All models of Raspberry Pi (including Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi Zero W) have a CSI connector for connecting a digital camera. The foundation markets a color camera v2.1 equipped with an 8MP sensor and a sensitive camera in low light (v2.1 NoIR). You will also find cameras compatible with Led lighting cheaper at Asian manufacturers.

Original camera v2.1 or Night Vision (NoIR)?

The NoIR designation means No Infrared, ie the CMOS sensor is not equipped with the infrared filter. A more sensitive sensor with very low luminosity is obtained.

Original version Raspberry Pi or compatible asian camera?

Version 2.1 costs between $25 to $35 (Night Vision – NoIR – version). There are compatible cameras of good quality for less than $15. The official camera is equipped with a CMOS sensor Sony IMX219. Compatible cameras generally use a 5MP CMOS OmniVision OV5647 sensor. The OmniVision OV5647 sensor provides lower image quality. However, it is largely sufficient for night-vision video surveillance applications which do not require very high resolution.

Which camera for the Raspberry Pi 3?

The foundation offers two cameras. The first one designated v2.1 is a color camera based on the Sony CMOS CMOS sensor with a resolution of 8MP (3280 × 2464 pixels). CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technology delivers excellent image quality even when the brightness is very high. Unlike the CCD (Charge Coupled Device), each pixel is independent of its neighbor. The pixels do not overflow on neighbors in bright light. This is the vertical banking trail (also called blooming) that can be seen on some digital photos.

Source : http://www.camerarepair.org/2012/03/blooming-a-camera-repair-that-isnt/

The second designated camera v2.1 NoIR is equipped with a sensor on which the infrared filter has not been installed. The camera is more sensitive in low light.

Attention, some denominations are misleading, it is not a night vision camera. In full black, the sensor will be completely blind. On the other hand, by adding a complementary light (2 or 3 infrared LED for example), the sensor is (really) very powerful. In full black, you can hope to see at 10m, which is enough to make a surveillance camera. To learn more, you can read this detailed comparison.

Alongside the official Raspberry products, many manufacturers (mainly Chinese) sell compatible cameras. Very often the performance is lower but the budget is more reasonable.

Here is a brief summary of the main technical characteristics.

	Official color v2.1 8MP Raspberry Pi camera	Official Night Vision v2.1 8MP Raspberry Pi camera	NoIR compatible camera (with double LED lighting)
Connector	CSI	CSI	CSI, compatible Raspberry
Dimensions	25 × 24 × 9 mm	25 × 24 × 9 mm	25x24x26 mm 25x75x26mm (with LEDs)
Resolution	8MP 3280 × 2464 pixels	8MP 3280 × 2464 pixels	5MP 2592 × 1944 pixels
Sensor	CMOS Sony IMX219	CMOS Sony IMX219	CMOS OmniVision OV5647
Max. video resolution.	1080p30	1080p30	1080p30
Sensor size	1/4”	1/4”	1/4”
Driver	V4L2	V4L2	V4L2
Focale	3.60 mm	3.60 mm	3.60 mm
Field of vision	53°(horiz.) x 41°(vert.)	53°(horiz.) x 41°(vert.)	75,7° (horiz.)
Deals	Originale 8MP camera	Originale 8MP NoIR camera	5MP NoIR compatible camera

The CSI connector

The camera connector of the Raspberry Pi is called CSI connector for Camera Serial Interface. It is an industry standard managed by the Mobile Industry Processor Interface alliance. There are 3 standards (CSI-1, CSI-2, CSI-3) currently. The most recent version dates from 2012. The Raspberry Pi is equipped with a CSI-2 connector. The problem with the CSI connector is that there is no logo that makes it possible to be there as well rated Raspberry Pi and camera side. And it’s the same for the Orange Pi which is also equipped with a CSI connector incompatible with the Raspberry Pi camera!

Stay on familiar ground and check compatibility with the Raspberry Pi (or another mini-PC) at the time of purchase.

Which camera for the Raspberry Pi Zero W?

The Raspberry Pi Zero W (since revision 1.3) also has its camera connector CSI. But it is narrower than the one that equips his big brother: twisted:.

Fortunately, it is quite possible to use a camera v2.1 or v2.1 NoIR by replacing the flexible table with a compatible table (also called camera ribbon). This is the solution chosen by most manufacturers.

If you already have a camera, you can buy on Amazon for about $8. Live from Asia, we find for about $2.

There are also kits that integrate the ribbon compatible with the Raspberry Pi Zero W connector.

Comparison of original and compatible cameras for Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi Zero (v1.3+)

Connect the camera to Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi has a dedicated CSI connector. The CSI connector is located right next to the HDMI video output. Before connecting the camera to the Raspberry, stop Raspbian ( sudo halt ) and unplug the card.

There is no direction indicator on the ribbon. Insert the ribbon by placing the tracks toward the HDMI connector.

Close the connector. It is locked by lowering it all the way down. There is no “click” that confirms the closing of the connector. Pull slightly to make sure the ribbon is in place and properly held. As you can imagine, this is not a foolproof mechanical assembly. Do not use too much mechanical action on the ribbon, otherwise the camera will be disconnected.

Enable Camera Module on Raspbian Stretch Pixel

Before you can use the camera module, it is necessary to activate it. Under Raspbian Stretch, open Menu and then Preferences and open the Raspberry Pi Configuration panel. Go to the Interfaces tab to activate the camera module.

Restart to complete camera activation.

Activate the camera under Raspbian Stretch Lite

Under Raspbian Stretch Lite (without GUI) but also from an external SSH connection, you can access raspi-config with the sudo raspi-config  command. Go to menu (5) Interfacing Options.

Then to the menu (P1) Enable Camera and answer with Yes.

Restart to complete camera activation.

Test the camera with the raspistill command

Raspbian comes with a small utility that allows taking snapshots and saving small footage using the camera. This is the raspistill command. Open the Terminal

To take a snapshot called demo.jpg, the snapshot will be saved in the execution directory of the command, run

You can add the -vf  option to make a vertical rotation of 180 ° and -hf  horizontally

Run the raspistill command without arguments to list all available options. It is a very powerful command that can very easily be integrated into a Linux script without any other dependency.

Here is a series of articles to go further:

• #Guide: which camera to choose for the Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi Zero W
• Six 3D printing boxes to make a DIY surveillance camera with a Raspberry Pi Zero W
• Raspberry Pi Zero W and Node-RED MQTT Surveillance Camera for Home Assistant
• #Test: unpacking the Panoramic Camera Xiaomi Mijia 1080p 360 °
• Orange Pi (Armbian): driving the camera in Python with OpenCV
• Orange Pi (Armbian): control the camera in Python with OpenCV
• Picamera (version 1.9): control the Raspberry Pi camera in Python
• #Test: Asian compatible NoIR camera VS Raspberry Pi v2.1 camera: Outdoor Test
• #Test: 2MP Motion Detection Camera with Motion Detection based on Orange Pi Lite and Motion

• Six 3D printing boxes to make a DIY surveillance camera with a Raspberry Pi Zero W
• Raspberry Pi Zero W and Node-RED MQTT Surveillance Camera for Home Assistant
• #Test: unpacking the Panoramic Camera Xiaomi Mijia 1080p 360 °
• Orange Pi (Armbian): driving the camera in Python with OpenCV
• Orange Pi (Armbian): control the camera in Python with OpenCV
• Picamera (version 1.9): control the Raspberry Pi camera in Python