Elenco Electronics AK-540, FUN-545 Assembly And Instruction Manual
35mm CAMERA KIT
MODEL AK-540 / FUN-545
Elenco Electronics, Inc.
Copyright © 1997 Elenco Electronics, Inc. Revised 2001 REV-C 753035
Assembly and Instruction Manual
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD- SMALL PARTS NOT FOR CHILDREN UNDER 3 YEARS.
PARTS LIST
Qty. Name Description Part #
1 - Small Screwdriver 6AK54001
1 A1 Film advance 6AK54002
1 A2 Film advance base 6AK54009
1 A3 Film advance shaft 6AK54003
1 A4 Film holder 6AK54004
1 A5 Wide clip 6AK54024
1 A6 Film holder shaft 6AK54005
1 A7 Thin clip 6AK54025
1 A8 Wide spring 6AK54026
1 A9 Film advance knob 6AK54006
0 A10 Film counter reset spring (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM) 1 B1 Shutter control 6AK54007
1 B2 Film counter frame (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM) 6AK54008
0 B3 Film counter reset (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM) 1 B4 Thin spring 6AK54027
1 C1 Rewind base 6AK54010
1 C4 Rewind shaft 6AK54013
1 C5 Film door latch 6AK54015
1 D5 Shutter release 6AK54016
1 D6 Lens frame 6AK54017
1 D7 Lens 6AK54040
1 D8 Lens Guard 6AK54041
1 E1 Large viewfinder lens 6AK54033
1 E2 Small viewfinder lens 6AK54034
1 E3 Film door 6AK54019
1 E4 Rear case 6AK54020
1 F1 Lens cover 6AK54018
1 F2 Shutter release button 6AK54014
1 F3 Strap 6AK54022
1 F4 Front case 6AK54023
1 G1 Camera frame 6AK54021
9 G2 Small-head screw (actual number included will vary with model) 6AK54032
0 G3 Medium-head screw (SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM) -
NOTE: Items A10, B3, and G3 may have come pre-installed onto item B2.
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PARTS IDENTIFICATION
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Film Advance
A1
Film Advance
Base
A2
Film Advance
Shaft
A3
Film Holder
A4
Wide Clip
A5
Film Holder
Shaft
A6
Thin Clip
A7
Wide Spring
A8
Film Advance
Knob
A9
Film Counter
Reset Spring
A10
Shutter Control
B1
Film Counter
Frame B2
Film Counter
Reset
B3
Thin Spring
B4
Rewind Base
C1
Rewind Shaft
C4
Film Door Latch
C5
Lens Frame
D6
Large Viewfinder Lens E1
Film Door
E3
Rear Case
E4
Lens Cover
F1
Shutter Release
Button
F2
Strap
F3
Front Case
F4
Small-Head Screw
G2
Shutter Release
D5
Lens
D7
Camera Frame
G1
Lens Guard
D8
Small Viewfinder Lens E2
Medium-Head Screw
G3
INTRODUCTION
The AK-540 is a mechanical camera kit that you put together . It uses standard 35mm film, requires no focusing,
and has a built-in lens cover. It is manually operated and requires no batteries. It does not have flash and so
is best for outdoor use, but can be used indoors with proper lighting. Nothing is needed for assembly as it even
comes with its own screwdriver.
Recommended for ages 10 and up.
WARNING:
This kit contains small parts and should be kept out of the reach of small children.
THEORY OF OPERATION
Lenses:
When light, whether from the sun or from a light bulb,
shines on an object (or a person) some of the light is
absorbed into the object and some is scattered in all
directions (see Fig. 1). If any of the scattered light
reaches your eyes then you can “see” the object, the
colors you see are the colors that were scattered. The
amount of light which reaches your eyes (the
“brightness”) depends on how strong the original light
source was and how much of that light was absorbed or
scattered by the object. You see white when something
scatters all of the light reaching it and absorbs none,
you see bright colors (like orange, yellow, pink, light
green, and light tan) when most of the light is scattered,
you see dark colors (like blue, purple, brown, dark red,
and dark green) when most of the light is absorbed, and
black when all the light is absorbed. At night, objects
with bright colors are easier to see than objects with
dark colors because they scatter more of what little light
is present. Light which is absorbed is changed into
heat; notice how sunlight warms you and how actors
and singers can get very warm under studio lights. Also
notice how you feel much cooler wearing a white shir t
on a hot sunny day than wearing a black shirt (because
white scatters the light while black absorbs it).
Just as some of the scattered light reaches your eyes, some also reaches your AK-540 camera. When you
press the button to open the shutter light passes through the lens to the film. When a beam of light passes
through the lens its angle is changed (it is “bent”) since light travels differently through the lens than through air ,
in the same way as it does between water and air. (For example, try looking through a clear glass of water to
something on the other side. You won’t be able to see it clearly). The lens is used to concentrate (“focus”) light
onto a single point so that an image may be produced (the same thing happens inside your eyes). The focus
point is where you want to place the film for the best image. Unfor tunately, the focus point depends on how far
awa y from the camer a y our subject is, as shown in Figure 2. Take something small (your finger or your camera)
and hold it about 4 inches from your eyes. Then try to look at it and at something on the other side of the room
at the SAME time so that neither is blurred. You can’t do it; your eyes can only focus on one or the other. The
same is true for all cameras - you cannot get clear pictures of close and distant objects at the same time.
Fortunately, since the lens and film must fit in a small camera and so will usually be less than an inch apart (the
focal length), the best focus point for anything more than a few feet from the camera doesn’t change much (see
Fig. 2c). This allows cameras to be designed using a fixed focus setting (around 10 feet usually) while still
producing good pictures (at any distance above 4 feet). These popular cameras are generally referred to as
-3-
Figure 1
Scattered Light
Sunlight
Rock
“point and shoot” cameras (because they are easy to use) and includes your AK-540. More advanced cameras
have a knob for you to adjust the focus or use infrared light and sensors to measure the distance to their subject
and then automatically adjust the focus. While automatic focus adjustment usually works great, in a crowded
scene it may not always select the subject you wanted it to focus on.
Your eyes are amazing instruments and can quickly focus on whatever interests you, but even they are not
perfect. Most people cannot focus on something 3 inches away. Someone who is nearsighted may be able to
focus on something 2 inches away but won’t be able to focus across the room.
In a perfect lens, the focused light would all come to a single point. But we cannot build perfect lenses.
Construction defects cause the bending of light to vary slightly throughout the lens. The shape and thickness
of the lens produce different bending effects on light (see Figure 3 for examples), and construction defects
cause these to vary. Despite the use of lens covers , dust can get on the lens and distort the focus.In advanced
cameras, lens design and construction are very complex. Lenses come in a wide range of shapes to produce
different bending effects on light. Most cameras use a combination of several lenses to reduce the effects of
construction defects.
The length from the lens to the film is called the focal length. If this length can
be changed, while keeping focus on the same subject, then our subject would
appear to be larger or smaller (as if we moved closer to or farther away from it).
See Figure 4. Reducing the focal length (so that the subject appears to be
farther away) is called “zooming-out” and increasing the f ocal length (so that the
subject appears to be closer) is called “zooming-in”or “telephoto”. This is done
by changing lenses or using an adjustable (“zoom”) lens . Focus is kept by using
several lenses (only changing the focal length for some of them) and by other
adjustments. Notice that zooming-in is similar to using a magnifying glass.
Since you want to know what will be in your pictures before you take them, you
have a viewfinder. The viewfinder on your AK-540 uses two lenses (one
diverging and one combination, see Figure 3) to create a picture that, combined
with your eyes , has the same view and focus as what will appear on film (except
at very close, since your ey es can adjust focus while the camer a cannot). Notice
that everything seen through the viewfinder appears to be only about half its true
size. The reason for this is that your eyes see things the way a 50mm (2 inch)
focal length does but y our AK-540 camer a has only a 27mm (about 1 inch) f ocal
length.50mm lenses are unpopular because their field of view is too small (most
cameras use 35mm). This field of view is not a problem for our eyes because
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Figure 2a
Figure 2b
Figure 2c
Focal Length
Focal Length
Focal Length
Distant Subject
Close Subject
Best Focus
Place
Best Focus
Place
Best Focus
Place
Figure 3
Types of Lenses
Thin Lens
Thick Lens
Diverging Lens
Converging Lens
Combined Lens
Figure 2
Focus Point
they are constantly looking around and have a limited
ability to see things outside their main field of view
(this is called our peripheral vision), but it is a problem
when taking photographs. For closer pictures, 70mm
(2.8 inches) lenses are more popular than 50mm.
Light and Film:
After the lens, the light passes through the small
plastic hole (in the back of lens frame D6) and reaches
the film. As seen in Figure 5, the image will be upside
down after passing through this hole. This hole is
called the aperture. It controls the amount of light
reaching the film. Advanced cameras (and our eyes,
in a similar manner) measure the light present and
adjust the aperture size to give best results.
To demonstrate this, take a close look at your pupils
(the large black dots in the center of your eyes) using
a mirror or with a friend. The pupil acts like an aperture.
Darken the room (by dimming the lights or shading your
eyes) so that you can barely see your pupils and observe
their size. Now make the room very bright (go next to a
bright light or shine a flashlight in your eyes) and see if y our
pupils have changed.They should be large when the room
is dark and small when the room is bright. You may also
have seen your eyes take a few seconds to adjust after
moving from a very bright room to a very dark room or the
reverse.
The aperture (along with the focus distance and the lens
focal length to lesser degrees) also controls the “depth of
field”, which is how far around the focus distance things
appear to be reasonably in focus. For small apertures,
such as for point and shoot cameras, the depth of field
is very large (anything greater than 4 feet will be in
focus). But for large apertures the depth of field may
only be a few feet in front of and behind the subject.
This effect is used to blur distracting objects close to the
camera or in the background, and is often used in
advertising. See Figure 6 for an example.
The movement of lens shutter D1 to allow light to pass to
the lens and film needs to be very fast. If the camera
(due to shaking) or anything in the picture is moving then
the light pattern reaching the film will vary and as a result
the photograph will be blurred, the same as if it were out
of focus. The shutter speed is also another way of
controlling the amount of light reaching the film. Your AK540 has a shutter speed of 1/125 seconds.
What is film and how is it developed? The answers to
these two questions are very long and complex, and
would quickly put most people to sleep. Please refer to
the “For Further Reading” section if you would like to
know more. Basically film is light-sensitive material that
retains an image after it has been exposed to light. The
material consists of silver compounds which change
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Figure 5 - Inverting Light as it Passes
Through Aperture
Film
Aperture
Lens
Shutter
Figure 6
4a
4b
4d
Figure 4 - ZOOM
Change focal length & refocus
Equivalent to, but subject
has not moved.
Change focal length & refocus
Equivalent to, but subject
has not moved.
Start
4c
4e
“Zoom-Out”
“Zoom-In”
Photo taken out of
John Hedgecoe’s Complete Photography Course.
Hedgecoe J. (1979)
Mitchell Beazley Publishers Limited
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