Raspberry Pi is a versatile computer that can do a lot. Apart from the functionality of a typical desktop computer for office tasks and browsing the Internet, it can also be used as an advanced external hardware driver. One of the optional elements of additional equipment for the Raspberry Pi is a miniature HD camera module. Dedicated Raspberry Pi camera modules allow you to take photos and record videos in very good quality. Thanks to this you can build a macro-photography bus as well as an image monitoring system for security purposes. In this article we describe how to connect and operate the Raspberry Pi camera.
How to connect camera module to Raspberry Pi?
Before unpacking the RPi camera, make sure you get your hands free of any static electricity by touching a metal tap, heater, or other object that is properly grounded. When unpacking the camera module, it can be easily damaged due to the sensitivity of onboard electronics to electrostatic discharge (ESD). After unpacking the camera module from the box and anti-static bag, release the CSI connector plastic latches. The CSI connector is placed on a Raspberry Pi board. The multi-cable tape from the camera module should be inserted into the CSI connector with the blue cover oriented towards the Ethernet connector (except for the Pi 4B model, the CSI connector is placed between the micro HDMI socket and the 3.5mm audio jack socket). After inserting multi-wire ribbon into the CSI connector, make sure that ribbon pins are evenly inserted into the connector, fix the ribbon and press the CSI connector latches on both sides. The camera is now ready for use.
How to use the camera with Raspberry Pi?
Before we start using webcam, we need to check if Raspberry Pi software is up-to-date and that all the necessary drivers are installed. Don’t forget about the Internet connection. Open the console and type the command:
Confirm it with Enter. Open the OS configuration options, then “Interfaces” tab, then click “Enabled” next to “Camera”. Now you have to reboot your Raspberry Pi. Open the command console again and after entering the “raspistill” command a list of options and parameters that we can customize for taking photos will be displayed, eg image dimensions & quality. Likewise, when you want to list the commands and parameters for movie recording, type the command “raspivid”.
The default image resolution for video recording is 1920 x 1080.
To take a photo, enter “raspistill -o name.jpg” in the command console, where “name” is the file name of the photo. Set the camera’s physical position, press Enter and it’s done. Each time you take a picture, you must enter a new file name each time. However, if you want to record a movie, enter “raspivid -o name.h264 -t 10000”, where “name” is the file name of the video, h264 is a supported video codec and 10000 is an example duration time of video which is measured in milliseconds – in this case it’s a 10000ms which is equal to 10s, but you can set it on a different value, depending on your needs. By default, photos and videos are saved to the root folder on the Raspberry Pi OS. To open the photo preview, click on the photo thumbnail. However, to play movies, you need to type “omxplayer name.h264” in the commands console (where “name” is a file name of the video) and press Enter. Enjoy your video!
