The Old Instamatic Camera: A Fun Project to Hack and Bring Back to Life

As I sat down to work on my old Instamatic camera, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over me. The camera had been collecting dust for years, its film long gone and its functionality all but forgotten. But with the advent of digital technology, I realized that this little camera was no longer useful in its original form. It wasn't until I stumbled upon an old iPad version of the Instamatic camera that I saw an opportunity to bring it back to life.

The first step in bringing the camera back online was to remove the front cover and take a closer look at its mechanics. Using a small screwdriver, I carefully removed the tiny screw that held the cover in place. Once that was out of the way, I used another screwdriver to gently pry open the cover itself. It was kind of fun to check out the inner workings of the camera and see how it had once functioned.

As I worked, I knew that I would need all the space I could get inside the camera to make any significant repairs or modifications. So, I popped off the shutter, followed by the back door, which gave me just enough room to work. Now that the camera was partially disassembled, I was ready to take on the next step in bringing it back to life.

Upon further inspection, I discovered a mini DVR (digital video recorder) inside the camera, which shot both video and pictures at high resolution – 1280x720 pixels in five pixels. The camera only had two switches, one for mode and one for on/off, with everything stored on a micro SD card. With this newfound knowledge, I was ready to take the camera apart and begin my modifications.

Using just one screw in the front of the camera, I removed the back housing to access the main circuit, battery, and circuit board. However, there was another tiny screw inside that held the circuit board into place – a crucial part of the camera's functionality. Once I had that out of the way, the camera was now exposed.

With the main components exposed, it was time to tackle the two small switches: the mode switch and the on/off switch. These needed to be removed in order for me to reconfigure the camera to my liking. So, using a soldering iron, I unsoldered those switches and then added some small wires so that they could be extended.

Once the new wiring was in place, I mounted the board using hot glue to the front of the camera, followed by attaching the mode switch below the original shutter. When pressed, this switch activates the camera's picture-taking functionality. The on/off switch was pushed through the housing and then secured with some additional hot glue inside.

After carefully reassembling the camera, I snapped the back cover into place and then put everything else back together. Looking closely at my handiwork, I could see that the small lens of our DVR was now fully visible. The time had finally come to test out this little guy – and it took some pretty decent pictures and video.

Not only is this camera capable of capturing high-quality images, but it can also be used as a spy camera because nobody's going to touch this thing once they know that it works. In the future, I plan on installing a USB cable and adding a small port for accessing the micro SD card. This hack not only brings an old camera back to life but also adds new functionality.

A Special Thank You to Audible.com

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my good friends at audible.com, who have been instrumental in supporting the time and effort that goes into creating these videos for you all. They are offering a free download of an audiobook specifically curated for Kipkay fans – over 150,000 titles available across various categories, from fiction to non-fiction, and everything in between.

One of the books I've recently been listening to is a real treat: "The Art of Studio Photography Lighting" – it's a comprehensive guide that covers all aspects of lighting setups for photographers. If you're as passionate about photography as I am, or simply want to improve your skills in this area, I would highly recommend checking out this audiobook and supporting audible.com along the way.

So why not head over to audible.com and see what great stories they have in store for you? Just use the code Kipkay at checkout to receive your free download. Thanks again to my friends at audible.com for their continued support, and I'll see you all next time on this channel!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI found an old Instamatic camera iPad sitting around collecting dust and is pretty much useless because you can't find the film for it anymore and even if you could you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody to develop it so it's time to hack it using a small screwdriver I find a tiny screw inside and remove that and then another screw on the other side with a little nudge from a screwdriver I was able to remove the front cover it was kind of fun to check out the mechanics inside to see how this used to work I knew I was going to need all the space I could get inside so I popped off the shutter then I popped off the back door to give me some room to work now the fun begins I found a mini DVR that also shoots pictures it's pretty high resolution at five pixels and 1280 by 720 video it only has a couple of switches and everything is stored on a micro SD card alright it's time to take this little guy apart and one screw in the front we'll remove the back housing inside the main circuit camera and battery then there was one tiny screw inside that held the circuit board into the front of the case now we have our naked camera but there's a couple of things we need to do the two small switches the mode switch and the on/off switch need to be removed so i unsoldered those and then added some small wires so we could extend those switches when I was done I mounted the board using some hot glue to the front of the camera then the mode switch which also takes pictures was hot glued right below the original shutter and when that's pressed it activates it the on/off switch was pushed through the housing and hot glued inside I snapped the back cover in place and then reassembled the front of the camera looking closely you can see the small lens for our DVR this thing is ready to shoot so let's test it out it takes some pretty decent pictures and also video you could also use this as a spy camera because nobody's going to touch this thing now that I know this works in the future I'll install a USB cable and also a little port where I can access the micro SD card and that's how to hack an Instamatic camera for fun by the way my good friends at audible.com help support the time and effort it takes to make videos for you and they're offering a free download for Kipkay fans so you can try it out they have over 150,000 audiobooks that you can listen to on your phone tablet iPod or computer really cool stuff in all kinds of categories I've been listening to a really helpful book on how to set up photography lighting for a studio so why not head over to audible.com and help support this show just go to audible.com slash Kipkay to get your free download thanks a lot and we'll see you next timeI found an old Instamatic camera iPad sitting around collecting dust and is pretty much useless because you can't find the film for it anymore and even if you could you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody to develop it so it's time to hack it using a small screwdriver I find a tiny screw inside and remove that and then another screw on the other side with a little nudge from a screwdriver I was able to remove the front cover it was kind of fun to check out the mechanics inside to see how this used to work I knew I was going to need all the space I could get inside so I popped off the shutter then I popped off the back door to give me some room to work now the fun begins I found a mini DVR that also shoots pictures it's pretty high resolution at five pixels and 1280 by 720 video it only has a couple of switches and everything is stored on a micro SD card alright it's time to take this little guy apart and one screw in the front we'll remove the back housing inside the main circuit camera and battery then there was one tiny screw inside that held the circuit board into the front of the case now we have our naked camera but there's a couple of things we need to do the two small switches the mode switch and the on/off switch need to be removed so i unsoldered those and then added some small wires so we could extend those switches when I was done I mounted the board using some hot glue to the front of the camera then the mode switch which also takes pictures was hot glued right below the original shutter and when that's pressed it activates it the on/off switch was pushed through the housing and hot glued inside I snapped the back cover in place and then reassembled the front of the camera looking closely you can see the small lens for our DVR this thing is ready to shoot so let's test it out it takes some pretty decent pictures and also video you could also use this as a spy camera because nobody's going to touch this thing now that I know this works in the future I'll install a USB cable and also a little port where I can access the micro SD card and that's how to hack an Instamatic camera for fun by the way my good friends at audible.com help support the time and effort it takes to make videos for you and they're offering a free download for Kipkay fans so you can try it out they have over 150,000 audiobooks that you can listen to on your phone tablet iPod or computer really cool stuff in all kinds of categories I've been listening to a really helpful book on how to set up photography lighting for a studio so why not head over to audible.com and help support this show just go to audible.com slash Kipkay to get your free download thanks a lot and we'll see you next time\n"