I'm guessing that you're referring to a mobile phone (although you might be using a tablet or something else) but on my phone the camera is accessed directly from its icon on the home screen, not through using any dropdown/pulldown menus.
My guess is you have lost your Camera Icon from your homescreen.
Have a search through the other pages besides your homescreen by swiping to the left. If you find the camera press and hold it and then slide it across to the left of the pages until it lands on your home page.
Failing that tap and briefly hold the home screen away from any icons and you'll see a message box saying Apps and Widgets. Find the camera icon and tap and hold it to move it to the Home screen.
avalafo without going into the nitty gritty - you have got it correct. I did have it for a while at the top of the Amazon Fire drop down (you know just as you turn it on) then it just disappeared. I';m just reading Avalaf - I do have it on the HomeScreen but am wanting to be right at the top - so that you can swipe down and Camera appears - you need this quick if you want to either photo or video quick -