CVS Camcorder Case Mod

How to Case Mod a CVS Disposable (one-time use) Digital Camcorder
Here we see the stock camera. This is how it looks out of the box Bleah. :(
I recently picked up one of those disposable (one-time use) Digital Camcorders from CVS (store locator) . I read up on how to do the mods/hacks required to download the videos (more here) from the camera, as well as how to unlock the recording time (40+ min. instead of 20-ish) and how to jack up the resolution from the default 320x240 up to 640x480 (or whatever in-between resolution you want to use) for better quality. As I was reading, I got thinking; “Man, this thing is pretty cool, and for only $30 ($25 with discount), it’s a great bargain, but is this thing ever ugly! All those stickers got to go.” So I proceeded to rip off the stickers. Now I’m left with an even uglier gray box.

So here’s the deal: I decide to post this case mod how-to, both as a ‘thank you’ to the modding community that gave me the
great info that made this camera worth having, and hopefully make this camera look like something you’d want to be seen with.
Enough rambling… On to the modding!

A note about this site: Up until very recently, I was stuck in the dismal world of dial-up, so I plan to keep this site as dial-up friendly as possible. Almost every picture on this page is a scaled down thumbnail, and is clickable for a larger view. I hope this makes it accessible to everyone. Happy hacking!

Step 1 - Removing the Stickers
What you'll need for this step: -Clean place to work (I used a chair with an old bath towel over it) -Alcohol (91% or denatured is best) -Clean lint-free cloth/rag (Old T-shirt works good) -Patience and Elbow Grease
Begin carefully peeling off the stickers on the front and back. They seem to be plastic or vinyl coated and come off fairly cleanly unless you pull to fast, in which case the extra time you spend removing the gunk and sticker backing will teach you some much-needed patience for the following steps. I decided to leave the FCC sticker on the bottom, since it was recessed, didn’t look bad, and contained valuable information about the camera. Take it off or leave it on, your choice. The last photo shows the label on the top of the unit that covers the port where you will plug in your cable or cradle, depending on which interface method you chose. I recommend leaving this one for last, since the contacts inside are the most delicate part of the system (besides the lens) and needs to be free of junk. Now that all the stickers are off, it’s time to break out Mr. Alcohol (no, not your friend Bud Weiser) and get to cleaning. I’ll warn you in advance, Isopropyl Alcohol, even the 91% that I use, does not remove the glue residue from these stickers very well. A strong fingernail is the best tool I’ve found for this. The Alcohol is mostly for removing stray lint and your grubby fingerprints. Once you have the unit wiped down and glue-free, I’d suggest handling it with cotton or latex gloves, or through an old piece of T-shirt to cut down on lint and oils from your hands. This is not absolutely necessary, but I tend to err on the side of cleanliness due to my background in computer hardware repair.

Step 1a(?) - A side trip...
What you'll need for this step: -Very small phillips or flat blade Technician's screwdriver (or eyeglass repair kit) -Lack of heed to warning labels -Digital camera that will focus at less than 3 feet Doh! (optional)
On a side note, now that the stickers are gone, the case screws are visible. I decided to remove the case to see if I could get the innards out and make painting that much easier. No such luck, one side of the case comes off clean, but the other side still has the components attached. I decided to put it back together and paint it in place. I included this photo to help anyone who wants to see the inside of this thing without removing the covers. A regular screwdriver is not likely to work, since the screws that hold the case on are very small. I used a technician’s driver, but I think an eyeglass repair screwdriver would probably work also. * Sorry about the fuzzy pictures, my camera is too smart for it's own good and tried to use the laser multi-spectral-whatever focusing mode, which abolutely fails to work at anything below about 3 feet. Thanks Sony. :(

Step 2 - Masking
What you'll need for this step: -X-Acto Knife (or Razor Blade) -Painter's Tape (or Similar) -Steady Hand(s) -Bandages (Optional, see item above)
Ok, back to work… Now it’s time to begin Masking. This can be the most time-consuming part of the project, depending on how good you are with your hands. I used blue painter’s tape, since it’s wide, sticks well and leaves no residue when removed. Regular masking tape will work also, just be careful when removing it, it like to take paint with it. I would not suggest clear ‘scotch’ tape, packing tape, or God forbid, Duct Tape! I know Duct Tape is great stuff, but if you use it here, you will have a nice gray sticky mess that takes video. Not cool. Anyway, to do the masking, I used the painter’s tape and a very sharp (new) X-acto knife with the smallest pointed blade I had. I guess you could use a razor blade from a utility knife, but it would be much harder and very dangerous. Stop being cheap and pick up an X-acto from your nearest Wal-Mart, hardware store, or craft shop. They’re about $3-4 and worth their weight in bandages. Begin wherever you want, I started with the screen. Take a piece of taper larger than the area you want to cover, stick it down good, and run your finger around the edges, so that you get nice clean corners. The front lens was the hardest part, but if you take your time you won’t have any trouble. Another great thing about painter’s tape is that it molds well. Again, the fingernail is your best friend here.

Step 2a - Masking Continued

Once you have everything taped up, it should look something like this:

Pretend the tape is
blue here, I forgot to take
a 'before' photo. :)

Notice that I have taped over the speaker grill on the front and stuffed rolled up tape into the microphone pickup holes on the back. You do not want paint inside these holes. They will get gummed up and you’ll either have no sound, or very bad ‘muddy’ sound.
Neither is what you want, cover the holes.
You artistic types out there (you know who you are) may want to mask off and stencil some cool design or patterns at this point. That’s up to you, but I’d suggest you wait until after you’ve got the base coat on to avoid layering problems.

Step 3 - Painting
What you'll need for this step: -Can of Spray Paint -Place to work (outside you Huffers!) -Nice warm day -Gloves, Coveralls, Respirator, Hazmat containment team, etc.. (Optional, and no fun, but required according to any federal workplace warning signs you read. Pansies.)	Do I have to draw you a picture?	UPDATE (10/29/05): The paint you choose MUST be specifically suited to bond to plastic, or you will have an ugly, sticky mess for a very long time. Mine took 3 weeks (as in 21 days!) to cure. You have been warned. I suggest Kryon Fusion.
Now that it’s all masked off, it’s time to paint. I didn’t take any photos of the painting process for 2 reasons: 1) It’s too hard/stupid to hold a $600 digital camera in one hand and a $1.50 can of paint in the other without danger of them coming into expensive contact. 2) If you can’t operate a can of spray paint, you need to give up right now and go watch cartoons or maybe read the directions?! ahem Sorry. Give it a good solid (but not too heavy) coat, then let it dry for a couple hours before flipping it over to do the other side. I used Krylon Premium Enamel, mainly because it was cheap and locally available. I would have preferred Krylon Fusion (UPDATE (10/29/05): Now I know better than to second-guess my gut feelings. This is really not optional, spend the 5 bucks for Fusion or don't whine when it never dries, see above) or some other paint specifically suited for plastic. This enamel is good stuff, but it’s really made to bond to wood and metal, so I don’t know if it will ever (No.) really cure on plastic, or how durable it will be. Oh well, all in the name of research! (And stupidity)

Step 4 - Admiring Your Work

What you'll need for this step:
-Big goofy Grin (or frown, depending on your painting skillz)

Purty, ain't it?
All glossy and such!

Well, this is it so far. Much better, eh? Kinda looks like an iPod, or is that a vPod? I get the copyright royalties if anyone uses that!
At this point, I let it cure overnight, then applied a second coat to both sides. I had a few blemishes here and there, so I touched them up with some super fine 600 grit emery cloth I had. You can also use the back side of your fingernail (see a trend here?) to smooth out minor bumps. larger foul-ups will either require sanding or removal by solvent, or you can just figure it’s a $30 camcorder and live with it.

Now it’s time for the fun stuff.
You can remove all the masking tape, apply a second layer in some kind of pattern, and spray over in another color for a cool layering effect. Stickers/labels could also work, but I figured I didn’t spend all this time removing the labels so I can put back more, so I’ll probably leave it white for the moment. I like the clean looks…and I’m lazy. :)
I do plan to use some of my wife’s nail polish to color in the power button. Maybe green? I think she has some that changes color in the sunlight. Wicked!
I also plan on painting the ‘playback’ and ‘delete’ buttons with some metallic silver hobby paint to match the chrome front bezel. Feel free to experiment.

UPDATE (10/29/05)
I've recently got the custom screen swapping to work. It's a fairly involved process, so rather than repeat a lot of stuff here, I'll just direct you to the camerahacking forum. The link is below. Go to the 'HOWTOs and Methods' section and look for the threads about screen changing. There are several of them. I figured I'd share my custom screens here. You are free to use and/or modify these however you want. The images below are the full sized ready to use images, so just right-click them and 'save-as'. Have fun!

SPLASH.jpg	LOGO.jpg	SHUTDOWN.jpg

Well, that’s about it for now. I'll continue to add updates as work progresses.
Please feel free to email me with any comments or additions that you think should be included.
I’ll format and post your suggestions for everyone to benefit from.
Thanks and happy modding!

Mike P. (admin@vanrackinc.com)

I'd like to say a special 'Thank You' to the guys (and gals?) at the following sites for their hard work and determination in making one of the biggest rip-offs in the consumer world (I mean really, $43 +tax for a 20min. DVD?!) into a useful and fun product to be indiscriminately hacked and modded by all!

CameraHacking.Com
Make: technology on your time (makezine.com)
iHACKED.com

More fun links:
No related to this product, but one of my favorite hardware hacking sites: Hack-A-Day

This Page was created on Monday, September 5, 2005
It was last updated on September 7, 2006 6:10 PM

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