diff --git a/Tinycast/Features/Camera/Service/CameraSession.swift b/Tinycast/Features/Camera/Service/CameraSession.swift
index b720f6e92..5f6fd3612 100644
--- a/Tinycast/Features/Camera/Service/CameraSession.swift
+++ b/Tinycast/Features/Camera/Service/CameraSession.swift
@@ -52,7 +52,11 @@ final class CameraSession {
     }
 
     func stop() {
-        guard let capture, capture.isRunning else { return }
+        guard let capture else { return }
+        // A reused session without an output of its own feeds a new preview layer no frames.
+        self.capture = nil
+        photoOutput = nil
+        guard capture.isRunning else { return }
         // The camera light must go out with the panel, so this is never left to deallocation.
         let box = CaptureBox(session: capture)
         Task.detached { box.session.stopRunning() }
@@ -98,9 +102,10 @@ final class CameraSession {
         }.value
     }
 
+    /// Reopens on the camera last switched to, unless it has been unplugged since.
     private func configure() -> AVCaptureSession? {
-        guard let device = AVCaptureDevice.default(for: .video),
-            let input = try? AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: device)
+        let preferred = device?.isConnected == true ? device : AVCaptureDevice.default(for: .video)
+        guard let device = preferred, let input = try? AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: device)
         else { return nil }
         let capture = AVCaptureSession()
         capture.sessionPreset = purpose == .capture ? .photo : .medium
diff --git a/docs/features/camera.md b/docs/features/camera.md
index 9dc6d815c..025dc1e23 100644
--- a/docs/features/camera.md
+++ b/docs/features/camera.md
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ controller and footer are all that stay in [calendar.md](calendar.md).
   and blocks on `startRunning` first, then hands a settled `Feed` up — so the first frame is live
   video rather than a stage swapped out from under the user, and the TCC prompt never takes key from
   a panel already up. `stop()` runs from the fade-out's completion, so the camera light never
-  outlives the panel but is never torn down under a visible one either.
+  outlives the panel but is never torn down under a visible one either. It also drops the
+  `AVCaptureSession`, so every open builds its own: a reused session with no output of its own — the
+  preview's — restarts to a black stage.
 - **Escape, click-away and the shot all end the same way.** Every route goes through
   `CameraCoordinator.close()`, which drops the panel and stops the session; `windowDidResignKey` is
   what covers clicking away. Taking a photo closes too — the command is done, so the camera goes out
@@ -51,7 +53,8 @@ coordinator rather than in `AppSettings`: it is remembered for the launch, and a
 that grants nothing is not worth a settings key or a line in a backup.
 
 Switching cameras swaps the input inside one `beginConfiguration`/`commitConfiguration` while the
-session keeps running, so the stage never blanks. `Switch Camera` only appears when
+session keeps running, so the stage never blanks. The next open starts on the camera switched to,
+unless it has been unplugged since. `Switch Camera` only appears when
 `hasMultipleDevices` says the discovery session found more than one.
 
 ## Where it is reachable from