Raspberry Pi High-Quality Camera

Interchangeable lenses, powerful sensor, flexibility and resolution all make a winner says.

- Les Pounder

SPECS

Sensor: Sony IMX477R, 7.9mm MP: 12.3mp

Output: RAW12/10/8, COMP8

Foucs: 12.5mm – 22.4mm

Lens: C/ CS-mount

The Raspberry Pi Camera Module is one of those add-ons that we love to play with. Creating images and videos using a Pi in real-time is still mind-blowing for most, but the two previous first-party camera modules have suffered with a fixed focus lens – albeit one of good quality – and fragile construction.

Enter the Raspberry Pi High-Quality Camera, a new module that ups the image quality with a new 12MP sensor and supports interchangeable lenses and tripod mounting. The module is larger and, at £50 without any of the required lenses, quite a bit more expensive than prior models. However, the increased resolution and flexibility make it a great choice for photography-intensive projects.

A 12.3 megapixel Sony IMX477R sensor offers significantly more pixels than the 8MP Pi Camera V2, the previous first-party module which will remain on sale. The camera is also much larger than previous models, measuring 38mm square, versus 24 x 23mm for the V2.

The size increase is because of an interchangeable C mount where compatible lenses (sold separately) can be screwed into place. The included adapter will also enable CS lenses to be used with the camera.

At the four corners of the camera are M2.5 screw holes, which can be used to mechanically connect the camera to an object or frame. At the base of the camera is a 0.25-inch screw point for connecting the camera to a standard photography tripod.