Quick and dirty way to use the camera api from python: import gst bin = gst.element_factory_make("camerabin") bin.set_property("videoenc", gst.element_factory_make("dspmp4venc")) bin.set_property("videomux", gst.element_factory_make("hantromp4mux")) bin.set_property("audioenc", gst.element_factory_make("nokiaaacenc")) bin.set_state(gst.STATE_PLAYING) bin.set_property("filename", "test.mp4") bin.set_property("mode",1) #starts recording bin.emit("user-start") # wait some time # stops recording bin.emit("user-stop") bin.set_state(gst.STATE_PAUSED) bin.set_state(gst.STATE_NULL)