The latest version of Pi's mainstream camera module has autofocus, HDR and wide angle:
Raspberry Pi has released an updated camera, Camera Module 3 (aka Camera v3 or Camera Module v3), with an MSRP of $25 for standard or $35 for the wide angle version. The new module brings more pixels, rivalling the High Quality Camera's 12MP while keeping the smaller sensor-on-a-board form factor. What's new about this tiny camera is autofocus. This is the first official Raspberry Pi camera with autofocus, though Arducam's High Resolution camera delivered that functionality last year.
The Raspberry Pi camera was the first official accessory from Raspberry Pi, way back in 2013. The original 5MP model was updated to v2 in 2016 which brought 8MP to the game. Then the cameras got a bit more "serious" with the 12MP Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera in 2020; this version brought interchangeable lenses and a plethora of choices for the keen photographer, but it's pricey and doesn't come with a lens.
Fast forward to 2023 and we have a new mainstream Pi camera, the Raspberry Pi Camera v3 which updates the original camera's sensor-on-a-board form factor to pack a 12MP Sony IMX708 sensor and auto focus. It also comes in four flavors: standard, wide angle, NOIR and NOIR wide angle.
Specs, comparisons to legacy cameras and test results available at Tom's Hardware.
Previously:
- Arducam Reveals Hawk-Eye, a 64MP Raspberry Pi Camera
- Raspberry Pi Launches Camera With Interchangeable Lens System for $50
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Raspberry Pi launches camera with interchangeable lens system for $50:
Attention tinkerers: Raspberry Pi has released a new camera for its tiny single-board computers. The "Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera" is on sale now for $50, and it will be sold alongside the older Raspberry Pi Camera Module V2, which will still be the usual $25. This is a for-real camera system, so that $50 won't get you a ready-out-of-the-box Raspberry Pi camera, you'll also need to buy a lens for the—get this—interchangeable lens system that the high-quality camera supports.
Both cameras plug into the Raspberry Pi computer's camera serial interface using a ribbon cable, but the High Quality Camera looks like a massive upgrade, both in size and (hopefully) in image quality. While the $25 Camera Module V2 uses an ancient, low-end smartphone camera sensor with a microscopic lens, the High Quality Camera is a different class of product entirely. It's not a newer smartphone sensor, which is what I assumed when I first saw the news, but instead it's something that was originally intended for camcorders. It's a 12.3MP Sony IMX477 sensor with pretty huge 1.55 µm pixels and a 7.81 mm diagonal (1/2.3"-type). That's about double the sensor area of the Camera Module V2.
[...] The specs are in the same ballpark as a modern smartphone camera sensor, but the lenses for the High Quality Camera will blow your phone camera out of the water. There is an interchangeable lens system with support for off-the-shelf C- and CS-mount lenses and a back focus adjustment ring for swapping between lenses. This mount isn't as big as a DSLR lens—it's a smaller size that frequently gets used for 16mm CCTV video cameras. In addition to the native C-mount lenses out there, there are also plenty of adapters, and you can easily jump up to a real DSLR size like an EF Canon mount.
Would make for a nice camera rig on a telescope
Arducam Reveals Hawk-eye, a 64MP Raspberry Pi Camera:
Arducam's latest Raspberry Pi camera module, Hawk-eye, is now available for pre-order, somehow cramming 64 megapixels into a sensor measuring just 7.4mm x 5.55mm. Its lens has full autofocus, a maximum aperture of f/1.8, and sees an angle of view of 84 degrees - the same as a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera.
Of course, all those megapixels mean there's plenty of opportunity to crop into your images or print them on huge pieces of paper - Sony's A7R IV currently takes the crown for the highest resolution full-frame (24mm x 36mm) mirrorless camera with 61MP, while Nikon and Canon top out at around the 45MP mark. Fujifilm will sell you a 102MP camera, but it uses its 32.9mm x 43.8mm medium format sensor.
Arducam's new device uses the same libcamera library, ribbon connector, and dimensions as the official Raspberry Pi camera module 2.1, so it can slot into existing Pi camera setups, and you can use up to four of them with a single board to create a multiplexed depth-mapping system. The camera can capture still images at up to 9152x6944 pixels on a Raspberry Pi 4 or Compute Module 4 (16MP on older boards and Zeros), and video at up to 1080p30 on a Raspberry Pi, though you may be able to take it higher on other boards, up to 9152x6944 at 2.7 frames per second.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 17, @11:40AM (1 child)
Maybe it doesn't matter in the typical use case for this camera, but for me the biggest improvement in digital cameras was image stabilization. All of a sudden, I stopped taking blurry snapshots.
Seems like even a "stationary" camera could profit from IS if it was mounted outdoors, where high winds or other disturbances could cause the mounting point to sway?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by aafcac on Tuesday January 17, @11:51PM
That depends on how the IS is engineered, a typical tripod will have a different frequency of vibration than a handheld camera will. Early IS systems didn't tolerate being mounted on a tripod very well and even now there are cameras that give you sharper images if the IS is off when mounted on a tripod. A lot of that has to do with the vibrations on a tripod being a lot less pronounced which can lead to the processor handling it not having enough to work with.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Opportunist on Tuesday January 17, @12:06PM (4 children)
Now if they just produced the computer to attach it to in numbers sufficient to actually be able to buy one...
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Tuesday January 17, @03:29PM (2 children)
There's plenty of alternatives:
https://hackerboards.com/ [hackerboards.com]
https://www.findboard.cn/ [findboard.cn]
As was mentioned just today: https://www.cnx-software.com/2023/01/17/findboard-single-board-computer-database/ [cnx-software.com]
compiling...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Opportunist on Wednesday January 18, @03:39PM (1 child)
And they are compatible? I can take the Github project written for the RasPi and compile it with no adjustments? Nope.
Then it doesn't work for 90% of the people out there because they can't do anything but just that. As long as this problem persists, this isn't going to be a workaround for most people out there.
And it's not even just "clueless noobs" that can't rework the libraries or switch the pins on the GPIO to match the different layout of their alternative. There are, e.g., 3D Printers that are built to match a certain brand of RasPi for some of their advanced features. You cannot even substitute for something else because the interface doesn't work.
(Score: 3, Touché) by RamiK on Wednesday January 18, @05:23PM
The 90% "clueless noobs" crowd shouldn't be coming anywhere near exposed electronics in the first place.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday January 18, @06:19PM
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-5-after-2023 [tomshardware.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"