Hey, I just got the 8MP SONY IMX179 USB Camera Shield and I can’t get it working at all on my Windows 10 64-bit machine. I followed the Arducam quickstart guide, connected the camera, and when I run AMCap.exe I immediately get “Error 80070005: Cannot create video capture filter.” The video window never appears. I’ve honestly never gotten this thing to work even once.
Hi, thanks for the details. Error 80070005 is the Windows access-denied code (E_ACCESSDENIED), and in AMCap it typically shows up right when the app tries to create the video capture filter. So we’re looking at either the driver/software setup for the USB Camera Shield or a permission/dependency problem on the machine.
A couple of quick questions:
- Which exact AMCap build are you running (the one bundled with our package or a generic download)?
- Can you open Device Manager and tell me whether the camera shows up under “Cameras” or “Imaging devices”, and whether there’s any warning triangle on it?
Also, can you try opening the built-in Windows 10 “Camera” app and let me know whether it can actually produce video? That’ll tell us if the hardware/driver stack is alive and the problem is isolated to AMCap.
The AMCap.exe is the one that came in the download from your site, I didn’t swap it for anything else.
In Device Manager I see it under “Cameras” as “USB Camera”. No warning triangle or yellow bang that I can see. It looks normal.
I’ll go try the Windows Camera app now and report back.
OK tried the Windows Camera app. It opens and it does show live video from the camera. So the camera itself seems to be working?
But AMCap still fails with the same 80070005 error every time. So it’s specifically AMCap that won’t create the capture filter.
Good, that’s actually really useful. If the Windows Camera app shows live video, then the device is enumerating and the basic driver stack is fine, which points the problem at AMCap itself and how it’s creating the capture filter rather than the camera hardware.
Things I want to check next:
- Are you launching AMCap as Administrator? Right-click > Run as administrator, then try again. Access-denied at filter creation can happen if the app doesn’t have the right rights on the capture device or on the registry keys it touches.
- Do you have any other capture software installed (OBS, Zoom, Teams, etc.) that might be holding the camera? Close everything that could grab the camera, then retry.
- What version of the AMCap .exe are you running? Right-click the exe > Properties > Details, and tell me the file version.
Also worth checking: is AMCap 32-bit while your OS/driver stack expects 64-bit? Let me know what the Details tab says.
Ran AMCap as Administrator, same 80070005 error, no change.
Closed everything else (Zoom and Teams were running in the tray). Still fails the same way.
Details tab on AMCap.exe says File version 3.0.9.0, Product version 3.0.9.0. I don’t see anything about 32-bit vs 64-bit in there. How do I tell?
You can check the bitness by opening Task Manager while AMCap is running (or from the Details tab in newer builds of the Properties dialog it’ll say “32-bit” next to the name if it’s 32-bit). If it doesn’t say 32-bit, it’s 64-bit.
While you check that, two more things:
- Try a different USB port again, but specifically a port directly on the motherboard (rear I/O), not a hub or front-panel header. USB 3.x vs 2.0 can matter here.
- In Device Manager, right-click the camera > Uninstall device, check “Delete the driver software for this device” if it offers it, then unplug, replug, and let Windows re-enumerate. Then retry AMCap.
Also, when the error pops up, does AMCap show any devices at all in the Devices menu, or is the list empty?
AMCap shows up as 32-bit in Task Manager.
Tried a rear USB port directly on the motherboard instead of the front panel. Reinstalled the device in Device Manager (uninstalled + replugged). After it re-enumerated I ran AMCap again and still get Error 80070005.
When I go to the Devices menu in AMCap before it errors, the list is empty. Nothing to select.
That empty device list plus the access-denied at filter creation is a strong hint that AMCap (32-bit) can’t enumerate/attach to the capture filter for this device even though the OS-level Camera app can. So the camera and driver are present; the DirectShow capture filter that AMCap relies on isn’t being created for it.
A few more checks to narrow it down:
- Run the AMCap from our package as-is AND make sure the camera isn’t already open by another process (check Task Manager for anything holding a camera handle).
- Open the Windows “Camera” app, confirm video, close it fully, then immediately launch AMCap and try again.
- Let me know your exact Windows 10 build (Win+R > winver). Some builds have had camera privacy/permission quirks.
- Check Settings > Privacy > Camera and make sure “Allow apps to access your camera” is ON, and that the desktop app access toggle is on too.
Send me whatever you see and we’ll keep going from there.
Checked video in the Windows Camera app again, confirmed it works, closed it completely.
Launching AMCap right after: still Error 80070005.
winver says: Windows 10, Version 21H2 (OS Build 19044).
Privacy settings: “Allow apps to access your camera” is ON. There’s also a toggle for letting desktop apps access the camera, that’s ON too. I still get the same error.
Thanks. So to sum up where we are:
- Device: 8MP SONY IMX179 USB Camera Shield on Windows 10 64-bit (21H2, build 19044)
- Camera enumerates in Device Manager as “USB Camera”, no driver warnings
- Windows Camera app CAN produce live video (device/driver OK)
- AMCap.exe (32-bit, v3.0.9.0) fails with “Error 80070005: Cannot create video capture filter” — Devices list empty
- Already tried: different USB ports (including rear motherboard ports), full restart, closing other camera apps, running AMCap as Administrator, uninstall/reinstall of the device, camera privacy permissions all enabled
Since the Windows app works but AMCap can’t create the DirectShow capture filter, this is pointing at the USB Camera Shield driver/software setup combined with an access/permission (or missing dependency) issue on the capture filter side — not the sensor hardware. We haven’t locked down the exact root cause yet, so I don’t want to hand you a guess.
Next step I’d like to try: a clean reinstall of the USB Camera Shield driver/software package and re-test AMCap before we go deeper into the DirectShow filter angle. I’ll send you the correct package and any helper tool via private message — please check your messages and try it, then report back with what happens (same error, different error, or video).
If anything changes, reply here with the exact error text and I’ll pick it up from there.