Like many of the big smartphone and tablet makers, the Raspberry Pi Foundation is utilizing Sony's mobile imaging smarts for its new visible-light and infrared cameras. The IMX219 has a fixed-focus sensor and is capable of outputting 3280 x 2464 photos and 1080p HD video at 30fps. Upton says it was chosen for its impressive image quality, colour fidelity and low-light performance, which plays nicely with the Raspberry Pi's Videocore IV GPU after some specialist tuning by former Broadcom imaging engineer Naush Patuck.

As is normally the case with any new Raspberry Pi launch, the hardware retains the same price (before taxes) as its predecessor. The visible-light and infrared cameras are available now from RS Components and Element 14, with more resellers set to follow "soon."