Bloxplosion
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri May 31, 2013 9:25 pm
Location: England, Berkshire

Turning the Raspberry Pi into a Camera?

Tue Jun 11, 2013 5:28 pm

Hi.
I was really impressed by the camera module you can buy for the Pi, and how amazing its quality is.
So, I was thinking...
Is it possible to mount a small screen onto the Pi and attach the camera to the Pi, and turn it into a fully functioning portable camera?
Of course, it will need some sort of power supply. Maybe normal AA Batteries.
Im a TOTAL NEWB at this stuff, so I want to know,
Is this possible? :)
PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO MY THREAD :)
http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=45749&p=368018#p368018

ghans
Posts: 7882
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:30 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Turning the Raspberry Pi into a Camera?

Tue Jun 11, 2013 5:38 pm

Yes , but you would have to write software for
buttons.
And if you want a touchscreen , pick any two :
justifiably hard to get working , good quality ,
not-so expensive

ghans
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PiGraham
Posts: 3929
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:37 pm
Location: Waterlooville

Re: Turning the Raspberry Pi into a Camera?

Tue Jun 11, 2013 6:33 pm

You can do this, but it doesn't get a great price/performance/practical camera.

I have made a start on this myself.

If you want a display on it (not essential) consider something with composite video input. Tiny cheap HDMI displays are hard to find.

See here:
http://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2012/1 ... cd-screen/

You will need a shutter button that you can hook up to GPIO.

A simple Python script will do to link the button to a call to raspistill.
It needs to generate a unique file name.

You might want other GPIO for a mode switch - camera / playback, and next/previous/delete buttons.

Shortcomings of the Pi camera as a compact digi-cam: -

1. No autofocus
2. No manual focus!
3. No zoom
4. No photo SD card. You can store on the SD, but you swap SD into a card reader.
5. Bulky, by the time you have added a battery pack,a screen, buttons and wired it all up it is getting big.
6. No flash.

It's an interesting enough project, but if you want a camera for typical use you are better getting something like this:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... :c|adp:1o2

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