A depth camera based on a VCSEL array light source, comprising: a structured light projection module (104) comprising a VCSEL array light source (301) and used for emitting a structured light pattern to the space, the structured light pattern comprising one or a combination of a sparse structured light pattern (308) and a dense structured light pattern (309); an acquisition module (105) used for acquiring the structured light pattern reflected by a target; and a processor (102) used for calculating a depth image according to the structured light pattern. The structured light pattern comprising one or a combination of the sparse structured light pattern (308) and the dense structured light pattern (309) can be emitted to the space by means of the VCSEL array light source (301), and the depth image with high precision and high frame rate can be obtained by acquiring the structured light pattern and performing matching calculation on the structured light pattern, so that a depth camera can be applied more widely.