It's super dark, almost pitch black without LED flashlight shining on things

[m-7761]

After setup my image is pitch black (in Discord app) trying to set up video conferencing in short order. I feel like there should be instructions about this.

[tufeixp]

Maybe a custom INF driver should be installed and set CacheUVCControl to 1, or have to reset the exposure value each time connected.
ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/stream/camera-device-uvc-control-cache

[zoeleu]

Late, but you can open OBS, create a cropped camera, and change the exposure to "auto" inside OBS.

[equinox-and-solstice]

Late, but you can open OBS, create a cropped camera, and change the exposure to "auto" inside OBS.

This is exactly what I did. In OBS, in the Sources box/tab, add a Video Capture Device and set it to the USB Camera-OV580. I called mine "PS5 Cam". After that, go into the PS5 Cam properties, and hit Configure Video. There are two tabs/pages of settings there, so be sure to check both. OBS allows a lot of customization to the camera that I wish I could find somewhere in Windows itself. OBS, unlike some other programs, also uses both lenses of the camera, which is.. interesting. This may also be why @matteoturini mentions the cropping in OBS.

However, OBS doesn't retain these settings long-term. Really, the system doesn't even auto-load the firmware, nor the video/camera settings like exposure / brightness / contrast etc. This may make sense with the directive "Need to repeat step 4 every time you disconnect the camera for the PC" there on https://github.com/Hackinside/PS5_camera_files#instructions (where step 4 is "Make sure that the OrbisEyeCameraFirmwareLoader.exe is in the same folder as firmware.bin and run it"). Indeed, in order for the camera to work properly after a Windows restart, I always need to unplug the camera, plug it back in, wait for Device Manager to recognize it as a USB device, and then run the firmware loader again as in step 4. After that, OBS has forgotten the settings. Perhaps it isn't OBS so much as the as the control cache, as @tufeixp mentioned previously.

[bambolelooo]

Had the same issue with camera plugged into USB hub. Plugging the camera into true USB 3.0 port seems to solve my problem. (my USB hub port is marked blue, but it appears to actually be USB 2.0. I plugged my camera in my laptop blue port and the image is now as bright as it should be)

[mario0vasconcelos]

Changing the framerate affects the exposure.

[zoeleu]

Opening the Windows Camera app also sets the exposure temporarily.