Hey everyone, I’ve got an Arducam 1080P Low Light WDR Ultra Wide Angle USB Camera Module (the IMX291 160° fisheye model) and I’m seeing a black spot on the image every time it’s plugged in. It shows up in the same spot consistently. Has anyone run into this before? I’ve attached a couple of screenshots showing what I’m seeing.
Hi there, thanks for the report. Before we dive deeper, could you try two things? First, give the lens a gentle clean with a microfiber cloth — sometimes a tiny bit of debris on the outer lens surface can cast a shadow that looks like a black spot. Second, if that doesn’t help, try carefully unscrewing the lens from the module and check whether the spot appears to be on the lens itself or on the sensor underneath. That’ll help narrow things down quite a bit.
Okay, so I tried cleaning the lens with a microfiber cloth — wiped it down thoroughly — and the black spot is still there, no change at all. So it’s definitely not external dirt or smudge on the lens surface.
I also went ahead and unscrewed the lens like you suggested. The spot stays visible even with the lens off, which makes me think it’s something on the sensor itself. Here are the images I captured — one shows the defect pretty clearly, the other gives a wider view of the scene:
Any ideas what could cause this? Is this something I can fix myself?
Thanks for the detailed follow-up and the images — those are really helpful. Looking at both shots, the black spot is clearly reproducible and visible in the same position. Since the microfiber cleaning didn’t touch it and the spot persists even with the lens removed, we can rule out external contamination or an issue with the lens optics.
What you’re dealing with here is an internal defect within the camera module itself. The most likely culprits are:
- Dust or debris that got trapped on the image sensor during manufacturing/assembly
- Sensor contamination inside the sealed lens assembly
- A small area of sensor damage (dead pixels or physical defect on the sensor surface)
Unfortunately, this isn’t something you can repair on your own — opening the sensor housing further would almost certainly introduce more dust and could permanently damage the module.
This is a hardware fault. I’ve gone ahead and sent you the details for getting this sorted out via private message — please check your inbox when you get a chance.
Just to close the loop here for anyone else who comes across this thread with a similar issue: the black spot on the image sensor is an internal hardware defect. External lens cleaning won’t resolve it, and removing the lens doesn’t help either. The root cause is contamination or damage at the sensor level inside the module. If you’re seeing the same thing, reach out and we’ll get you taken care of.