node-raspistill

Simple wrapper for taking photos using Raspberry Pi raspistill app.

Module is written in typescript and provides type definitions out-of-the-box.

Tested with Raspberry Pi 2 B (Raspbian OS), and Raspberry Camera Module v2.

Requirements

Raspbian OS with node.js 12+ installed, raspberry camera module connected to your pi.

Usage

You can check a lot of examples here.

Sample usage:

npm install node-raspistill

const Raspistill = require('node-raspistill').Raspistill;
const camera = new Raspistill();

camera.takePhoto().then((photo) => {
    ...
});

Or (if you use imports):

import {Raspistill} from 'node-raspistill';
const camera = new Raspistill();

camera.takePhoto().then((photo) => {
    ...
});

You can also pass some options to constructor method:

const camera = new Raspistill({
    verticalFlip: true,
    width: 800,
    height: 600
});

See full options list in the docs below.

Changelog

You can see changelog here.

Docs

Raspistill

constructor(options?: ICameraOptions)

Creates new Raspistill instance.

Details

Options - object, that can contain:

key	type	defaults	desc
noFileSave	boolean	false	Disables photos saving. If true - camera output will be directly sent as Buffer without saving on the drive
verticalFlip	boolean	false
horizontalFlip	boolean	false
noPreview	boolean	true	Disables preview window on Pi while taking photo
outputDir	string	'./photos'	Output directory where photos will be stored
fileName	string	undefined	Name for photo file. If undefined - photos file names will be calculated as new Date.now() + file encoding
encoding	string	'jpg'	'jpg', 'bmp', 'gif' or 'png'
width	number	undefined	Width of taken image in pixels. If width is not set - raspistill uses default max camera sensor resolution width
height	number	undefined	Height of taken image in pixels. If height is not set - raspistill uses default max camera sensor resolution height
time	number	undefined	Time before camera takes photo. If undefined raspistill util use it's own 5 sec timeout
shutterspeed	number	undefined	Shutter speed in microseconds
contrast	number	undefined	Contrast of the image (-100 ... 100). If undefined - raspistill util use contrast 0 value
brightness	number	undefined	Brightness of the image. 50 is the default raspistill util value.
saturation	number	undefined	Image saturation (-100 ... 100). Raspistill util uses 0 value if undefined
iso	number	undefined	Capture ISO (100 ... 800)
rotation	number	undefined	Image rotation param
awb	string	undefined	'off', 'auto', 'sun', 'cloud', 'shade', 'tungsten', 'fluorescent', 'incandescent', 'flash', 'horizon'
awbg	string	undefined	Sets blue and red gains (as floating point numbers) to be applied when awb=off. e.g. '1.5,1.2'
quality	number	undefined	JPEG quality <0 to 100>
thumb	string	undefined	Specification of the thumbnail image inserted into the JPEG file. If not specified, defaults are a size of 64x48 at quality 35
exposure	string	'auto'	'auto', 'night', 'nightpreview', 'backlight', 'spotlight', 'sports', 'snow', 'beach', 'verylong', 'fixedfps', 'antishake', 'fireworks'
flicker	string	'off'	'off', 'auto', '50hz','60hz'
imageEffect	string	'none'	'none','negative', 'solarise', 'posterise', 'whiteboard', 'blackboard', 'sketch', 'denoise', 'emboss', 'oilpaint', 'hatch', 'gpen', 'pastel', 'watercolour', 'film', 'blur', 'saturation'
drc	string	'off'	'off', 'low', 'med', 'high'

const camera = new Raspistill({
    verticalFlip: true,
    fileName: 'foo'
});

You can find more info about raspistill util options in the official docs: https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/raspbian/applications/camera.md

---

takePhoto(fileName?: string): Promise<Buffer>

Takes new photo. Returns Promise, resolving with Buffer object.

Details

camera.takePhoto('testPhotoName').then((photo) => {
    ...
});

---

timelapse(fileName: string, intervalMs: number, execTimeMs: number, cb: (image: Buffer) => any): Promise<void>;

timelapse(intervalMs: number, execTimeMs: number, cb: (image: Buffer) => any): Promise<void>;

Runs camera in timelapse mode. Passes taken image picture as Buffer object to the callback. Raspistill options (passed into constructor or into setOptions method) are also applicable in this mode.

Remember that raspberry camera has it's own limits of taking photos speed even in timelapse mode.

Check out official raspistill docs (https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/raspbian/applications/camera.md) for file naming rules and interval/total exec time params usage.

Details

camera.timelapse(500, 3000, (image) => {
    // got image from camera, do something
}).then(() => {
    // timelapse ended
}).catch((err) => {
    // something bad happened
});

or

camera.timelapse('image%04d', 500, 3000, (image) => {
    // got image from camera, do something
}).then(() => {
    // timelapse ended
}).catch((err) => {
    // something bad happened
});

---

stop(): void;

Tries to stop current raspistill running action. Note that pending raspistill promises will be rejected with RaspistillInterruptError if stop was completed.

Details

const RaspistillInterruptError = require('node-raspistill').RaspistillInterruptError;

raspistill.timelapse(1000, 30000, (image) => {
    console.log('got photo, trying to stop raspistill');
    raspistill.stop();
})
    .then(() => {
        console.log('timelapse ended')
    })
    .catch((err) => {
        console.log(err instanceof RaspistillInterruptError) // true, raspistill was interrupted;
    });

---

setOptions(options: ICameraOptions): void

Sets new options for current Raspistill instance.

Details

camera.setOptions({
    horizontalFlip: true,
    noPreview: false
});

---

getOptions(): ICameraOptions

Gets current raspistill options.

---

getOption(key: string): any

Gets current raspistill option by key.

---

Contributors

Just want to say thx for all contributors. You are wonderful. :)