This is about the (Raspberry) Pi 2020 HighQuality Camera

created on 2020-06-05, last updated on 2022-09-18 by Dein Lerntutor

Specifications table

mount	CS (adaptor for C mount objectives included when bought new from official resellers)
released	year 2020
pricing	typically starting from 54,50 € in Germany
interface	CSI-2 with 2 and 4 MIPI lanes supported by the IMX477R chip inside each MIPI lane carries up to 1 Gbit/s (both the standard Raspberry Pi and the HQ board are limited to 2 MIPI lanes)
sensor	Sony IMX477R back-illuminated sensor 12.3 megapixels 4056 x 3040 active pixels (WxH) 4072 x 3064 effective pixels 1.55µm x 1.55 µm pixel dimensions based on Exmor RS BSI stacked technology sensor image area: 6.287mm x 4.712 mm integrated IR cut filter
dynamic range (SNR=1)	more than 66 dB (about 11 stops)
noise reduction (raw captures)	There is a defective pixel correction, even activated in RAW mode with stronger noise reduction in horizontal direction. It’s possible to deactivate the blur algorithm, see below on this page.
data output	RAW12/10/8, COMP8
typical frame rates	Examples of Basic Drive Modes (internal) 4056x3040@60fps 10-bit 4056x3040@40fps 12-bit 2024x1142 (2x2 binning) scaled to 1980x1080@79fps 10-bit 2028x1128 CROP, scaled to 1920x1080@240fps 10-bit Note: Raspberry Pi currently has a maximum GPU encoder bandwidth of 1080p30 (H.264 level 4.1) set by firmware, which might be extended to support higher resolutions in level 5.0/5.1 via firmware updates in the future. See https://github.com/waveform80/picamera/pull/655, and since 2022 also: https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?p=1984364#p1984364 Theoretical maximum would be 2032px width and 1920px height.
tripod mount	1/4”-20 screw hole
sensor format name	about 1/2.3", referring to a sensor size of 6.17mm x 4.55mm
usable sensor size	7.86mm diagonal
crop factor	approx. 5.51x
PCB board dimensions	38mm x 38mm
PCB board mounting hole spacing	30mm each

Notes:
1) This product comes without objective lenses. For taking photographs, you would have to obtain compatible lenses which fit to the camera CS mount and sensor size of 1/2.3".
2) Note about naming conventions: The sensor size specification naming 1/2.3" refers to the size of a theoretical camera tube, actual usable sensor size is about 2/3 of that.
3) The crop factor is used to multiply the focal length value of a lens (e.g., 50mm for Full Frame 35mm with 36x24mm size to the cropped sensor format, here: 50mm x 5.51 = 275.5mm equivalent).

Update for Raspberry Pi OS / Raspbian on the Raspberry Pi

Before the camera is recognized, the following commands should be run on the command line, if the operating system is not prepared for the new Raspberry Pi HQ camera module:

sudo apt update

sudo apt full-upgrade
# or:
sudo apt dist-upgrade

sudo rpi-update

Then, enable the camera in the Raspberry Pi Configuration (e.g., via sudo raspi-config). After reboot, you should be able to capture the first images with the sensor:

raspistill -v

Increasing the video encoding bandwidth on Pi Zero

Default values ...
On Raspberry Pi <4:


h264_freq=300

Mhz (See https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/overclocking.md for more details)

On Raspberry Pi 4:


h264_freq=550

Mhz

Note: Use these parameters in /boot/config.txt at your own risk.

Astrophotography: Deactivating the DPC (defective pixel correction) blur algorithm

Experienced users who want to retain the original sensor read-outs might switch off the DPC algorithm. This will give you the direct sensor data, only accessible through the extra RAW image appended to the JPEG.


sudo vcdbg set imx477_dpc <dpc value>

Possible values are:
0 - All DPC disabled
1 - Enable mapped on-sensor DPC
2 - Enable dynamic on-sensor DPC
3 - Enable mapped and dynamic on-sensor DPC (default)

If DPC is disabled, then static noise/hot pixels could be reduced using dark frames.

HighQuality IMX477R Camera Sensor Modes (on Raspberry Pi)

mode	max. source pixels	aspect ratio	frame rates	FOV	binning/scaling	native bit-depth	applications
0	(auto)
1	2028x1080	169/90	0.1 - 50fps	partial	2x2 binned	12-bit	“Full HD” video (1080p) 1920x1080p30 (slightly more narrow FOV) 1920x1008p30 (full width of sensor readout)
2	2028x1520	4/3	0.1 - 42fps	full	2x2 binned	12-bit	4:3 video recording, 1600x1200p30 in H.264 1080x1080p50 in H.264
3	4056x3040	4/3	0.005 - 10fps	full	none, full active resolution	12-bit	still images timelapse video
4	1012x760	4/3	50.1 - 120fps	full	4x4 scaled (skipped)	10-bit	record for slow-motion video

Notes:
Pixel Binning Mode means averaging the pixels 2x2.
Pixel Scaling Mode means skipping information (read only every 4th pixel in horizontal and vertical direction) for faster sensor readout.
Hints:
1) Recording in sensor mode 1 with 1920x1008 (instead of 1920x1080) will give you full horizontal FOV for 30fps video recording, because the sensor readout format is about 5.6% wider than 16:9 in this mode.
2) To get to 50fps while encoding H.264 video, you may select mode 2 and crop to 1080x1080.
3) Recording timelapse video and a maximum exposure time of 10s per frame is possible with mode 3 and 1600x1200 resolution, using the GPU to encode to H.264.

Useful Applications for Raspberry Pi and the HQ Camera Sensor

Starfield Timelapse Recording
Please adjust the gain here according to your lenses aperture/f-stop

#  8 minutes of 10 seconds/frame at full 4:3 sensor resolution
raspivid -v -pts timecodes.txt --mode 3 -ss 10000000 -fli off -drc high -ag 16.0 -dg 1.0 -awb off -awbg 2.2,1.7 -ex off -w 1600 -h 1200 -b 15000000 -t 480000 -fps 0.1 --codec H264 --profile high --level 4.2 -o tmp.h264
# apt install mkvtoolnix
mkvmerge  -o tmp.mkv --timecodes 0:timecodes.txt tmp.h264
# speed up to 24 fps
ffmpeg -i tmp.mkv -filter:v "setpts=(0.1/24.0)*PTS" -b:v 15000k -c:v libx264 -r 24.0 output.mkv

Focussing with Enhanced Preview on a Regular Monitor

# this live-preview is a crop from the center of the sensor
raspistill -v -t 0 -awb sun  -drc off -roi 0.4,0.4,0.2,0.2  -drc med -ag 1.0 -dg 1.0 -ex auto -sh -25

Shoot in RAW / Capturing and Saving 10-bit or 12-bit RAW Images

raspistill --raw --mode 3 -t 2 -ex auto -awb sun -ag 1.0 -e jpg -q 25 -o test.jpg
dcraw -W -6 -T test.jpg
# resulting file: test.tiff, you may view that with ImageMagick (display command) or gimp

Please visit https://github.com/6by9/dcraw for building the dcraw tool (Raspberry Pi specific tool)

Comparison of selected flange-to-sensor distances (back focus, Auflagemaße)

lens mount	mount type	diameter	Gewindesteigung	flange focal distance [mm]	designated sensor size
CS	thread / Gewinde	1 inch / 25.4 mm	1/32 inch	12.526	1/3" up to 16mm film
C	thread / Gewinde	1 inch / 25.4 mm	1/32 inch	17.526	1/3" up to 16mm film
Pentax K	bayonet	44 mm	-	45.46	APS-C (1.5x crop)
Minolta / Sony A	bayonet	49.7 mm	-	44.5
Four Thirds	bayonet	50 mm	-	38.67
Micro Four Thirds	bayonet	44 mm	-	19.25
M42x1 (some Praktica models)	thread / Gewinde M42x1	42 mm	1 mm	45.50	35 mm full frame
T2	thread / Gewinde M42x0.75	42 mm	0.75 mm	55.00
S-Mount / M12 (some Pi camera clones)	thread / Gewinde M12x0.5	12 mm	0.5 mm	undefined range of 1..12 mm	1/6" to 2/3"

Calculating FOV from focal length

d: is the dimension of the sensor, typically given by its diagonal, so for full-frame 36mm x 24mm, it’s approx. d=43.27mm.
f: is the focal length for the lens directly from the label or datasheet (referring to what would be the FOV on a 35mm full-frame).

The resulting field-of-view (FOV) diagonal is calculated by:
𝛼 = 2×arctan ( d / 2f )

This way, you may calculate the horizontal and vertical view as well, just by putting the width or height into the variable d.

Example: An 18mm lens on a Raspberry Pi HighQuality Camera (diagonal dimension of 7.86mm in 4:3 aspect mode) would have a FOV diagonal of approx. 24.6°.

Although collected carefully, data are provided without warranty / Angaben ohne Gewähr.