The Raspberry Pi Camera Module v2 is a high quality 8 megapixel Sony IMX219 image sensor custom designed add-on board for Raspberry Pi, featuring a fixed focus lens. It’s capable of 3280 x 2464 pixel static images, and also supports 1080p30, 720p60 and 640x480p60/90 video. It attaches to Pi by way of one of the small sockets on the board upper surface and uses the dedicated CSI interface, designed especially for interfacing to cameras. The board itself is tiny, at around 25mm x 23mm x 9mm. It also weighs just over 3g, making it perfect for mobile or other applications where size and weight are important. It connects to Raspberry Pi by way of a short ribbon cable.

Features:

• 8 megapixel camera capable of taking photographs of 3280×2464 pixels
• Capture video at 1080p30, 720p60 and 640x480p90 resolutions
• All software is supported within the latest version of Raspbian Operating System
• Applications: CCTV security camera, motion detection, time lapse photography
• High-quality imagery
• High data capability
• 8 megapixels fixed focus
• Supports 1080p, 720p60 & VGA90
• Sony IMX219PQ CMOS image sensor
• 15-pin ribbon cable

Specifications:

• Type Camera Module
• Number of Channels 1
• Supported Bus Interfaces CSI-2
• Maximum Supported Resolution 3280 x 2464
• Maximum Frame Rate Capture 30fps
• Dimensions 23.86 x 25 x 9mm
• Height 9mm
• Length 23.86mm
• Maximum Operating Temperature +60°C
• Minimum Operating Temperature -20°C
• Width 25mm

Connecting the Camera Module to Pi:

A 15 cm ribbon cable attached to the module slots straight into your Pi Camera Serial Interface port (CSI). Once connected, you can access the camera board via the Multi-Media Abstraction Layer (MMAL) or the Video for Linux (V4L) APIs. Alternatively there are libraries such as Picamera Python, and many others that you can find online.

Testing the Camera Module Stream:

• Connect to Raspberry Pi via SSH using PuTTY
• Issue the command below

raspivid -o - -t 0 -hf -w 640 -h 360 -fps 25 | cvlc -vvv stream:///dev/stdin --sout '#rtp{sdp=rtsp://:8554/x}' :demux=h264

• Open VLC Media Player and navigate to Media > Open Network Stream
• Enter the following URL in given field and click on Play

rtsp://RASPBERRY_IP_ADDRESS:8554/x

• Change RASPBERRY_IP_ADDRESS with actual IP address of your Raspberry Pi

Applications:

• The Raspberry Pi Camera Module is ideal for HD videos and still photography. You can also try time-lapse and slow-motion.
• Other applications include botanical, wildlife watching & home security.