The Basler ace acA2500-14gm/gc is a 5 MP area-scan camera built on the onsemi MT9P031 progressive-scan CMOS sensor, delivering a native 2592 x 1944 px image at 14.6 fps over a Gigabit Ethernet (GigE Vision) interface. The 1/2.5" optical format (5.7 x 4.28 mm, 7.13 mm diagonal) is paved with very fine 2.2 x 2.2 micron pixels, which is what lets such a small sensor carry five megapixels. For an installer, the practical meaning is high spatial detail in a compact frame: this camera is sized to resolve small features, fine print, and tight tolerances rather than to chase frame rate. It ships in a monochrome variant (acA2500-14gm) and a Bayer-filter color variant (acA2500-14gc), so the same body covers both grayscale defect/measurement work and color-dependent inspection.
The defining trade-off here is the rolling shutter. Because the MT9P031 exposes the sensor line by line rather than all at once, the acA2500 is best suited to stationary or slow-moving scenes; fast lateral motion under continuous light will smear or skew. The honest design-in answer is to either keep parts static during capture or to freeze motion with a short, bright strobe flash synchronized to the exposure window so the whole frame effectively sees the same instant. At 14.6 fps the camera is a deliberate-cadence, resolution-first tool, not a high-speed line-rate device. Pair it with hardware triggering through the camera's I/O and a controllable strobe controller when parts are indexing past the station.
Integration is straightforward and cable-friendly. The single GigE link carries both data and, via Power over Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af), power over the same Cat cable up to 100 m, so you can place the camera far from the controller with one wire; a 12 VDC input is also available where PoE infrastructure is absent. Power draw is just 2.7 W and the body weighs 90 g in a compact 42 x 29 x 29 mm box housing, which simplifies mounting on arms, gantries, and tight enclosures. The standard C-mount (with a CS-mount variant) accepts common machine-vision lenses; because pixels are only 2.2 microns, choose a lens with enough resolving power for a 1/2.5" sensor so the optics do not become the limiting factor. Note the IP30 rating and 0-50 C operating range: this is an indoor, cabinet- or guard-protected camera, not a washdown unit, so it needs an enclosure in dusty or wet environments.
Best for
High-detail defect and surface inspection where 5 MP (2592 x 1944) resolution resolves small flaws on stationary or indexed parts
Industrial OCR/OCV and 2D/DPM code reading on printed labels, packaging, and marked components
Dimensional measurement and gauging of small features that benefit from fine 2.2 micron pixels
PoE-powered installs that need long single-cable runs from camera to controller without a separate power supply
Color inspection tasks (print quality, label verification) using the acA2500-14gc Bayer-color variant
Selection notes
Rolling shutter means moving parts should be held still during exposure or frozen with a synchronized strobe flash; avoid continuous-light capture of fast lateral motion to prevent skew/smear
14.6 fps is the ceiling at full resolution, so confirm your line cadence fits; this is a resolution-first camera, not a high-speed one
With 2.2 micron pixels on a 1/2.5" sensor, specify a lens with sufficient resolving power for this format so optics, not the sensor, set the detail limit
Budget the GigE link for bandwidth and cable length (PoE 802.3af up to 100 m); use a NIC/switch that supports the camera and, ideally, jumbo frames for stable 5 MP throughput
IP30 and a 0-50 C range limit this to clean, indoor, temperature-controlled stations; add an enclosure for dust, moisture, or harsh ambient conditions
Choose mono (acA2500-14gm) for maximum sensitivity and detail on grayscale tasks, or color (acA2500-14gc) only when chromatic information is required
Specifications: General
Brand
Basler
Camera type
Area scan
Specifications: Sensor
Resolution
5 MP
Horizontal resolution
2592 x 1944 px
Mono / color
Mono (acA2500-14gm) / Color (acA2500-14gc)
Sensor manufacturer
onsemi
Sensor model
onsemi MT9P031 (progressive scan CMOS)
Shutter
Rolling shutter
Sensor size
1/2.5" (5.7 x 4.28 mm, 7.13 mm diagonal)
Pixel size
2.2 x 2.2 µm
Specifications: Performance
FPS
14.6 fps
Specifications: Interface
Interface
GigE (Gigabit Ethernet, 1000 Mbit/s)
Protocols
GigE Vision, GenICam
Specifications: Optics
Mount
C-mount (CS-mount variant available)
Specifications: Electrical
Power
Power over Ethernet (PoE, IEEE 802.3af) or 12 VDC
Power consumption
2.7 W
Specifications: Environment
IP rating
IP30
Operating temperature
0–50 °C
Specifications: Mechanical
Dimensions
42 x 29 x 29 mm
Weight
90 g
Housing material
Box
Applications this camera is commonly selected for. Open one to see the full recommended hardware and approach.
Matched automatically by: lens mount fits the camera mount · lens image circle covers the camera sensor — this camera: C-mount (CS-mount variant available) · 1/2.5" (5.7 x 4.28 mm, 7.13 mm diagonal) sensor.
By category
All 237C-mount lenses 172Telecentric lenses 62F-mount / large-format lenses 3
By brand
All 237Omron / Sentech 74iRAYPLE 66Basler 65Datalogic / Datasensing 32
Get a first image quickly with the pylon Viewer, then move into the pylon SDK for your application. These cameras are GenICam/GenTL-compliant, so any compliant vision software can drive them as well.
Download and install the pylon Camera Software Suite for your OS from Basler. This provides the pylon Viewer, the GenTL transport-layer producers and the pylon SDK (C/C++/.NET/Python). On Windows the installer adds the needed drivers; on Linux follow the included setup notes for USB and network permissions.
2. Connect the camera and check the link
Cable the camera to its matching interface: GigE Vision to a GigE port (use a quality cable and, ideally, a dedicated NIC with jumbo frames enabled), USB3 Vision to a USB 3.x port with the supplied cable, or CoaXPress to the frame grabber. Provide power where required (PoE, USB bus power, or PoCXP). Open the pylon Viewer and confirm the camera appears in the device list; for GigE, make sure the camera and NIC are on the same subnet.
3. Grab a first image and set exposure, gain and pixel format
Select the camera in the pylon Viewer and start a continuous grab. Adjust exposure time and gain until the image is well exposed (avoid clipped highlights), set the pixel format (e.g. Mono8 or a Bayer/RGB format), and focus the lens. Use a test pattern if the lens or scene is not ready yet.
4. Configure triggering and acquisition
Decide between free-run and triggered acquisition. For synchronized capture, set the trigger source (software or a hardware line on the I/O connector), trigger mode and any debounce or exposure mode, then verify timing. Note the parameter names you change in the Viewer feature tree, as you will reuse them in code.
5. Move to the SDK or a GenICam-compliant library
Recreate your settings in code with the pylon SDK (C, C++, .NET or Python) to open the device, apply the same features and pull frames into your pipeline; pylon vTools and pylon AI can add processing blocks. Because the cameras are GenICam/GenTL standard, third-party vision libraries work too. Once the image stream is stable, you can route frames to a deep-learning inspection such as Rosepetal for automated defect detection.
Frequently asked questions
It is a 5 MP camera with a native resolution of 2592 x 1944 px running at 14.6 fps at full frame, built on the onsemi MT9P031 CMOS sensor.
It uses a rolling shutter. For moving parts, hold them stationary during exposure or freeze motion with a synchronized strobe flash to avoid distortion.
It connects over GigE (Gigabit Ethernet, 1000 Mbit/s) using the GigE Vision and GenICam protocols, and can be powered by Power over Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af) or 12 VDC, drawing 2.7 W.
It has a C-mount (a CS-mount variant is available) and a 1/2.5" sensor (5.7 x 4.28 mm, 7.13 mm diagonal) with 2.2 x 2.2 micron pixels.
Yes, it comes in monochrome (acA2500-14gm) and color (acA2500-14gc). It is rated IP30 with a 0-50 C operating range, so it is intended for clean indoor use and needs an enclosure in dusty or wet conditions.
