. We recommend it as a smaller alternative to the OpenMV Cam RT1062. However, the Nicla does not have SDRAM, so its maximum resolution is limited.

As an alternative to the Arduino Nicla Vision, you can also buy the Arduino Portenta, and its Vision Shield which has a 320x240 grayscale sensor. While the camera module may be on the low end, you get the same STM32H7 processor as the Arduino Nicla, high-speed USB, WiFi, Ethernet, battery-charging, and ultra-low-power modes.

Finally, for the most ambitious OpenMV Cam, check out the Pure Thermal OpenMV. It's based on the OpenMV Cam H7 Plus architecture but includes an 800x480 touchscreen, HDMI output, dual color and thermal vision, battery charging, ultra-low-power modes, and the list goes on! If you want to play with a lot of features at the same time and don't mind the price, we recommend the Pure Thermal OpenMV.