Raspberry Pi launches a new camera module for use with its small DIY computers — the camera module 3. The improved Sony IMX708 sensor has a higher resolution, but perhaps more importantly, the new module supports high dynamic range photography and autofocus. Additionally, Raspberry Pi is also releasing a new camera board for use with M12 mount lenses.

Combined, the new features mean the Camera Module 3 should be able to take more detailed photos (particularly in low light) and focus on objects as close as 5cm away. The autofocus uses a Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) system, backed up by Contrast Detection Autofocus. By contrast, earlier versions of the camera module had fixed-focus lenses, which Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton says were “optimized to focus at infinity” and could only take a “fairly sharp image” of objects about three feet away.

The sensor of the new module has a resolution of 11.9 megapixels (compared to 8.1 megapixels for the last version) and has a higher horizontal resolution that should be able to film HD video. HDR support means the Camera Module can take 3 different exposures of the same scene and combine them so that both darker and lighter areas of an image are properly exposed (at the cost of a certain resolution) – a trick commonly used by virtually every smartphone. executed .

Prices start at $25 for the Camera Module 3 with a standard field of view, while the ultra-wide angle version with a 102-degree field of view costs $35. There are also infrared sensitive modules designed for night photography.

If you want a Raspberry Pi that can take photos with a more traditional interchangeable lens, the company is also announcing a new version of its High quality camera module which supports M12 mount lenses. It still has the same 12.3-megapixel Sony IMX477 sensor, but the module now supports the “fisheye and other specialized lenses” designed to work in M12 systems.

The previous High Quality Camera module used with C and CS mount standards, and it was this one my colleague Becca Farsace used to make her own DIY camera. View her project here.