Raspberry Pi has announced that Camera Module 3 Sensor Assemblies are now available as standalone products starting at $15. The Camera Module 3 was originally launched approximately 2.5 years ago and is widely used in hobbyist projects, as well as in industrial and embedded applications. These new sensor assemblies stemmed from the need for smaller form factors that were required in some embedded systems.
The new sensor assemblies come with the same capabilities as the Camera Module 3, minus the full-size module casing. The sensor in the new assemblies supports Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) just like the original Camera Module 3, as both use the same IMX708 sensor and offer a resolution of up to 4608 × 2592 with a pixel size of 1.40 micrometers (μm).
There are four versions available, with Standard Visible Light and NoIR (Infrared-sensitive) available at $15, and Wide-Angle Visible Light and Wide-Angle NoIR (Infrared-sensitive) available at $25. Raspberry Pi provides reference schematics and a bill of materials to prepare its users to design their own custom circuit boards using the sensor. Since 2013, Raspberry Pi cameras have been used in many fields, including workplace safety, wildlife conservation, glacier monitoring, manufacturing quality checks, and museum education setups.
