Hi everyone, I’m having a strange color issue with my Arducam camera module. The center of the image looks fine, but there’s a noticeable reddish tint along all four edges — almost like a vignette but in red. I first noticed it outdoors and thought maybe it was IR related, but it also shows up in indoor shots under artificial lighting. Has anyone seen this before?
I’ve attached a couple of sample images — one outdoor, one indoor:
That does look like a color shading issue rather than IR interference, especially since it’s happening in both lighting conditions. Can you share the exact model number of the Arducam module you’re using, and confirm which lens is attached? Also, have you tried any other lenses with this module?
Sure, the module is the Arducam 8MP Sony IMX219 Camera Module with M12 Lens — model B0103 (LS40136). I’m using it on a Raspberry Pi 4.
I’ve tested with:
The stock M12 lens that came with the module
A couple of other M12 lenses I had lying around, including some that definitely have IR-cut filters built in
The reddish edges show up with all of them, so I don’t think it’s a lens defect or an IR filter problem. The center of the image is always perfectly color balanced though, which is what’s confusing me.
Thanks for the details — this narrows things down quite a bit. What you’re describing is a textbook case of lens shading (sometimes called color shading or vignetting correction).
Here’s what’s happening: the B0103 module uses an M12 lens with a 70° field of view. At wider FOVs, the angle at which light hits the sensor at the edges differs significantly from the center, which causes color shifts — typically a reddish or pinkish cast toward the edges. The sensor itself needs per-lens calibration data to compensate for this.
On the Raspberry Pi platform, this correction is applied through a lens shading tuning file — specifically a JSON file that the ISP (Image Signal Processor) uses to normalize color across the entire frame. Without the right tuning file for your 70° FOV lens, you’ll get exactly what you’re seeing: clean center, tinted edges.
The fix is to load the correct tuning file for your lens. The one you need is imx219_70d.json, which is calibrated specifically for the 70° FOV M12 lens on the B0103.
I’ve sent you the tuning file via private message. For the installation steps, follow the guide here:
Basically you’ll save the JSON file to your Pi and point the camera configuration at it. Once applied, the ISP should correct the color shading across the frame. Give that a try and let us know if the reddish edges are gone.
That makes a lot of sense — I had no idea the lens FOV required its own calibration file. I’ll grab the file from my messages and follow the guide. Will report back once I’ve had a chance to test it. Thanks for the quick diagnosis!