Hardware

Sony IMX Camera Module Guide: IMX335, IMX678, IMX415, IMX219, IMX273, IMX766, IMX307 Specs, References, and Taobao Price Notes

A practical guide to common Sony IMX camera modules, including parameters, public reference links, release timing, and retail price ranges for IMX335, IMX678, IMX415, IMX219, IMX273, IMX766, IMX307, and other modules commonly found on Taobao.

When building embedded vision, security cameras, Raspberry Pi cameras, Jetson cameras, or machine vision projects, you will often run into a pile of Sony IMX model names.

They all look like “camera sensors”, but the differences are large. Some are better for low-light surveillance, some are built for 4K video, some are for industrial global-shutter vision, some mainly appear as phone repair parts, and some are friendly to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem.

This article整理 several Sony IMX camera modules that are common on Taobao and in development-board ecosystems:

  • IMX335
  • IMX678
  • IMX415
  • IMX219
  • IMX273
  • IMX766
  • IMX307
  • Additional models: IMX290, IMX462, IMX477, IMX585, IMX708

One note first: the prices below are common retail ranges seen around Taobao, development-board accessory shops, module vendors, and cross-border retail channels as of 2026-05-01. They are only useful for selection budgeting. Real prices are affected by lens, interface, driver board, enclosure, onboard ISP, UVC support, invoice/tax handling, and purchase volume.

Quick conclusion

For quick selection, start by use case:

Use case Recommended models Why
Raspberry Pi entry-level IMX219 Mature ecosystem, low price, lots of documentation
Better Raspberry Pi image quality IMX477, IMX708 Higher resolution and good official ecosystem support
Low-light surveillance IMX307, IMX335 STARVIS series, good night performance
4K security / industrial video IMX415, IMX678 4K, common MIPI/USB modules
Newer 4K low-light IMX678, IMX585 STARVIS 2, better low-light and dynamic range
Industrial trigger / moving objects IMX273 Global shutter, suitable for machine vision
Phone repair / modification IMX766 Common phone main-camera sensor, but less open for development

For ordinary projects, start with IMX219, IMX335, IMX415, or IMX678. They are easier to find as ready-made modules on Taobao and in development-board accessory markets.

Common model parameter table

Model Common positioning Pixels / resolution Optical format Pixel size Shutter Common interfaces Approximate public timing Module retail price reference
IMX219 Raspberry Pi V2, entry-level CSI camera 8MP, 3280×2464 1/4" 1.12 μm Rolling shutter MIPI CSI-2 Popularized with Raspberry Pi Camera Module 2 in 2016 20-80 RMB
IMX307 1080p starlight night vision, security 2.13MP, 1920×1080 1/2.8" 2.9 μm Rolling shutter MIPI CSI-2 / LVDS Public materials around 2017-2018 60-180 RMB
IMX335 5MP starlight night vision, security, dashcams 5.14MP, 2592×1944 1/2.8" 2.0 μm Rolling shutter MIPI CSI-2 Widely commercialized after around 2018-2019 90-260 RMB
IMX415 4K security, industrial cameras, Jetson 8.46MP, recommended 3840×2160 output 1/2.8" 1.45 μm Rolling shutter MIPI CSI-2 Sony announced it on 2019-06-26, with a 2019 mass-production path 120-450 RMB
IMX678 STARVIS 2 4K low-light 8.40MP class, 4K 1/1.8" 2.0 μm Rolling shutter MIPI CSI-2 / USB modules Entered module markets after around 2022 250-900 RMB
IMX273 Industrial machine vision 1.58MP, about 1456×1088 1/2.9" 3.45 μm Global shutter MIPI/LVDS/industrial camera interfaces Public materials around 2017 300-1500+ RMB
IMX766 Phone main camera, repair parts 50MP 1/1.56" 1.0 μm, about 2.0 μm after 4-in-1 binning Rolling shutter Phone module interfaces Popularized in phone market around 2020-2021 50-300 RMB repair modules, high development difficulty

The “module retail price” here is not the official bare sensor price. A 30 RMB IMX219 on Taobao is usually a small Raspberry Pi ribbon-cable board; a several-hundred-RMB IMX678 often already includes USB conversion, ISP, lens, or even an enclosure; industrial IMX273 cameras cost more.

IMX219: the most common entry-level model in the Raspberry Pi ecosystem

The most common form of IMX219 is Raspberry Pi Camera Module 2 or compatible modules.

Raspberry Pi official documentation says Camera Module 2 replaced the original Camera Module in April 2016, using the Sony IMX219 8MP sensor with a resolution of 3280×2464.

Its advantages are clear:

  • Low price
  • Lots of documentation
  • Mature Raspberry Pi ecosystem support
  • Very easy to buy on Taobao
  • Suitable for entry-level photography, monitoring, time-lapse, and simple vision recognition

Its weaknesses are also obvious:

  • Small sensor size
  • Average low-light performance
  • Limited image-quality ceiling with default module lenses
  • Rolling-shutter distortion in high-speed motion scenes

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX219 树莓派 摄像头
  • IMX219 NoIR
  • IMX219 广角
  • IMX219 Jetson Nano

Common prices are about 20-80 RMB. Ordinary fixed-focus boards are the cheapest; wide-angle, night-vision, stereo, and enclosure versions cost more.

References:

IMX307: a proven 1080p starlight night-vision sensor

IMX307 is a very common 2MP STARVIS model in security cameras.

Sony’s official Flyer lists these key points:

  • 1/2.8" optical format
  • 2.13MP effective pixels
  • Recommended 1920×1080 output
  • Up to 60fps in Full HD 1080p
  • 2.9 μm pixel size
  • HDR support
  • LVDS and MIPI CSI-2 support

It does not chase high resolution. It focuses more on 1080p low-light performance. Its 2.9 μm pixels are larger than those of many small-format 4K sensors, so it is still common in night surveillance, low-light recognition, and indoor low-light projects.

Common Taobao forms:

  • IMX307 USB 摄像头模组
  • IMX307 MIPI 模组
  • IMX307 星光夜视
  • IMX307 低照度监控板

Common prices are about 60-180 RMB. Versions with ISP, USB UVC, enclosure, or IR-cut switching cost more.

Reference:

IMX335: common for 5MP low-light and security projects

IMX335 can be understood as a very common 5MP STARVIS choice in the Taobao module market.

It has higher resolution than IMX307, while usually being less expensive than some 4K models, so it is often used in:

  • Security cameras
  • Dashcams
  • Jetson/RK platform MIPI cameras
  • USB UVC cameras
  • Low-light imaging projects

Common parameters:

  • About 5.14MP
  • 2592×1944
  • 1/2.8" optical format
  • 2.0 μm pixel size
  • STARVIS back-illuminated technology
  • Common MIPI CSI-2 output

IMX335 performs better in low light than IMX219, and it is a practical 5MP route compared with IMX415. For 2K video, night scenes, and surveillance recognition, it is usually more comfortable than entry-level Raspberry Pi modules.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX335 USB 摄像头
  • IMX335 MIPI 摄像头
  • IMX335 Jetson
  • IMX335 星光夜视

Common prices are about 90-260 RMB. USB driver-free versions are usually more expensive than simple MIPI boards.

References:

IMX415: a compact 4K choice for security and industrial video

IMX415 is often mentioned in 4K security and industrial video.

Sony announced IMX415 and IMX485, two 4K security sensors, on 2019-06-26. The official news release describes IMX415 as a type 1/2.8 4K-resolution stacked CMOS image sensor for smart cities, surveillance, traffic monitoring, and related scenarios.

Core parameters from the official Flyer:

  • 1/2.8" optical format
  • 8.46MP effective pixels
  • Recommended recording pixels: 3840×2160
  • 1.45 μm pixel size
  • About 60.3fps in 12-bit all-pixel mode
  • About 90.9fps in 10-bit all-pixel mode
  • Multiple exposure HDR and Digital overlap HDR
  • MIPI CSI-2, 2 Lane / 4 Lane, RAW10 / RAW12

Its strength is compact 4K. The weakness is that the pixel size is only 1.45 μm. If the lens and lighting are not good enough, low-light images may not necessarily beat IMX307 or IMX335.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX415 4K 摄像头模组
  • IMX415 USB 摄像头
  • IMX415 MIPI CSI
  • IMX415 Jetson
  • IMX415 星光夜视

Common prices are about 120-450 RMB. Cheap ones are MIPI bare modules, while USB3.0, onboard ISP, enclosure, or Jetson-adapted versions cost more.

References:

IMX678 is a popular STARVIS 2 4K model in recent years. It appears in dashcams, low-light cameras, USB cameras, and development-board modules.

Key points from public Flyers:

  • 1/1.8" optical format
  • 8.40MP class
  • 2.0 μm pixel size
  • STARVIS 2
  • Designed for visible-light and near-infrared low-light scenarios

Compared with IMX415, IMX678 has a larger format and larger pixels, giving it better low-light headroom. The downside is higher module cost and stricter requirements for lens, power, driver, and bandwidth.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX678 摄像头模组
  • IMX678 USB
  • IMX678 MIPI
  • IMX678 STARVIS2
  • IMX678 Jetson

Common prices are about 250-900 RMB. Cross-border branded USB3.0 modules can even exceed 1000 RMB. Arducam’s IMX678 USB 3.0 module has a public retail price starting at 159.99 USD, which can serve as a high-end retail reference.

References:

IMX273: industrial machine vision cares more about global shutter

IMX273 is different from the security-oriented models above.

It is a common global-shutter model for industrial and sensing applications, suitable for moving objects, triggered capture, positioning inspection, production-line vision, and measurement projects. The point of global shutter is full-frame exposure at the same time, which reduces skew and distortion caused by rolling shutter in motion scenes.

Sony’s Flyer for the series containing IMX273LLR/LQR emphasizes:

  • Industrial and sensing applications
  • 3.45 μm / 6.9 μm pixel series
  • Global shutter function
  • Related models include IMX287, IMX296, and IMX297

IMX273 does not have very high resolution, but industrial vision often cares more about trigger synchronization, exposure consistency, low distortion, global shutter, lens support, and camera SDKs than raw megapixels.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX273 工业相机
  • IMX273 全局快门
  • IMX273 USB3 工业相机
  • IMX273 GigE

Common prices are about 300-1500+ RMB. Standalone modules are not always cheap, and finished industrial cameras are more expensive.

Reference:

IMX766: a phone main-camera sensor, not a good beginner module for development boards

IMX766 is a very common 50MP sensor in phones and has appeared in many Android main-camera solutions.

Common public parameters:

  • 50MP
  • 1/1.56" optical format
  • 1.0 μm pixel size
  • About 2.0 μm equivalent pixel size after 4-in-1 binning
  • Related full-pixel autofocus capabilities

But it is different from development-board-friendly modules such as IMX219, IMX335, and IMX415. On Taobao, most IMX766 products are phone repair camera modules designed for specific phones. FPC, power rails, drivers, initialization registers, focus motors, OIS, and ISP cooperation may all be undocumented.

It is suitable for:

  • Phone repair
  • Teardown research
  • Hardware enthusiasts interested in mobile imaging pipelines

It is not very suitable for:

  • Direct Raspberry Pi connection
  • Quick Jetson development
  • Ordinary USB camera projects
  • Embedded projects without driver development capability

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX766 摄像头 模组
  • IMX766 手机 摄像头
  • IMX766 主摄

Common prices are about 50-300 RMB, but this is usually the price of phone repair parts. It does not mean the module can be directly connected to a development board.

Reference:

Other common Sony IMX models on Taobao

In addition to the models above, several other models are also easy to find.

IMX290

IMX290 is an older 2MP STARVIS low-light model, common in security, astronomy, and low-light USB cameras. It is close to IMX307, and many projects compare the two.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX290 USB 摄像头
  • IMX290 星光夜视
  • IMX290 MIPI

Common prices are about 80-300 RMB.

IMX462

IMX462 is also often discussed for low-light and near-infrared performance. It appears in astronomy cameras, low-light cameras, and security applications.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX462 USB 摄像头
  • IMX462 天文相机
  • IMX462 低照度

Common prices are about 150-600 RMB.

IMX477

The most common entry point for IMX477 is the Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera.

It is a 12.3MP, 1/2.3" class sensor. With the C/CS lens ecosystem, it is better than IMX219 for serious image capture, machine vision experiments, microscopy, and telephoto projects. Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera was released in 2020, with an official price once listed at 50 USD.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX477 树莓派 HQ
  • IMX477 C口
  • IMX477 CS镜头

Common prices are about 180-450 RMB.

Reference:

IMX585

IMX585 is a higher-spec 4K low-light model in the STARVIS 2 series. Its 1/1.2" larger format gives it better low-light advantages than small-format 4K sensors.

On Taobao, IMX585 appears as USB, MIPI, astronomy-camera, or industrial-camera products, but prices are usually much higher than IMX415 and IMX335.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX585 摄像头
  • IMX585 STARVIS2
  • IMX585 USB3

Common prices are about 500-2000+ RMB.

IMX708

IMX708 is the 12MP sensor used by Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 and supports autofocus. It is friendly to the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and is suitable for projects that do not want to fight drivers but want better image quality and functions than IMX219.

Taobao keywords:

  • IMX708 树莓派
  • 树莓派 Camera Module 3
  • IMX708 自动对焦

Common prices are about 150-350 RMB.

Reference:

Do not select only by the IMX model name

Many product titles say things like “Sony IMX415 4K starlight night vision”, but the sensor is not the only thing that decides whether it will work.

At least confirm these points:

  • Interface: whether MIPI CSI-2, USB UVC, GigE, or LVDS matches your host
  • Platform: whether it explicitly supports Raspberry Pi, Jetson, RK3568, RK3588, Windows, or Linux
  • Drivers: whether device tree, kernel driver, register settings, and example code are available
  • Output format: RAW10, RAW12, YUYV, MJPEG, H.264, H.265
  • Frame rate: whether 4K 30fps, 4K 60fps, or 1080p 60fps is actually available
  • Lens: M12, C/CS, fixed focus, autofocus, field of view, distortion
  • Filters: normal IR-cut, NoIR, auto switching, whether it suits IR illumination
  • ISP: whether there is onboard ISP, and whether exposure, white balance, denoising, and HDR are supported
  • Power and heat: whether 4K/USB3.0 modules remain stable over long runs

The experience of using a MIPI RAW board and a USB driver-free camera can be completely different even if both use IMX415. The former is better for embedded low-level development, while the latter is better for quick connection to a PC or industrial computer.

Taobao buying advice

Before buying, ask these questions:

  1. Is there a driver and configuration file for your platform?
  2. Does it support the resolution and frame rate you need?
  3. Can it provide raw RAW output, or only compressed video?
  4. Is the lens replaceable, and are distortion parameters available?
  5. Does it support auto exposure, auto white balance, HDR, and gain control?
  6. Are there Linux test commands or an SDK?
  7. Can it be supplied long term, or is it one-off stock?

For Raspberry Pi projects, prioritize modules that explicitly support Raspberry Pi OS / libcamera.
For Jetson projects, prioritize modules that explicitly support Jetson Nano / Xavier / Orin and provide device trees and driver packages.
For PC projects, USB UVC modules are the easiest.
For industrial inspection, consider finished industrial cameras first instead of only buying cheap bare modules.

Final selection notes

A simple summary:

  • Lowest budget and most documentation: choose IMX219
  • Better Raspberry Pi image quality: choose IMX477 or IMX708
  • 1080p low-light surveillance: choose IMX307
  • General 5MP low-light use: choose IMX335
  • Compact 4K security / industrial use: choose IMX415
  • Better 4K low-light: choose IMX678
  • Industrial global shutter: choose IMX273
  • Phone repair part research: look at IMX766, but do not expect direct development-board use

When actually building a project, do not look only at the words “Sony IMX”. A camera module is a combination of sensor, lens, ISP, interface, driver, and platform adaptation. If any one part is wrong, even a beautiful parameter table may not help you bring it up.

References

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