ESP32-CAM Camera Boards: Pin and GPIOs Assignment Guide

ESP32 development boards with camera are becoming popular with the maker community. There are different models of ESP32 Camera boards with different features. Each ESP32 Camera dev board uses different GPIOs to connect to the camera. In this guide we’ll show you the pin definition to include in your code for each board.

This guide covers the pin/GPIOs assignment for the following ESP32 Camera Development boards:

• ESP32-CAM AI-Thinker
• Freenove ESP32-Wrover CAM
• TTGO T-Journal
• M5-Camera Model A
• M5-Camera Model B
• M5 ESP32-Camera (without PSRAM)
• ESP-EYE
• TTGO T-Camera Plus
• TTGO T-Camera (with PIR sensor)

For a detailed comparison of the different ESP32 Camera Boards, read:

• ESP32 Camera Dev Boards Review and Comparison (Best ESP32-CAM)

ESP32-CAM AI-Thinker Pin Assignment

The following image shows the pinout diagram for the ESP32-CAM AI-Thinker.

This is the OV2640 camera pin assignment for the ESP32-CAM AI-Thinker board:

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM     32
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM    -1
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM      0
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM     26
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM     27
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM       35
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM       34
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM       39
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM       36
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM       21
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM       19
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM       18
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM        5
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM    25
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM     23
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM     22

The ESP32-CAM AI-Thinker comes with 10 exposed GPIOs. Learn how to use those GPIOs with this ESP32-CAM Pinout Reference Guide.

Review: ESP32-CAM with OV2640 Camera

Freenove ESP32-Wrover CAM Board

Pin definition for the ESP32-Wrover CAM board (Freenove brand). In some of the examples, this pin definition is under the CAMERA_MODEL_WROVER_KIT.

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM    -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM   -1
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM    21
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM    26
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM    27

#define Y9_GPIO_NUM      35
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM      34
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM      39
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM      36
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM      19
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM      18
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM       5
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM       4
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM   25
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM    23
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM    22

TTGO T-Journal Pin Assignment

Pin assignment for the TTGO T-Journal board.

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM     32
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM    -1
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM     27
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM     25
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM     23
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM       19
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM       36
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM       18
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM       39
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM       5
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM       34
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM       35
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM       17
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM    22
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM     26
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM     21

Review: TTGO T-Journal ESP32 Camera Development Board

M5-Camera Model A Pin Assignment

There are two similar models: M5-Camera Model A and M5-Camera Model B. The model A looks as shown in the following figure.

Pin assignment for the M5-Camera Model A.

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM     -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM    15
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM     27
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM     25
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM     23
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM       19
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM       36
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM       18
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM       39
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM        5
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM       34
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM       35
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM       32
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM    22
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM     26
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM     21

M5-Camera Model B Pin Assignment

The M5-Camera Model B looks as follows:

Pin assignment for the M5-Camera Model B.

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM     -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM    15
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM     27
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM     22
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM     23
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM       19
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM       36
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM       18
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM       39
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM        5
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM       34
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM       35
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM       32
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM    25
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM     26
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM     21

M5-Stack ESP32-Camera (without PSRAM) Pin Assignment

Pin assignment for the M5-stack ESP32 camera without PSRAM.

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM     -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM    15
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM     27
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM     25
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM     23
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM       19
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM       36
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM       18
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM       39
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM        5
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM       34
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM       35
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM       17
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM    22
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM     26
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM     21

ESP-EYE Pin Assignment

Pin assignment for the ESP-EYE camera.

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM    -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM   -1
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM    4
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM    18
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM    23
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM      36
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM      37
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM      38
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM      39
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM      35
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM      14
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM      13
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM      34
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM   5
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM    27
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM    25

Review: ESP-EYE: ESP32-based board for AI

TTGO T-Camera Plus Pin Assignment

Pin assignment for the TTGO T-Camera Plus.

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM    -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM   -1
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM    4
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM    18
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM    23
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM      36
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM      37
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM      38
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM      39
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM      35
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM      26
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM      13
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM      34
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM   5
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM    27
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM    25

Review: TTGO T-Camera Plus ESP32 Development Board

TTGO T-Camera with PIR Sensor Pin Assignment

Pin definition for the T-Camera with PIR sensor (without microphone and without BME280):

#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM -1
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM 32
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM 13
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM 12
#define Y9_GPIO_NUM 39
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM 36
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM 23
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM 18
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM 15
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM 4
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM 14
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM 5
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM 27
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM 25
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM 19

Wrapping Up

Having the right pin definition for your ESP32 camera board is very important. Otherwise, your code won’t work or your board will not initialize the camera.

We have several tutorials for the ESP32-CAM that may also be compatible with other ESP32 camera boards as long as you use the right pin definition in your code.

• ESP32-CAM Take Photo and Save to MicroSD Card
• ESP32-CAM PIR Motion Detector with Photo Capture
• ESP32-CAM Video Streaming and Face Recognition with Arduino IDE
• Build ESP32-CAM Projects (eBook)
• Read all our ESP32-CAM Projects, Tutorials and Guides