General discussion • Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W + MediaPipe real-time recognition with IMX500 – feasibility?

Hi everyone,
I’m planning a small form factor embedded project and considering the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W together with the Sony IMX500 AI Camera.

My goal is to run MediaPipe (Basic recognition) using:

1. Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm 64-bit
2. libcamera / picamera2
3. OpenCV + MediaPipe (Python)
4. Target resolutions: 640×480 or 720p, depending on stability

I understand the Zero 2 W is limited (quad-core Cortex-A53, 512MB RAM), so I’m not expecting high FPS. Even 5-10 FPS “near real-time” would be acceptable for my use case.

Questions:
1. Has anyone successfully run MediaPipe-based recognition on the Pi Zero 2 W?
2. Is the IMX500 fully usable with picamera2/libcamera on Zero 2 W in this setup?
3. Does the IMX500 camera work reliably with picamera2/libcamera on Zero 2 W at 720p without the system becoming laggy or unstable?
4. Any known stability or memory issues with MediaPipe on this board?
5. Would leveraging the IMX500 on-sensor AI significantly improve FPS or system stability compared to CPU-only MediaPipe processing?

I’m choosing Zero 2 W mainly due to size and low power, but I want to confirm MediaPipe compatibility before finalizing the hardware.

Thanks in advance for any real-world experience or advice.

Statistics: Posted by Raghulv_14 — Mon Dec 15, 2025 1:41 pm

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