Hacking of old FP cameras

Discuss The Industry
1

I recently upgraded my FP3 with the camera+ and the top+ module. I have now two perfecly fine slightly outdated spare parts which still could do serious work i.e. as cameras for my raspberry pi. Do you know about approaches to get FP parts running seperately from the phone?

3 Likes
2

For any part, and in this case, you will want the in/out pin status and some software. Pin status you may ask the manufacturers, probably the makers via part no etc.

I suppose a camera software that reads raw data and can output what format you want, then to interface that with your OS may be a separate issue.

Not much help I know, but just getting my head around the idea.

  1. pin io shouldn’t be too difficult to find
  2. Software for the OS ??
    Some software on the rasppi?
1 Like
3

Hey, thanks for your interest on this topic. It would be a great help for the community if FP would publish sufficient amount of information about their outdated hardware to make use of the parts after their life cycle. From my point of view it would not hurt the company and increase their sustainable image.

1 Like
4

The ifixit teardown of the FP3 might give you some additional info (see esp. step 8 for a closeup of the electronics and the manufacturer of the senor), although I am not sure if it will be much. Definitely looks like you’ll be in for a ride!

1 Like
5

Would you provide info on the top camera make/model/no etc. At least I can have fun trying to find out more about it. :slight_smile:

6

Did you see the third image in step 8? of that teardown? may give info about the selfie camera, otherwise the model of the rear camera is also mentioned in that step. You could try finding datasheets for the sensors this way

7

Thanks. I wait to see what @Fiiipp comes up with as the Sony sensor doesn’t necessarily refer to the module manufacturer and thereby the pin i/o statuses.

8

Yes of course, the FP3 Camera-Module is ot the type CB200 18784 (I guess that’s a SN?!) and the top module is a TA 200 848E8 (same here) there are tiny torx screws to further disassemble both modules but I do not have one of these on hand. Additionally both modules look just as the ones described in the teardown.

9

I got in touch with FP and asked them on a statement on the topic. Let’s wait for their reply.

10

I received an answer from FP, and wanted to share it with you:

Q:

Dear FP team,
I’m on board since generation 2 and recently upgraded my FP3 with both + modules. I have now two perfectly fine slightly outdated spare parts which still could do serious work i.e. as cameras for my raspberry pi. Do you have plans to publish the schemes of you outdated FP modules. This would open up a sustainable way for tech enthusiasts to make use of the hardware after the regular life cycle of the phone and certainly add to your reputation as an environmentally friendly company.

A:

…
Thank you for supporting Fairphone and your feedback. Right now we do not have any program for this in place yet. We recommend to customers to see if they can make other Fairphone users happy with your spare parts via the forum.

We will take your feedback into our considerations for our future developments. We appreciate your response as it is very helpful for us and it gives a good insight into the wishes and needs of our community.
…

4 Likes
11

Hey @Fiiipp,

you are raising an interesting point here. FP would add to its openness and longevity of the products, if the blueprints for the parts were made openly available. We all would profit from this and you especially, because you would have a nice little spy-cam.

Many greetings
-Hendrik

12

So this is basically a non-answer.

1 Like
13

Hi,

is there a way to reuse a Fairphone 3 camera module as webcam for Windows / Linux PC?
Does it have a USB interface and/ or is there a description for the interface available?
Would a specific driver be needed?

Thanks,
Jan

14

Hello and welcome to this forum JanS.

I moved your posting here, since it seems to be essentially the same question.
Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be an easy solution.

2 Likes
15

I’ve seen videos explaining how to re-purpose the working webcam from a broken laptop by soldering a usb cable on the correct threads effectively turning it into a webcam.
This got me thinking since i have a great 12mp camera module that sits unused since i bought the camera upgrade.
Is it possible to effectively connect it to my pc somehow?

1 Like
16

There is already a discussion running about this topic, but with no solution so far:

5 Likes
17

Thanks to @Incanus for locating this topic. I thought it’s best to move Jurjen’s request right into this topic.

5 Likes
18

Thanks for locating the running discussion Iccanus.
To bad its a shame there is no working solution at the moment.
I hope Fairphone can help with this issue, there are so many things you could do with an extra camera or 2, It would be a shame if they go to waste.

19

Hi,

I would guess it’s a MIPI CSI(-2) interface.
Unfortunately, it does not look like it has a USB interface so it might not be as easy as just connecting a USB cable.
On the other hand the raspberry pi has a MIPI CSI-2 interface and might be able to connect to the camera (?)

https://www.petervis.com/Raspberry_PI/Raspberry_Pi_CSI/Raspberry_Pi_CSI_Camera_Interface.html

Cheers,
Jan

1 Like
20

This topic was automatically closed 182 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.