Pi Camera Module – 5MP

9 December 2018 - 0 Comments

Pi Camera Module

PiCamera Pinout

The Pi camera module is a portable light weight camera that supports Raspberry Pi. It communicates with Pi using the MIPI camera serial interface protocol. It is normally used in image processing, machine learning or in surveillance projects. It is commonly used in surveillance drones since the payload of camera is very less. Apart from these modules Pi can also use normal USB webcams that are used along with computer.

Pin Description

Pin Number	Pin Name	Description
1	Ground	System Ground
2,3	CAM1_DN0, CAM1_DP0	MIPI Data Positive and MIPI Data Negative for data lane 0
4	Ground	System Ground
5,6	CAM1_DN1, CAM1_DP1	MIPI Data Positive and MIPI Data Negative for data lane 1
7	Ground	System Ground
8,9	CAM1_CN, CAM1_CP	These pins provide the clock pulses for MIPI data lanes
10	Ground	System Ground
11	CAM_GPIO	GPIO pin used optionally
12	CAM_CLK	Optional clock pin
13,14	SCL0, SDA0	Used for I2C communication
15	+3.3V	Power pin

PiCam Features

5MP colour camera module without microphone for Raspberry Pi
Supports both Raspberry Pi Model A and Model B
MIPI Camera serial interface
Omnivision 5647 Camera Module
Resolution: 2592 * 1944
Supports: 1080p, 720p and 480p
Light weight and portable (3g only)

Note: Complete Technical Details can be found at the PiCam datasheet given at the end of this page.

Alternatives Camera module for Raspberry Pi

IR Night Vision camera, USB Camera, 8MP MIPI Camera, 5MP Wide angle camera with IR.

How to use Camera module with Pi

The Pi camera module when purchased comes along with a ribbon cable, this cable has to be connected to the CSI (Camera Serial Interface) port of the Pi. This port can be found near the HDMI port just connect the cable to it as shown below.

Raspberry Pi CSI Port

After interfacing the hardware, we have to configure the Pi to enable Camera. Use the command “sudo raspi-config” to open the configuration window. Then under interfacing options enable camera. Finally reboot the Pi and your camera module is ready to use. Then, you can make the Pi to take photos or record videos using simple python scripts.