Every time someone posts on the Adafruit forums and says they wish they had a way to adapt between the 15-pin 1mm pitch Camera (CSI) or Display (DSI) connectors on big Raspberry Pi computers and the 22-pin 0.5mm pitch connectors on Pi Zero and CM4 Dev boards, we say, "Oh you mean like some sort of CSI/DSI cable adapter thingy? Yeah, we don't have one of those in stock yet" But that time is over! Now we can say, "Yes, we have a CSI/DSI Cable Adapter Thingy in stock!" And we point them here.

This Thingy is very simple, it lets you convert a 15-pin 1.0mm pitch connector to the 22-pin 0.5mm pitch connector, either by adding a 15-pin FPC on one side or a 22-pin FPC on the other. It does the funky pin rearranging and all for you, so just snap those two cables in. Carefully pry the two ears of the connectors, plug the cables with contacts pointing down, and then push the ears back in for a solid connection.

If you are using this to connect a Pi Zero camera to a classic Pi, you can use any of our 15-pin cables. If you are using this to connect a classic Pi camera to a Pi Zero, you will have to use a 22-pin 0.5mm pitch cable that has the FPC connectors on opposite sides.

In theory, the CSI/DSI interface isn't meant for super long cables, and you're not supposed to extend them. We have used 1-meter-long extension cables using our Thingy's and a Camera, and they worked! But, just so you know, it's not really guaranteed: CSI/DSI are meant for maybe 25cm max length.