Walgreens digital camera

Hi Instructables,

I just wanted to share a quick and easy attachment for Walgreens (loyalty) digital camera. Its a 5.1 megapixel camera that does not have a cable to transfer pictures to your computer. The camera has a built in memory to store 50 pictures but needs to be returned to Walgreens for printing. I purchased one on clearance for (MSRP $30) $15 to play around but needed a cable to transfer to my computer so I purchased a USB extension cable from the dollar store.

You will need:
Walgreens 5.1 digital camera (loyalty)
USB extension cable.
Needle nose pliers.
Mod time 2 minutes.

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Step 1: Remove outer metal piece.

I purchased a USB cable extension from the dollar store. Remove outer metal piece from the female USB by pulling it with a needle nose pliers. Do not pull the inner plastic piece. This is basically it. It's ready for loading pictures.

thewmas says: May 10, 2013. 8:46 AM

(removed by author or community request)

Gelfling6 says: Aug 14, 2012. 2:20 PM

add-on.. You can get a similar cable from WalMart for most of the "Flip-out USB Connector' camcorders. but, they usually have an outer plastic shell around the shield.

Gelfling6 says: Aug 14, 2012. 2:19 PM

I picked-up a few extension cables from Dollar-Tree (sorry, not plugging them, as they seem to no-longer have the item.) and pulling the outer shell off one, but it left a very thin connector.. It's tricky, but try clipping JUST the one side and the outer-edges off, leaving one side of the shield behind the connector, and carefully grinding the "L" edge off.. Objective, is a snug fit keeping the fingers of the plug against the PC Board inside.

Gelfling6 says: Aug 14, 2012. 2:13 PM

Can't remember who, but someone did some further hacking into this device.. There seems to be a set of solder pads inside, "ooo", on the PCBoard, which are a standard Serial interface (RS-232C, but at TTL level) which I'm assuming Vivitar uses to debug the cameras.. It gives some kind of POST code at roughly 9600-baud. No ideas if there could be some way to get the camera into other modes, but someone did mention they DID get a 'Webcam' symbol to appear, but I haven't seen the results.

eXtremeSomething says: Jan 7, 2012. 3:12 PM

I can't believe how stupid they are using a usb connection, great little instructable by the way.

Gelfling6 in reply to eXtremeSomethingAug 14, 2012. 2:09 PM

Not really stupid.. Remember, CVS/Walgreens/RiteAid all used the Pure Digital one-time-use cameras, and despite the connector being a close clone of the old Palm III connector, it only used 4 wires, for, you guessed it, USB. The difference between this camera and that one, is Pure Digital's OTU cameras and cam-corders saved the image in RAW format, and required a security code (128-bytes long!) in response to a 128-byte security code the camera sent. These, (see above, made By Vivitar) do not have any form of security. They're strictly Mass-Storage devices as if you plugged a standard camera into your computer.

mr.incredible in reply to eXtremeSomethingJan 8, 2012. 9:04 AM

They are really targeting the average person, not people like us that aren't afraid to get are hands dirty. We are not as common as you might think. They probably get their full cost out of the $30 original price. Printing is not included either.

Gelfling6 says: Aug 14, 2012. 2:05 PM

The only drawback I've found with the cameras, they are not high-speed quality.. as someone mentioned, the subject needs to be still. (this includes You, taking the picture!) So, be ready for a LOT of blurry pictures when you download them.

The base camera is made by Vivitar.. Not sure if Vivitar released the same camera with a 5-pin USB connector, or not.. Not video capable, but someone did see possibility in the firmware. (on another site, somehow got the display to show a 'Logitec' type webcam, on the LCD.)

Changing batteries is easy.. slide then swing door, takes 3x AAA Cells. You DO need to mind which direction they're inserted.

It's not made for rapid photo taking either.. (I.e. you need to confirm to store or delete after each photo.) I've had a few kill batteries after a few weeks of just sitting, so they're not perfect.. (worse, batteries started leaking. Word of the wise, DO NOT USE CHEAP BATTERIES! USE BRAND-NAME!) I was able to nail-off 110 pictures on a single set of batteries..

amw4444 says: Jan 7, 2012. 8:30 PM

How many pictures can you take before you need new batteries?