Autopsy: Disposable Flash Camera

I chose to dissect a disposable camera, as I was interested in seeing what was inside this rather mysterious object.  Almost everyone has used a disposable camera at some point in his/her life, but probably not too many people have looked inside.  The directions on the camera specifically warn you from opening it up yourself, and advise you sternly to return it to your closest CVS for development of your pictures.

So with gritted teeth against all cautionary warnings, here we go…

Step 01. Removing paper packaging from the camera.

danger danger!

the simple (yet complex) paper packaging:

the naked camera:

Step 02. Removing film (surprisingly easily) from camera.  [So the myth is not true!  You don’t have to return the camera to CVS to develop the film.  In fact, you don’t even have to touch any of the “hazardous” parts to get the film out.  Remember this the next time you, um, want to develop film from a disposable camera and maybe want to reuse the casing…]

Step 03. The first disassembly.

the little hidden piece that was keeping it all together [and also allows you to charge the flash]:

view from the top:

Step 04. The viewfinder.  Slides out nicely.  Very cool effects.

Step 05. The dangerous part.  eek.  The electrical gear is removed:

grounding the capacitor.  luckily, this one didn’t have anything left to discharge.  what it could look like:

How dangerous is it anyway?  After poking around online a bit, it seems that many people have asked this same question, and there are numerous personal stories out there, but very little hard evidence.  Most people say it’s not that dangerous, as long as you make sure you don’t ever touch each terminal with each hand, causing the current to run through your heart.  However, it seems a repeated fact that failure to drain the capacitor before fiddling with it (as was done above) could lead to severe injury or death… (more)

On the other hand, googling “how dangerous is the flash capacitor of a disposable camera?” leads to multiple links for creative and frightening uses for these flash devices, including strobe lights, coil guns, electro-shock rat traps, and home-made tasers.  So maybe the answer is, “as dangerous as you want it to be”.

Step 06. Catalogue of amazingly complex parts that make up a “simple” machine.

Metal parts:

These two springs have distinct functions in the camera mechanism.  The top spring is much finer, very stretchy, and used to open and close the shutter.  The bottom spring is thicker and stiffer, and a part of the film-advance wheel assembly.

Plastic type #1:

Perhaps PET or PMMA?  Relatively high quality plastic that has been polished to be transparent in the important places, left to be translucent everywhere else.  Use for the front viewfinder, back viewfinder, lens and the little window that tells you how many pictures you have left.

Plastic type #2:

Perhaps PP?  White plastic injection moulded gear-like parts that assist in the film advancement process.

Plastic type #3:

Perhaps PA?  Has a slightly yellowish color, very glassy looking, and is the cover of the flash bulb.

Plastic type #4:

Probably ABS or PP.  All black body parts of the camera, including very intricate injection moulded components.  Very brittle (some pieces broke off during the autopsy), but could otherwise reconstruct and re-use the camera very easily.  I wonder if there is a machine at CVS that helps the photo lab technician open this guy up cleanly?

Digging around a little bit deeper, I looked up all the patent numbers that had been printed on the paper wrapping of the camera, and found some amazing diagrams that explain the inner workings.  Also, perhaps interesting to note that the disposable camera was first developed by Fujifilm in 1986 (as per the patents).  Their marketing called the camera “utsurun desu” or “it takes pictures!”. (more)

the parts of the camera:

how the film works inside the camera:

the film advancement apparatus: