Pi Camera
pi-camera

This page collects different ways to use Raspberry Pi computer boards (and related boards) to make small, cheap, lightweight cameras for different purposes, including #aerial-mapping, #balloon-mapping, #kite-mapping, #timelapse and #spectrometry. ## Raspberry Pi Simple Camera Kit We've [been working on some software](https://github.com/publiclab/image-builder-rpi/) for this widely used mini camera-and-computer in a tiny box (especially the lightweight "Zero W" model) to make it available with a **pre-flashed SD card** that turns this into a **ready-to-use WiFi enabled camera**. This gets over many of the barriers of using the regular Raspberry Pi kit and having to do a lot of programming/installing to get it running. We've managed to get a **plug and play** version running! Just plug it in using a Micro USB cable (or battery pack) and it'll create a WiFi network called "00PiCamera" -- password "publiclab" -- which you can log into from your phone or laptop. You'll quickly see streaming video, be able to take photos, timelapses, or videos, do motion triggered capture, and more: * [Pi Camera Kit](https://store.publiclab.org/products/raspberry-pi-camera) * [Infragram Pi Camera Kit](https://store.publiclab.org/products/infragram-pi-camera) * our [Microscope Pi kits](https://store.publiclab.org/collections/microscopes) use this as well * [Pre-flashed SD cards for Raspberry Pi cameras](https://store.publiclab.org/products/pi-builder-cards) * combine with (maybe?) [CR123a lithium battery](https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=cr123a) (and tell us how that goes!) For more on the open source Pi Builder software that made this possible, [see this blog post](/notes/icarito/10-21-2018/introducing-pi-builder) and [troubleshoot on this wiki page](/pi-builder) [notes:grid:activity:pi-camera-setup] **** ## Questions Questions can be either frequently asked questions, or "next step" challenges we're looking to solve. [questions:pi-camera] ## Activities Activities show how to use this project, step by step. [activities:pi-camera] **** ### Resources * Camera module http://m.e-cantonfair.com/#/product/552106 * Focus tricks https://raspi.tv/2013/adapt-your-raspberry-pi-camera-for-close-up-use * Very detailed documentation https://elinux.org/Rpi_Camera_Module * Datasheets and very detailed documentation on v1 camera: https://github.com/techyian/MMALSharp/wiki/OmniVision-OV5647-Camera-Module * Datasheets and very detailed documentation on v2 camera: https://github.com/techyian/MMALSharp/wiki/Sony-IMX219-Camera-Module...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
warren "This is a great post!!!! :tada: Am I understanding that at 850nm five dollar bills have blank regions? Great notes on the lens tool! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "For what it's worth, the Lego Spectrometer page lays out some reasons why the lego version is going to replace the 3.0 version: https://publiclab...." | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "I'd love to see maybe a grid of comparison on different settings! This was an interesting example of that: https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/09-1..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren " @warren has marked warren as a co-author. " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "@maggPi @partsandcrafts @wmacfarl @kgradow1 @dusjagr @gaudi @maxliboiron @j-bower @amirberagain " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Also could be interesting to @maggpi -- check it out! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
sjmanosalvas "@carolccarvalho please your help, I trying to do a similar project for school, but I'm new with MATLAB program, Could you send your codes to implem..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
liz "WOw @MaggPi, this is really important work! I'm leaving this link by @haines241 as a comment VS a direct answer because it has an interesting exper..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Wow, awesome, thanks for the help! Also, you can just call me Jeff -- or @warren -- no Mister necessary -- thanks! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
MaggPi "link above is for CS Mounts, link below is for m12 mounts.... http://www.m12lenses.com/M12-Lens-Holders-s/61.htm " | Read more » over 6 years ago
MaggPi "Mr Warren, it looks shorter but seems to fit a M12 lens thread. You would have to measure the hole spacing (21mm) to determine if it's compatibl..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "We'll send you one, to test! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Aha! It was! This means we could use some of your adapters on these webcams, too! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Hi, @maggpi! I was taking apart a webcam and wondered if this is the same lens mount? " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Hi! I'm not sure why it's inverted ... maybe it's more stable? A good question to ask @partsandcrafts folks. We've been having a lot of success wi..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
MaggPi "Mr Warren, -That would be great! Not sure if I can do anything more but take some pictures but happy to try. Initial questions: -Please note, I o..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Hi, @maggpi -- what do you think of trying this out with one of our microscope stage prototypes? Could we send you some parts to test it out with a..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Hi @partsandcrafts @bmela @wmacfarl @kgradow1 - I broke out the "install on an SD card" steps into a separate activity: https://publiclab.org/note..." | Read more » over 6 years ago
stevie "@stevie awards a barnstar to MaggPi for their awesome contribution! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "Wow! @stevie, check it out! " | Read more » over 6 years ago
cfastie "Probably good that they didn't contact me. I would have said only "Blue filter?" " | Read more » over 6 years ago
tech4gt "@warren please suggest if anything needs to be added? " | Read more » over 6 years ago
nedhorning "Yes - the author contacted me shortly before posting the blog " | Read more » over 6 years ago
warren "@nedhorning @cfastie did you hear about this? We just learned of it! Amazing :-) " | Read more » over 6 years ago