New 8-megapixel camera board on sale at $25 | Hacker News Reader

New 8-megapixel camera board on sale at $25

raspberrypi.org

134 pointssohkamyung49 comments

Awesome stuff.

I do wish they'd release a module without the bayer filter for monochrome imaging.

Granted it is maybe quite a bit of work to rewrite parts of the ISP to suit a relatively niche market of monochrome sensor...

The color filter is much more closely integrated with the camera sensor than the IR filter was. I don't know for sure, but I suspect it can't be removed without risking damage to the sensor.

The extent of the risk depends on the sensor and board assembly. But removing the CFA is not unthinkable[1].

[1] https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/210686-moon-with-de-bayer...

It can be done, yes, but it's a risky hack of an operation that literally involves prying the cover off the camera with a knife and polishing away the filter. It's not production-ready by any means.

Maybe I missed it, but there's no mention of whether the focus is adjustable. In the previous version, it was glued at the factory to a fixed focus and the default was wrong for close-ups on objects. Sure, you could use pliers to "break" the glue, but there was a non-zero risk of breaking the sensor. I decided to go with a different, more adjustable-on-purpose camera, instead.

According to the RS Components page [0] it appears to be fixed focus.

[0] http://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=raspberry...

Thanks. I did miss it. :) Newark/element14's product info page didn't have that info when I checked on my mobile. (Edit: The info about fixed focus is there on the desktop version of the page. The Product Overview section didn't show up in the mobile version on my Nexus 5): https://www.newark.com/raspberry-pi/rpi-8mp-camera-board/ras...

I would like to see a round cable version. I know this may not fit the design ethos, but I've had projects that I really wanted to use the Pi+camera and couldn't because of camera positioning (a 1m round cable would have worked) .

You'd be better off getting a USB webcam for that, I don't imagine CSI (Camera Serial Interface Type 2, the connection the camera modules use) works well over long distances.

Works fine for me with a 2m ribbon cable.

I'd like to see something I can fit into a door's peephole. Everything I've found so far is too big or too bulky and needs an adaptor.

I use this [1] HDMI Cable Extension which allows you to use and HDMI cable between them. Works perfectly.

[1] https://www.tindie.com/products/freto/pi-camera-hdmi-cable-e...

The connection standard they used is really meant for use in a mobile phone, with a 3cm ribbon going from the board to the camera. I've seen CSI cables close to a meter for sale, but I'm not sure how reliably they work. The sibling post about the HDMI cable seems like your best bet.

The USB camera idea would work too, but it wouldn't have the same performance characteristics as the PiCam (The Pi's USB implementation is terrible, as far as throughput and CPU load).

I've been looking into home security lately and with the more expensive camera-kits (say $2k+)...

I've been wondering if a de-centralized raspberry-pi setup might be so much better. And with 8mp I think I should start a POC, right?

There are a few projects out there [0][1] that make it fairly simple to set up a motion detection capable solution with a simple USB webcam. I'm currently waiting on a cheap infrared camera from China ($4!) for use with my Pi, but I've done testing with an older Logitech HD camera and have had excellent results.

[0] Motion: http://lavrsen.dk/foswiki/bin/view/Motion/WebHome

[1] MotionEye: https://github.com/ccrisan/motioneye

If you don't mind, could you please post a link to the $4 IR camera?

Indeed. (I have a project that needs to distinguish between cats in the dark. No kidding!)

A pet door?

Cat-specific food bowls :-)

I was researching this a few months ago, but gave up upon the cat facial recognition. The best I could find for the raspberry pi was opencv haar filters for humans, and that was just detecting if a face was present in the video frame. I'm curious, how are you planning on doing cat facial detection for this?

maybe he has a white cat and a black cat... but I would probably use RFID chips in their collar.

That's what I'm trying first. RFID range is an issue, however. The electronics for this is easy, the problem is that I suck at carpentry.

The cats in question are pretty different (one black, one orange), so discrimination in visible light is easy. Not sure about IR yet.

I picked one up on eBay [0] that is currently in transit to my apartment. Manual focus, somewhat garish looking and with probably crummy resolution, but I'm willing to try it for $4.

There are a large number of similar cameras on the market that ship from China/Hong Kong on eBay. YMMV, but if you've got a few bucks and are willing to wait, it may be worthwhile (depending on your use).

[0] http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-50M-6-LED-Night-Vision-Webcam-Ca...

Have you looked at https://zoneminder.com/ and the IP cameras it supports?

Definitely consider zoneminder. I've used it with Foscam and Crenova ip cameras with good results. The cameras I got were $30 for a basic dome and $70 for a pan-tilt.

However, if you do decide to go this route I would be prepared to put all of the cameras on a separate network without access to the internet or the rest of the lan. They are literally little linux machines that shouldn't be trusted. Setup a firewall that ensure they can only connect to the zoneminder server.

There's a lot of competition in this space. If you want to do DIY for kicks, then of course feel free to, but items like this are pretty tempting for those of us without much free time:

http://www.amazon.com/Guardzilla-GZ502B-Video-Security-Syste...

Siren, two way audio, camera, motion sensor, etc. I've been eyeballing this for some time. Might get it before I go on my next trip.

I've been looking at the same type of projects, but someone pointed out that 1080p @ 30fps is 1TB in 24hrs!

Interesting is the 4K video mode and the 120fps and 180fps modes. I wonder to what extent this will be usable/available on an Rpi.

Could anyone who has the previous version comment on light response?

I went out and bought a random webcam model from a local store for 7GBP as a proof of concept so that I could start hacking on the code. 640x480, but that doesn't matter too much for testing. It is completely unusable in most lighting conditions. I wanted to point it out of the window to track wildlife. Sunlight just overloads the sensor and you get white, low light and it's fully black.

Is this something that requires higher cost equipment? I can't see how it could be useful as an ipcam if outdoor lighting destroys it.

Maybe it's possible to have a filtering lens or film to clamp the dynamic range ?

Did you try the Noir?

It is also seems to be an infra-red camera, so I ll be able to do pictures like those with it (http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/8539757) , not that artsy of course and make a timelapse.

There's two models - one with an IR filter and one without. (Slightly confusingly to me, the "NoIR" model is the one that can see IR, though I suppose the pun was too tempting.)

I believe it means no IR filter, since that is how you get IR camera, by not having IR filter in front of sensor.

Modules like this one have existed in surveillance industry for quite a while but this is the one for the DIY community I guess, the price really should be in the <$10 range though, otherwise it's fun to play with.

If you live in the US, you can walk into any GameStop and buy used PS3Eye cameras for $8.99 + tax. They are an absolute steal.

not really, ps3eye first is a USB camera, secondly, it's 640*480, which is only 300K pixel.

The sensor is the same size though.

Small question if anyone might know: are the physical dimensions of this new v2.0 camera board identical to the past ones? (e.g. version 1.3?). For the most parts they look identical.

I so hope that some day there will be a widely available wide angle version or easy-to-plug-on lens of this.

Also an official multiplexer would rock so one could connect more than one camera to the Pi.

You can use two cameras with the compute module. See https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/real-time-depth-perception-...

Mentioning an official multiplexer might imply you're already aware of this, but, in case you're not - here you go: http://www.ivmech.com/magaza/en/development-modules-c-4/ivpo...

I've found several USB webcam boards that work great, and give more flexibility when it comes to lens field of view and the like. The RPI is fantastic for a standing webcam setup using the USB camera, see: http://www.trisweb.com/webcam

Does anyone have example photos from this new camera?

Is there a full datasheet available for it like there was for the OV7670 if we want to perform more bitwise calculations with it? http://www.cutedigi.com/pub/sensor/Imaging/OV7670-Datasheet....

The IoT camera module market seems to be underserved. Here's my feature wishlist:

* A monochrome sensor option

* Better sensor documentation. Where are the quantum efficiency graphs?

* Larger sensors.

* Less emphasis on megapixels, more emphasis on efficiency.

* Exposure control in microseconds

* Binning

* C, CS, or F lens mount. Heck, I'd even accept a M12 mount, so long as the lens isn't glued into place.

Is there an Rpi adapter to allow hdmi in via CSI port? It would be cool to use an action camera like a gopro

Not sure if this will work. But worth a try. Its $15

https://www.tindie.com/products/freto/pi-camera-hdmi-cable-e....

Thanks for linking, but you're right I think that's only for extending a pi cam. I'm looking at gopro hdmi out going to pi csi port. should be possible - digital -digital imaging.

You can get an old phone with an equivalent camera for 25 USD.

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