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Quick Start

Note

The following applies to the Raspberry Pi Bullseye/Bookworm OS.

Hardware Connection

Warning

Cameras are sensitive to static. Earth yourself prior to handling the PCB.
A sink tap or similar should suffice if you don’t have an earthing strap.

Connection Details

The Raspberry Pi and the camera module are connected using a flexible cable. The connection to the camera is called CSI interface and the connection to the Raspberry Pi is called MIPI interface.

  • Connect to Camera

There are two different kinds of Raspberry Pi CSI camera connectors: 15-pin and 22-pin.

The silver contacts of the cable have different orientations when connecting to different cameras. For specific connection methods, please refer to the introduction on the product page of each camera.


  • Connect to Raspberry pi

Tip

There are two different kinds of Raspberry Pi MIPI port connectors: 15-pin and 22-pin. The 15-pin connector is mostly seen on standard Raspberry Pi model; the 22-pin is on Raspberry Pi Zero-W and Compute Module IO Board.

Plug the flex cable into the connector labeled CAMERA on the Raspberry Pi.

For Raspberry Pi 3-4:

The camera connector is between the Ethernet and HDMI ports. When plugging in the cable, the silver contacts must face the HDMI port.

For Raspberry Pi 5:

The Raspberry Pi 5 has two camera connectors, both located between the Ethernet and HDMI ports. When you plug in the cable, the silver contacts face the Ethernet port.

For Raspberry Pi Zero series and Compute Module:

The camera connector is located on the side of the board at the interface labeled camera. When inserting the cable, the board should be facing up and the silver contacts should be facing down.

To open the connector, gently pull upward on the tab on the top of the connector. The flex cable should be inserted firmly into the connector, being careful not to bend the flex cable at too acute an angle. To close the connector, push the top part of the connector down while holding the flex cable in place.

Note

Since the camera board designs of different cameras are different, there are two connection methods on the camera side: the upper cable Pin port and the lower cable Pin port.

The camera-side cable connection methods in all the following pictures are for reference only. For specific camera-side connection methods, please refer to the detailed introduction on each product page.

  • 15-22 pin on Pi5

(15pin-22pin FPC Cable)

  • 15-15 pin and Pi3/Pi4

motherboard-pi-4-1536x1052

pi-4-to-cam-connection-1536x552

  • 22pin and Pi Zero/ Pi Zero 2 W

pi-zero-board-pinout-3

no name

  • CM3/CM4

pi-compute-module-pinout-1536x1050

Connection schematic

Note

Since the camera board designs of different cameras are different, there are two connection methods on the camera side: the upper cable Pin port and the lower cable Pin port.

The camera-side cable connection methods in all the following pictures are for reference only. For specific camera-side connection methods, please refer to the detailed introduction on each product page.

  • Pi5

  • Pi3/Pi4

pi4-1

pi4-2

  • Pi Zero/ Pi Zero 2 W

pizero-1

  • CM3/CM4

cm3-1

Software

Pivariety Cameras

Pivariety cameras Sensor list:

Resolution Camera Module
2MP IMX462
2MP OG02B10
2MP OV2311
2.3MP AR0234
16MP IMX298
18MP AR1820
21MP IMX230

Note

Since Raspberry Pi Bullseye OS 6.1.21, the arducam-pivariety driver has been merged into the Raspberry Pi kernel and the name of the device tree is changed to arducam-pivariety, dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety is required to set the overlay.

Supported Platforms and OS

Note for Supported Platform and OS
Platform Bookworm(rpicam/libcamera) Bullseye(libcamera) Buster(raspistill)
Raspberry Pi 5 √    
Raspberry Pi 4B / 3B+ / 3A+ / Zero / Zero 2 W √ √  
Raspberry Pi CM3 / CM3+ / CM4
(extra adapter board required)		 √ √  

Use libcamera to access Arducam Pivariety Camera

Info

If you are using Arducam Pivariety camera module on Raspberry Pi 5, please connect your camera module to camera 1 port.(The camera 1 port is enabled default.)

Raspberry Pi Bullseye OS 6.1.21 and Later/Bookworm OS

Step 1. Download the bash scripts

wget -O install_pivariety_pkgs.sh https://github.com/ArduCAM/Arducam-Pivariety-V4L2-Driver/releases/download/install_script/install_pivariety_pkgs.sh

chmod +x install_pivariety_pkgs.sh

Step 2. Install libcamera

./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -p libcamera_dev

Step 3. Install libcamera-apps

./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -p libcamera_apps

Step 4. Modify .Config file

  • For Raspberry Pi Bookworm users running on Pi 5, please do the following:
sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt 
#Find the line: [all], add the following item under it:
dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety
#Save and reboot.

If you want to enable the camera kit on the cam0 port of Pi5, please refer to the following modifications:

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt 
#Find the line: [all], add the following item under it:
dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety,cam0
#Save and reboot.
  • For Raspberry Pi Bookworm/Bullseye users running on Pi 4, please do the following:

Bookworm OS on Pi4

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt 
#Find the line: [all], add the following item under it:
dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety
#Save and reboot.

Bullseye OS on Pi4 (Bullseye 6.1.21 and later versions)

sudo nano /boot/config.txt 
#Find the line: [all], add the following item under it:
dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety
#Save and reboot.
  • For Bullseye users running on Pi 0 ~ 3, please also: 
Open a terminal 
Run sudo raspi-config
Navigate to Advanced Options 
Enable Glamor graphic acceleration 
Reboot your Pi

If you encounter the display issues, please also execute the following steps:

Open a terminal
Run sudo raspi-config
Navigate to Advanced Options
Navigate to GL Driver
Select GL (Full KMS)
Reboot your Pi

Step5. Use libcamera to access Arducam Pivariety Camera

Preview 5 seconds.

libcamera-still -t 5000

If you don't have a display screen, you can save an image without displaying it. And an image of test.jpg will be saved in the current directory.

libcamera-still -t 5000 -n -o test.jpg

Before Raspberry Pi Bullseye OS 6.1.21

Step 1. Install Bash Script

wget -O install_pivariety_pkgs.sh https://github.com/ArduCAM/Arducam-Pivariety-V4L2-Driver/releases/download/install_script/install_pivariety_pkgs.sh
chmod +x install_pivariety_pkgs.sh

Step 2. Install libcamera

./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -p libcamera_dev

Step 3. Install libcamera-apps

./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -p libcamera_apps

Step 4. Install Camera drivers

# PivarietyPlease se
./install_pivariety_pkgs.sh -p kernel_driver
Please reboot your Pi when you finish the installation.

sudo reboot

Step5. libcamera-apps

Preview 5 seconds.

libcamera-still -t 5000

If you do not have a display screen, you can save an image without displaying it. And an image of test.jpg will be saved in the current directory.

libcamera-still -t 5000 -n -o test.jpg

Use V4L2 Tools to Manually Control Arudcam Pivariety Camera

Step 1. Modify the Config File

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Please manually add dtoverlay=arducam-pivariety,media-controller=0 at the end of the last line of config.txt file:

pi1

Save and reboot

sudo reboot

Step 2. Check the video0 node

ls /dev/video*

pi2

Step 3. Check the capture formats and controllers

v4l2-ctl --list-formats-ext

pi3

v4l2-ctl -l

匹

Step 4. Fetch Data

  • Test the frame rate
v4l2-ctl --set-fmt-video=width=1920,height=1080,pixelformat='GREY' --stream-mmap

pi4

  • Save one-frame image
v4l2-ctl --device /dev/video0 --set-fmt-video=width=1920,height=1080,pixelformat='Y10P' --stream-mmap --stream-to=frame.raw --stream-count=1

pi5

  • Adjust exposure and gain
v4l2-ctl --device /dev/video0 -c exposure=1000 -c analogue_gain=200 --set-fmt-video=width=1920,height=1080,pixelformat='Y10P' --stream-mmap --stream-to=frame.raw --stream-count=1

pi6

  • Chech whether it is success
v4l2-ctl -l

pi7