Build John Park’s ePaper Camera

There is currently a huge resurgence in the popularity of early point-and-shoot digital cameras — the kinds of digicams that were once ubiquitous and then ended up in junk drawers when smartphones came along. The appeal seems to be in their “dumb” functionality and the flaws in the picture quality, which makes sense in a world now full of perfect AI-enhanced photos. But if you really want to take that philosophy to the extreme, you should build John Park’s ePaper Camera.

This is a digital camera and something akin to a digital photo frame married into a complementary duo. But the display on the latter is an E Ink screen that shows photos of quality on-par with a Game Boy Camera. Snap photos with the camera part, then display them in lo-fi glory wherever you stick the display part. The latter has magnets, so it is perfect for slapping on your refrigerator. And because that is an E Ink display, it will show the photo indefinitely without any power.

There are two primary components here: Adafruit’s MEMENTO DIY camera board and Adafruit’s MagTag 2.9” Wi-Fi-equipped E Ink display. If you’re going to follow Park’s guide, you’ll probably also want to get the enclosures for those products and a lithium-ion battery for each. Other than that, you’ll just need a microSD card for storage and some magnet feet for that refrigerator action.

The hardware assembly is a literal snap, as everything simply goes together with the provided screws. No soldering necessary! And programming is easy too, because Park supplied the code. That code will let you upload photos to Adafruit IO, then the MagTag will automatically download and display the most recent photo.

If you’re the type of person who has enjoyed the digicam revival, then this should be right up your alley.