My take on a DIY shutter realease

[austincabot]

PPutkowski and I made this yesterday for my XT. I ordered a shutter release off the forums here, but it got shipped back to the seller by the Campus post office here. The DIY idea was always a outlet for me, but for the price I got the Canon one for, it wasn't worth it. So, I was in a bind and needed one, and we came up with this:



It's made out of a mini DV case.
but the best part is.........



...It's completely self contained inside it self. We'll see how it works out.

What do you guys think?

[wazmunstr]

clever! howd you make it? care to share?

[austincabot]

Originally Posted by wazmunstr

clever! howd you make it? care to share?

Sure, here ya go:

I used this schematic: (note not my work, taken from Flickr)



The hole to the camera is a 3/32" plug. I used a headphone cable with a 1/8" to 3/32" adapter from Radio Shack. (PN: 2740373) I used the adapter rather than a 3/32" plug straight from the camera so that I can put in a headphone extension line if I want the line longer.

The buttons are from radio shack as well (PN: 2751547)

The switch is too (PN: 2750624)

It's pretty straight forward. Anybody with entry level skills with a soldering Iron can make it. Just follow the schematic and You'll be ok.
**NOTE**The lines in my headphone wire were coded different (i.e. the red wire was actually the green wire and the green was the red. Not sure if it is the schematic of just my wire)

The hardest part was finding something small to mount it in. Enjoy. If you have any more questions, let me know. I'll be glad to help out.

[speedracersong]

can the plug be configured to work on a 30d?
awesome work btw.

[mikezs]

I'm going to have a go making one of these today.

Is the red button a push-to-break or push-to-make?

Red is the standard push-to-break and black is push-to-make.

EDIT: Found original article and they are both push-to-make

[sOid]

Thats nice. How long is the wire?

Another question: I'm a total noob in this stuff, but how can you tell which wire is attached to which point without disasembling it?

[purelithium]

Originally Posted by speedracersong

can the plug be configured to work on a 30d?
awesome work btw.

30D uses a completely different style plug, so you would be better off buying the canon one.

Originally Posted by sOid

I'm a total noob in this stuff, but how can you tell which wire is attached to which point without disasembling it?

Doesn't the schematic show you exactly that?

[sOid]

Originally Posted by purelithium

Doesn't the schematic show you exactly that?

Well, yes. My question was a bit uncomplete I guess

austincabot said he used an old headphone cable which had different colors. I assume he also used the plug on that cable. But I wonder how he knew which color was wat, since it were different colors.

Is it possible to buy just a plug, and solder the wires by yourself? If so; how do you attach the plug's cover again? I tried to disassemble one of my old headphone plugs; without success :P

[austincabot]

I used the whole wire and plug from an old pair of headphones. I simply cut the wire where it split into two pieces to go to each headphone. When I cut it open, there were three wires exposed:

A Red that I used for the Autofocus
A green that I used for the Shutter
And a ground that I used on all switches.

At first I wired it up like the diagram said to, with the green going to the autofocus and the red going to the shutter. But after I got it together, I realized it was backwards - the switch was turning the autofocus on and off rather than opening the shutter in bulb mode.

As far as using the plug, usually, the metal part will come out of the rubber housing and then it will expose where you can solder to it and then run the cables through the housing and re-install the housing on the plug...at least thats that way is it with my Studio Headphones and my guitar cables.

[Mrselfdestruct]

Omg, your a life saver. I was looking online for a easy to understand DIY remote shutter for my XTI. BAM!! You got one right here and its clear to read. Very clever idea with the casette case, Im off to the store for some wires to make mine!

[austincabot]

Originally Posted by speedracersong

can the plug be configured to work on a 30d?

Originally Posted by purelithium

30D uses a completely different style plug, so you would be better off buying the canon one.

Check this link out. PPutkowski has a 20d, so I think we are going to try and make one for him as well.

http://www.diff.net/peter/photograph...tor_info.shtml

If you use the diagram in that link, you should be able to modify the plug correctly.

[Nick_C]

I was going to make a similar thing except with 2 leaf spring switches so you get the half press then full press action, same as the shutter button, I agree about the stupid price of the Canon one, but then I looked on Ebay & got a neat little one that does it all for £3.50, so it wasnt worth my time & effort making one.

Nick

[austincabot]

Originally Posted by Nick_C

I looked on Ebay & got a neat little one that does it all for £3.50, so it wasnt worth my time & effort making one.

Nick

I hear ya there, but If I did that, I would have had time to do my HW or study for finals. Where's the fun in that?

[Nick_C]

Originally Posted by austincabot

I hear ya there, but If I did that, I would have had time to do my HW or study for finals. Where's the fun in that?

hehe yeah that's no good is it, this project would have been more fun for sure

Nick

[mikezs]

Here's my take. All components bought from Maplin Electronics (UK), and cost around £7.

Click images for larger view.






Works perfectly!