Game Boy Camera calibration

I bought a second Game Boy Camera and did this process again for this article. It was more or less new in box, and clearly had never been used. No matter the condition of your camera, you'll want to do this. There are scenarios where you may have to clean dust from behind the camera's lens. In that event, if you can do this, you can easily do that too.

Calibration of a Game Boy Camera is a simple, easy process if you have the technical skills. If you don't, learn those skills, or find someone that does. Whatever you do, read these instructions.

Before you start!

You'll need the following items in order to do this, I've linked them here for your convenience

You probably have some of this stuff already. If not, it's all definitely an investment. If you don't know how to solder, learn. That guys videos are really, really good if you're a beginner and will teach you what not to do, while clearly demonstrating proper technique. You can do it, I promise.

Step 1: Replace the battery

Using the tri-wing screwdriver, unscrew each of the four screws from the back of the Game Boy Camera. You’ll immediately see the battery upon taking off the back cover. Replace the battery using your soldering iron. I must reiterate that if you’re new to this, please practice before you do this, and take your time. You’ll learn a new skill, and have a really cool camera at the same time.

The "lens bulb" itself is a separate part attached to the board with a connector. You don't need to remove it, and if you're inexperienced, you shouldn't try. Use a microfiber cloth to protect the lens while you work. Don't twist or untwist the cables in any way. Leave anything you're not working on exactly as you found it.

Test the battery in the camera with a multimeter. You'll almost certainly get some kind of reading between 3.10 and 3.00. Despite the fact that these are 3.3v batteries, they're no longer capable of providing the power required by the SRAM chip once they reach any voltage below 3.0v. A battery's death isn't a matter of voltage disappearing entirely.

this battery is near death

You'll want to test your new battery before you install it. Never trust that it'll function just because it's new. Who knows when you'll run into a dud? It's annoying to realize the battery is no good after you've buttoned the thing back up, and if you're new to soldering, can be discouraging. It takes far less time to be certain before you do anything as opposed to finding out after the fact. Never forget that.

Brand new battery reading

Once you've installed the battery, be sure to check the battery's voltage again. If you've done everything correctly, you'll get a reading that is similar to the one your got before the installation. Sometimes, there is a slight .01 or .02 drop in voltage. This is normal, and simply indicates it's under load. This doesn't seem to happen with Game Boy Cameras, but is common with Pokemon games due to the type of board they use.

Step 2: Use gb operator to install save

Download the save file and get yourself a GB Operator.

The GB Operator is extremely simple to use.Once you’ve plugged it into your computer and installed the software from their website, you’re good to go. With that save file on hand, plug the camera into the GB Operator. Once the software identifies your camera, click “data”, then “upload save”. Once you’ve uploaded the save to your camera, you’re good to go.

Don't open this calibration save in a emulator. You see, emulators don't have camera hardware, so you'll end up with is a crash. Not only that, it'll rewrite the save and any camera you upload it into will think it's already calibrated. If you're curious, go for it, but don't expect anything to work properly if you do. You'll need to redownload the save and run the calibration on your actual camera.

Step 3:Calibrating the camera

if you can see this screen, you're doing it wrong

Now that you’ve installed the save file, you can calibrate the camera. Go ahead and mess around with it if you want, this is the last time you’ll be seeing it for a while. When you’re done, reload the save file into the camera and find the darkest room in your house. When I did it, I went into my pantry. Don’t just cover the lens with your finger. It’ll screw the process up.

If your Game Boy has a backlit screen, cover it with your hand, or turn it off. Absolutely no light must be visible to the lens, no matter how faint. While in complete darkness, power on the Game Boy Camera. immediately after the Nintendo Logo, music will begin playing. wait in the dark until you hear a fanfare. That fanfare is your sign that calibration is complete. Leave the dark place and explain to nobody what you’re doing. For extra fun, ruffle your clothing and hair and make it look like you were just on some wild adventure.

This is a comparison of what the camera will look like depending on calibration. There's a difference for sure, but I didn't bother trying to figure out what kind of lasting effects a bad calibration will have. I know without a doubt that once my SRAM battery died on my first camera, it was pretty much useless after that until I recalibrated it nearly two decades later. It didn't matter whether or not the camera was able to still save, the photos it took were all much worse than usual.