Quick Start Guide

General 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.

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.

Platform Introduction

Tip

Here we will display the basic hardware info of the mainly used raspberry pi platforms.

Model	SoC	Memory	GPIO
Raspberry Pi 5	BCM2712	4GB 8GB	40-pin GPIO header
Raspberry Pi 4B	BCM2711	1GB 2GB 4GB 8GB	40-pin GPIO header
Raspberry Pi 3B+	BCM2837b0	1GB	40-pin GPIO header
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W	RP3A0	512MB	40-pin GPIO header(unpopulated)
Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3	BCM2837	1GB	/
Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4	BCM2711	1GB 2GB 4GB 8GB	/

For more details, you can refer to the Raspberry Pi official website:

https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/raspberry-pi.html

Connection Diagram

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.

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.

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

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.

For Raspberry Pi 5:

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

15pin-22pin Connection

22pin-22pin Connection

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.

15pin-15pin Connection

15pin-22pin Connection

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.

22pin-22pin & Pi Zero/ Pi Zero 2 W

22pin-22pin & CM3/CM4

Software

Pivariety Cameras

Pivariety cameras Sensor list:

Resolution	Camera Module
2MP	IMX462
2MP	OG02B10
2MP	OV2311
2.3MP	AR0234
2.2mp	Mira220
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:

Save and reboot

sudo reboot

Step 2. Check the video0 node

ls /dev/video*

Step 3. Check the capture formats and controllers

v4l2-ctl --list-formats-ext

v4l2-ctl -l

Step 4. Fetch Data

Test the frame rate

v4l2-ctl --set-fmt-video=width=1920,height=1080,pixelformat='GREY' --stream-mmap

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

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

Chech whether it is success

v4l2-ctl -l