OV9281 support (AEGHB-935)

[nicklasb]

Checklist

• Checked the issue tracker for similar issues to ensure this is not a duplicate.
• Described the feature in detail and justified the reason for the request.
• Provided specific use cases and examples.

Feature description

I would like to add MIPI support for the OV9281. Attached datasheet OV9281_CSP5_DS_1.01.pdf
If you are not planning to, is there any way for me to add support for a specific sensor myself?
Do you use any scripts or tools to generate the config byte streams or something?
Are any of the other sensors that are very similar to it?

Use cases

The OV9281 is a global shutter grayscale sensor that is great for high-speed and low light applications.
It seems like this is a use case that is not well represented among the other sensors?

Alternatives

No response

Additional context

No response

[WangYuxin-esp]

@nicklasb Hi, Thanks for your request. Adding a new RAW sensor driver usually requires a lot of tuning work and requires the sensor manufacturer's technical support for related development work. We have reviewed the technical parameters of the OV9281 sensor and are considering adding a similar camera driver in the future. I will reply to you here after this development work is completed.

[nicklasb]

@nicklasb Hi, Thanks for your request. Adding a new RAW sensor driver usually requires a lot of tuning work and requires the sensor manufacturer's technical support for related development work. We have reviewed the technical parameters of the OV9281 sensor and are considering adding a similar camera driver in the future. I will reply to you here after this development work is completed.

Cool. What is the similar camera you are looking at?
I am always looking for alternatives..

[WangYuxin-esp]

Maybe we will try it on the sc035hgs sensor(480p, global shutter, 120fps...), since we have already added sc035hgs driver. If it works well, we will consider adding a 720p global shutter sensor.

[nicklasb]

Ok, It sort of meets my most basic requirements, however, it doesn't seem available anywhere?

[WangYuxin-esp]

The driver for sc035hgs sensor has been added, but for this RAW sensor, some tuning work on the SoC host side is still needed. We will consider tuning it in the first half of the year.

[nicklasb]

Understood. But again, the sc035hgs doesn't seem available anywhere and have very few sales and no reviews i can find?

[WangYuxin-esp]

Understood. But again, the sc035hgs doesn't seem available anywhere and have very few sales and no reviews i can find?

Perhaps after tuning, we can provide a link for everyone to buy it.

[nicklasb]

Ok. I am really trying not to be negative, but it does not seem like sc035hgs (which has no datasheet in the link you provide) is very widely/easily available or common, which I see as a big issue, as I don't seem to be able to just drop an order to AliExpress.
Obviously, If Espressif have some special relationship with the manufacturer I can understand, but if not, please focus on those most available and used for the different use cases. I cannot bet any business on that (very feature-restricted) sensor, I am afraid.