← TAKE IT APART

The disposable camera

One flash. Then take it apart.

35%

This switch turns the model on. The real one is two springs and a loop — wire it on the bench.

The pieces

  1. the shell The cardboard shell that wraps the film, the flash board, and the lens in one light-tight box.
  2. the film spool The roll of film, wound onto a spool that turns one notch every time the shutter fires.
  3. the capacitor The flash capacitor — the biggest part in here, charged to about 330 V before the flash fires. Build the same storage-and-release circuit at Stored, then spent. Build it on the bench →
  4. the flash bulb The bulb that flashes when the capacitor's 330 V arcs through it. Build the same circuit at Stored, then spent. Build it on the bench →
  5. the battery A real disposable camera runs its flash off one AA cell. On the bench, Stored, then spent charges the same capacitor off a 9 V battery instead. Build it on the bench →