---
title: "Give It A Shot"
author: "shaan"
description: "A "Papershoot" inspired handheld minimalistic camera."
created_at: "2025-07-18"
---

Time spent: 10 hours(?)

---

I was originally thinking about giving up on this project due to time constraints, however decided to give it a shot!

The start

July 18th, 2025

I started this project on July 18th (9 days before the project submission deadline). I had some friends in VC, and we were all determined to try and finish at least one more project before the deadline.

My original concept was a fully featured digital camera for my sister which would include a high end camera lens (Pi Cam High Quality), a e-ink display, flash, manual controls, the whole 10 yards.

The idea was that I would have an e-ink display running at a low framerate to conserve power while viewing images, and for a cool aesthetic.

This idea was killed after about... five minutes of research...

July 23rd, 2025

I decided to try and build an improved version of the papershoot style of camera, including zoom, flash, filters, a high quality camera, optical image stabilization, and more.

A while later, while researching parts, I realized that the pi high quality camera was a tad over budget for the project, so I opted for the pi camera 3 instead. I also realized that having zoom on a camera with no display is a pretty bad idea because you would have no idea how zoomed in you are, so I guess not ;-;

In the end, due to the small remaining time, my limited experience, and budget, I decided to opt for a simpler but charming style of camera. I liked the idea of being able to take photos to document a moment, without having a phone constantly distracting you and taking you out of the exact moment you are trying to document. Simple point and click, no display whatsoever.

July 25th 2025

I wanted to build the circuit in a way such that the battery would be charged by the micro-usb port on the pi while plugged in, and then run on battery power when unplugged. I spent a few hours trying to get the circuit to work on the PCB, but realized it would be much simpler and cheaper to use an external module instead.

Eventually, after a lot of wasted time, I found the Adafruit powerboost, which is a simple stand in replacement for this functionality. I also decided I wanted to add some kind of stabilization system. I did some research on hardware image stabilization via electromagnets, and realized I probably didn't have the time to set that up. I ended up deciding to use an IMU and software image stabilization instead. I also decided to add in a RTC module so the date and time could be tagged.

July 27th 2025

After a bit of procrastination, I finished the schematic. I spent a while researching parts, and ended up trying to choose the most cost-efficient options that worked in the sense of the remaining time I had left.

I originally wanted to create my own battery/power circuit which could charge the battery of the camera while plugged in and power the camera, and then would swap to battery power when unplugged. I spent a while trying to figure this circuit out, but learned that there were already existing boards I could use which had the same functional purpose. I ended up opting for the Adafruit Powerboost board.

I also opted for a mono mic module in the interest of cost, because having an internal circuit with two mics for stereo audio was a little costly.

July 29th 2025

Today I decided to get the placement and routing of components done. I tried to think about what made sense on an actual papershoot camera, while staying as minimalistic as possible and following the philosophy overall of simplicity over all else.

July 30th, 2025

At this point, I kind of realized I was out of time. I still needed to make a case, so I tried my best to make a very thin case mirroring the papershoot.

This is what I ended up making for the case. To be honest, in the end, I was torn between actually using the case or going for the bare PCB aesthetic and adding some really nice silkscreen art. If I do end up using the case, I will definitely re-do it, but this is roughly what it will look like. I tried to make it as thin as possible to mirror the papershoot.

Conclusion

In all honesty, though this project is fairly simple, I am very happy with the amount I was able to do with the very limited remaining time. This is the 3rd or 4th ever PCB I have made, and maybe my 5th hardware project, so I think I did well! I hope that once I get this built, my sister likes it!

Edit - 8/5/25

I updated the case now that I had more time, I think it's a lot better now!

• Shaan Yu Thanks to Selena for convincing me to finish this up, as well as Dimitri and Wyatt.