Photo Roboto — Vintage Camera Snapshot Booth

The program is a simple script that waits for a button press, then lights an LED and sends a photo from a Pi camera to the printer. Head to Github for the code, as well as installation instructions for printer drivers.

Don’t tell anyone, but we won’t be using the original lens. It might not be authentic, but keeping the original glass would open up a graduate-level optical engineering challenge, and at our resolution the difference would be entirely lost.

Unscrew the objective or taking lens, front and back. On some models, you may need a screwdriver to take apart the outer assembly. Proper disassembly could be its own tutorial, so go slow and keep track of everything so you can put it together without the glass. A thin piece of flat stock can work as a makeshift spanner for the rear lens. Note that the black coating scratches easily.

Open up the aperture to the widest setting unless you want the blades in the way. To set your camera to time mode, turn the dial to the T indicator, wind the crank, and open the release lever.

Mount the Pi camera module behind the now-empty taking lens (not the viewfinder lens). Feel free to 3D print a custom mount, but I used cardboard and duct tape and it’s held for 5 years and counting.

Technically your camera could live anywhere, but a pipe robot gives this build maximum personality. Its form is up to you. A ½”–¼” hex bushing with a ¼-20 nut jammed inside and a bolt through the neck provides mounting to the camera’s tripod socket.

A 3D-printed case and four hot-glued magnets hold the Pi securely on the back.

A four-wire harness with spade crimps on one end and header sockets on the other connects our buttons and LED to the Pi. You can solder your own harness or use cables off the shelf, as long as they’re at least 30″ long. The ground (–) wire should have three connectors.

The big button’s built-in LED runs on 12V. To make it run on 5V from the Pi, bust out your soldering iron and swap the resistor with one that’s 150Ω. Tying the LED (–) and button COM together will save you a crimp connector and prevent anyone (yourself included) from ever removing the LED again.

While the Pi and camera module live on the TLR, all the other components are housed in a wooden base. It needs enough room for the printer and power supply, a shutter button, power button, USB supply, and multi-outlet power cord. Mine’s 14″×12″×8″.

Cut a hole big enough for your power cord, and a 11/8″ hole for the big arcade button in front, and another for the power button in back. Make a hole on top wide enough for your wire harness and USB cables.

Cut out a 1″×4″ slot for the printer. The prints don’t shoot out very far, so you’ll need to position the printer as close as possible to the face — this might require routing out the backside. The printer is held in place loosely with scrap blocks of wood.

Mount the big button in front and the little one in back. Connect your crimps to the buttons and LED, then run all your cables through the base and up to the Pi. The code uses GPIO pins 16 for LED, 20 for “Shutter,” and 21 for Shutdown. Physical pin 34 is common (–).