A little back story behind the Casio Camera

I recently picked up two Casio Petit Colle ZR-1 digital cameras after hearing about the camera first from a subscriber. I don't pick up every camera people tell me about, but this one intrigued me because of it's unique features and lack of modern documentation. And it was because of this lack of documentation that the camera was essentially rendered useless today. I decided to set out and see if there was a way to change that.

Casio Petit Colle ZR-1 Specifications

The camera is a 0.08mp monochrome CCD sensor digital camera that prints to thermal sticker sheets using an internal printer. In fact, that's the only way to get the photos of the camera (so far, more on that later). The problem is that the camera originally took Casio's proprietary sticker sheets available when the camera was sold. These are long gone, or sometimes pop up as collectible items.

The Paper Problem

If you attempted to reuse modern thermal sticker paper cut into the correct size to fit the printer, the camera would feed the sticker in but then error out and refuse to print. Fortunately, a new-in-box copy of the camera was for sale on Buyee (affiliate link) directly from Japan, and I grabbed it with the hope that it came with the original sticker sheet. It did.

The sticker sheets shows distinct black markings on the back. Once I saw this, it occurred to me that this must be the problem. The printer must use these markings to determine when the sticker is in the correct position to begin printing.

After some trial and error I was able to successfully mark a modern piece of thermal sticker paper to match the original markings and trick the printer into printing my sheet.

This is a big deal because it means you can use affordable and readily available modern thermal sticker sheets with this 1998 classic camera!

How You Can Do This Too

Down below I'm linking a 3d printable template for copying the markings over. I'm also attaching a scan of one of the stickers, in case you find a better way to copy the markings over.

3d printable template

If you do try this, let me know. I'm excited to see your results.

Where To Buy The Casio Petit Colle ZR-1

Unfortunately, after the release of my videos on social platforms, the average price for one of these cameras on the used market has shot up. Because these only sold in Japan originally, check out Buyee (affiliate link) and set up a search alert for listings there.

You may also want to look for the follow-up model, the ZR-10SR, though I have only seen a handful of those and they seem much more rare.

If this project really interests you, I recommend looking at modern thermal print cameras - or, use any camera you want and buy a battery powered pocket thermal printer. They are loads of fun.

Oh, and I picked up a pink transparent one new-in-box because it was a great deal :) I haven't even opened it yet! This will probably replace my white one.