Waveshare ESP32-P4 OV5647 Camera Focus Knob

A small, removable focus-adjustment knob for the OV5647 camera that ships with the Waveshare ESP32-P4-WIFI6-Touch-LCD-4.3 (the "with camera" option).

This lens has no autofocus — focus is set by rotating a tiny notched barrel by hand. Fingernails are imprecise, and tweezers slip and gouge the plastic. This knob gives a positive, non-slip grip and a finger wheel so you can dial focus in small, repeatable fractions of a turn — ideal for pulling the factory ~1 ft focus in closer for frame-filling QR scanning. A large central sight hole lets you watch the live camera feed through the knob while you adjust.

How it works

• The hub seats flat on the top of the lens housing's fixed outer cylinder — a wide, stable thrust seat, so the knob doesn't rock.
• Four internal teeth drop into the four notches on the rotating barrel to turn it without slipping.
• Counter-clockwise (viewed from the front) = focus closer; clockwise = farther. Tiny fractions of a turn make a big difference.
• Lifts straight off when you're done — non-permanent.

Fit

Dimensioned from the measured module: rotating barrel ~5.42 mm OD with 4 notches at 90°, outer cylinder 7.24 mm. If your OV5647 module differs, it may not fit — the design is fully parametric and easy to retarget.

Printing

• 0.2 mm nozzle recommended — resolves the small teeth (~0.7 mm) and notch fit. A 0.4 mm nozzle can work but the engagement is finer.
• PLA / PLA+ is ideal; it's a light-duty hand tool. No supports.
• Print wheel-face-down (large flat first layer; teeth print last, on top).
• Small part — a brim helps.
• Recipe that worked for me: Bambu P1S, 0.2 mm nozzle, 0.10 mm layers, 0.14 mm first layer, 65 °C bed, PLA+, brim.

Credit

Engagement pattern confirmed against ArkoXS's Raspberry Pi Camera v1.3 focus tool (same OV5647 notched-barrel family), then rebuilt from scratch and parametrically for this board. Thanks to ArkoXS for the reference.