Raspberry Pi Gets Canon EF

Photography enthusiasts and Raspberry Pi enthusiasts have something special to celebrate: Pinefeat has announced an all new EF/EF-S lens controller and adapter which allows Canon's DSLR lenses to be used with the Raspberry Pi High Quality (HQ) Camera. In its article on CNX Software, the author describes this development, allowing full electronic control of autofocus and aperture on a Canon design lens, and taking the Raspberry Pi HQ Camera to a level beyond the old limitations of mere manual adjustments when using high-end lenses for hybrids of still and motion imagery projects. Canon's EF (Electro-Focus) and EF-S (Electro-Focus Short Back Focus) lenses were designed for Canon-designed DSLRs with the EOS system. Canon's EF/EF-S lenses have both excellent optics as well as built-in motors operated via the camera's electronic connections to control focusing and aperture.

The Raspberry Pi HQ Camera requires manual adjustments and relies on its C-mount for any lens attachments, and naturally won't support high-end lenses or add-ons. To address this limitation, Pinefeat has put together a 66 x 26.5mm plastic adapter housing with metal dimensions that mounts on the Raspberry Pi and allows EF and EF-S lenses to attach to it for use with the Raspberry Pi mechanism.

Users are able to take advantage of autofocus and aperture control without having to write custom code using rpicam-apps, libcamera, and the V4L2 API. For the Raspberry Pi hobbyist market or developers looking for high grade lens features for a project related to surveillance, time-lapse or custom imaging solution, this is a huge. The kit has ermal connectors in a C-mount camera interface, a lens control board, and a 15-pin MIPI CSI-2 connector. The kit is designed to connect products with all Raspberry Pi models and distribution releases of software on their card.

Available for purchase at the Pinefeat store for £85 (~$114) or Arducam’s variant for £87 (~$117). The open-source kernel driver and configuration tools are accessible on the cf168 GitHub repository, complete with a getting-started guide for easy setup. While the adapter enhances functionality, users should note that the Raspberry Pi’s smaller sensor size results in a significant crop factor (approximately 5.5x), making wide-angle lenses appear more telephoto-like.

The kit is comprised of the following components:

Canon EF / EF-S lens to C-mount camera adapter with a plastic housing and some metal components (66 x 26.5mm)
Lens control board
- Camera I/F – 15-pin MIPI CSI-2 FFC/FPC connector
- Camera mount – C-mount
- Lens mount – Canon EF or EF-S
- Host interface – I2C and Serial/UART
- Power Supply
  - +3.3V through the camera CSI connector or serial cable
  - +5.0V through RPI GPIO header
- Dimensions – 38 x 38 mm
Flex camera cable
8-wire lens cable
2-wire power cable
Accessory kit – standos, screws, and nuts