Chatter Of The Squirrel

Photog: Wired Remote Project

December 4, 2008 on 5:27 pm | In Photography | 1 Comment

I frequently get ideas for random projects. Then I’ll take my time assembling components. And finally the project never gets started as other preoccupations crowd it out.

So I figured I should start this one right quick before I get lazy again.

I’m setting out to make a ghetto, DIY wired remote trigger for my DSLR. I need a remote cos I’ve got a cheap-ass plasticky tripod. Just pushing the shutter button on the camera will cause a little bit of camera shake. Worse still when it’s loaded with a big ass telephoto zoom lens, which is when I need the tripod the most in the first place…

Also, I also want to wire the shutter to a switch that I can hold open, for taking bulb exposures.

What I started with is an imitation Nokia handsfree kit. This is the stereo kit, though I think it’ll work better with the mono…

Break it, 

and it already comes with a handy button that I can use for triggering the auto-focus.

 

Green wire is the Ground. I leave it attached.
Blue wire is the Auto Focus. This will be soldered to the switch.
Red wire is the Shutter.

These colors will probably only be relevant to this particular handsfree kit I have. Or anyone who also bought the same kit at the same time I got mine… Otherwise you’ll probably need a multimeter to see which wire goes where. There’s a good instructable here.

Or you can just plug the kit to the camera, switch it on, and short random pairs of wires until you find out which pair triggers the focus and the shutter.

The switch I’m using is one of those cheapie table lamp switches that runs in series between the wall plug and the table lamp. The plastic casing fits all the wires. The kit wire goes in one hole. The ex-Mute switch goes out the other hole, and is super-glued to the outside of the case. I wrap a coil of wire where the kit wire exits the switch to fix the wire there, so that I don’t accidentally yank the delicate wires off the solder joints. A glue gun will be better.

And the final product:

Handy and neat.

Pressing the black button will trigger the autofocus, if I need it. And then flicking the lamp switch On and Off will trigger the shutter. Yes, it’s clumsy that way cos I have to flick the switch on and off. But I wanted to be able to take Bulb exposures, and I don’t have a dead mouse handy (not the squeaking kind, a computer mouse is what I mean) that I can salvage for a second trigger button.

Cost of project:
Handsfree : MYR 6.90
Switch : MYR 1.50

Incidentally, I probably should have gone for a better switch. The casing for this switch is spacious, but the switch mechanism is kinda crap and imprecise. I need to fiddle a bit with the contacts, or the switch doesn’t even complete the circuit when it’s in the On position. 

Also, I want to say that Picasa ROCKS!! It’s never been easier or faster to upload these pics to the blog.