The Raspbian Linux distribution is convenient because aside from configuration conveniences, it also provides tools for working with the camera among other things. The command raspistill can be used to capture an image after a five-second preview period.
$ raspistill -o test.jpg
The raspistill utility has loads of options for manipulating the images it captures. To install the raspistill in your Raspberry Pi, use the below command:
$ apt-get install libraspberrypi-bin
To see the available options, run raspistill without any options and they will be listed:
$ raspistill
Once your Raspberry Pi has rebooted, your camera should be enabled. We can test this by taking a still image using the raspistill utility:
$ raspistill –v -o test.img
raspistill takes a still image, and the -o parameter tells it to store that image in test.img. The -v option is for the verbose output. There some other utilitites that can also be used to capture the images using the Raspbian Linux. There are currently three commands supporting the camera:
- raspistill for still captures.
- raspivid for recording video.
- raspistillyuv for still captures with no encoding (records YUV/RGB information to the file).