Let’s take a look at my Nikon AF 600 point-and-shoot teardown. This is a compact point-and-shoot camera equipped with a 28mm f/3.5 lens. I’m a huge fan of film cameras so this is super exciting for me to see the inside of this semi-ancient tool. And surprise – it’s way more complicated than I thought!
For the teardown, I used simple tools – 2 small crosshead screwdrivers, and a tweezer plier.
The teardown process is pretty easy. I took the screws off each layer first and separated the plastic parts to expose the next layer of screws until all components were torn down.
Now let’s take a look at a knolling picture of all the components.
The camera is made out of 5 main parts – the skeleton, the motor (that controls the loading of the film roll), 2 circuit boards (one controls the motor, one main board for light sensing, focus detecting, lens control, and communication with the motor board), and the lens.
The skeleton of the camera is made out of plastic. The motor gear is mainly made of plastic while joined with the skeleton with small metal bars. The motor itself is built with 2 metal parts. The lens is a combination of plastic, metal, and glass. All components in the camera were joined together using screws or glue (for batteries and flex circuits), and the communication between the electronic parts is through thin flex circuit belts and thin wires.
Given the size of the screws and how each layer inside the camera is bonded in a super clean and compact way, I doubt this camera was made on a streamlined machine. The skeleton is likely to be made in specially designed molds and put together with all other components by hand.
Because this camera was made in 1993 when the internet was still young, I can’t find any information regarding any of the chip/motor numbers on the camera. Based on my knowledge of the camera, I suppose the chip on the main circuit board numbered “S2914 A1F10 156” is the chip for light sensing and focus control, the most technical and complicated function for the camera. Another number I found was on the motor “A3311” and “3226D”. No records were found on the internet, but these 2 motors combined with each other load and rotate the film roll in the camera.
One really interesting design I found was how the flex circuit belt goes through 3 layers of the camera skeleton. This design achieve a few things – first, the circuit belt needs to reach to several electric components which are located top and bottom, left and right of the camera, the length of the it becomes a weakness of the thin belt, but securing it in-between layers adds extra strength to combat this problem; second, it allows the circuit belt to utilize empty space on each layer it goes through, while it’s glued to the empty spaces, we don’t need designated area to secure the circuit belt; third, this layout also avoids direct overlap of the circuit belt so camera program is likely to be more stable.
Another interesting design is how the motor gear is spread across the bottom of the camera. This design allows the two motors to line up in different directions while still be able to lock into/respond to each other’s movements, it also makes the camera thinner (in width), so it’s easier to be carried around.
That’s it for this round of teardown! I really had fun digging into this ancient tool for photographs. Enjoy more photos of my tear down process below.
