DIY Mod: Variable length OC-E3 the cheap and easy way.

Jim G wrote in post #8017005
Genuine. If you do give it a go post a photo in the thread or even if you just open it up and take a photo... I'd be interested to see how different they are or aren't inside.

I will. I'd like to try and get this done tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go get a Cat5 cable or where I'd get one from around here. Surely the local computer shop, or one of them at least, should sell them?

Also Jim, in the guide, you said you prefer a 1m cable but then in the example photo you used a 10m cable? Is it easily interchangeable?

Edit: Just read over it again and it seems that's the whole point of your guide, being able to change the cable to have a different length I might buy two cords, one 3m and one 10m for whenever I feel like trying something different

Wow, great DIY idea!

The silver metal looking thing that the wires are looped through is a "ferrite core" to reduce noise radiation in the cable for FCC compliance.

The "resistor" looks more like is a "diode" from the picture since it has a polarity band on one end (hard to see from the picture angle). Probably for polarity protection or over-voltage protection on that wire.

Good post... thanks

-howard

This mod works very well, i got the man himself (Jim) to do mine for me and it looks very professional and works perfectly

well done Jim.

nice work - only suggestion would be use network cables that have "boots" on the end connectors, as they'll stop you breaking off the release lever bit...

The "resistor" is a diode. It's there for reverse polarity protection (read batteries in back-to front). The "metal bit" is a ferrite bead. The flash charging circuitry is electrically very noisy. The ferrite is there to stop this noise being fed back to the camera.

Great pics, great write-up. I've seen worse soldering jobs. All in all I'd rate it 4-1/2 D1s

Edit: I'm with joeseph. The clips are bloody fragile.

C:\>

Just awesome.
Started my own. Everything de-soldered. Now contemplating to get me a black UTP cable or just go with the bright yellow one I have laying around.
Yellow might not be a bad idea as it is an eye catcher preventing tripping over it and the likes, but could it also cast unwanted yellow onto pictures?

[Update]
Just finished mine.
The black UTP cable I bought wasn't a good choice as it was one made out of solid copper cores. Too stiff.
So I reverted back to a white one with stranded cores, not the yellow.

But be warned, soldering those pesky little pins is not easy. I admit I am a bit rusty on soldering electronics, but my soldering iron was way too hot and two of the little pins at the flash end connector got dislodged a bit by the heat-transfer melting the plastic seating. I added some super glue - which I hope is not conductive - to help set them back in place.
The other hard item was the diode that came loose as well and was a bit of a struggle to get soldered back to the pin.

It seems working now, the camera seems to communicate with the falsh. But I'm not 100% sure.
Not sure how long it will last either.

DokH wrote in post #9495761
Just awesome.
Started my own. Everything de-soldered. Now contemplating to get me a black UTP cable or just go with the bright yellow one I have laying around.
Yellow might not be a bad idea as it is an eye catcher preventing tripping over it and the likes, but could it also cast unwanted yellow onto pictures?

That's the reason I went with black - the chance of any colours turning up in photos is probably close to negligible but hey, just on the off chance I stuck with black White would probably be not a bad choice, either...

Black has been helpful for me when using it outdoors at times as it often blends in well with the ground/grass and requires less PP for those shots where you can't help but have it in the shot somewhere.

Cant believe I missed this when you originally posted it! Great job!

Great guide, I did mine last night however I was using one of these and the inside parts were much trickier to solder than what I was expecting. Still after some trial and error I got my flash firing.

Ultra wrote in post #10020350
Great guide, I did mine last night however I was using one of these and the inside parts were much trickier to solder than what I was expecting. Still after some trial and error I got my flash firing.

Interesting - did the insides look much different to the Canon version?

I used shielded cable and the signal got lost after 10m

cosworth wrote in post #10020404
I used shielded cable and the signal got lost after 10m

Are you talking about a Cat5/6 cable like this one? I'm no expert on cables! If so, that's good to know - I was considering buying a longer cable as a couple of times recently I've actually found the 10m to be a little short.

I'm not using cat5, but a commercial grade sheilded 6 wire cable.

Bumping this thread as it inspired me to use a similar method to extend my flash sync. I did a few minutes of googling and came across this solution: http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=1NXAcv_3Ktc

Works great, and really easy to do. A bag of 50 RJ45 connectors, a few Cat 5e couplers, and a crimping tool was less than $20 shipped. No worries about soldering skills this way, and the end product looks about the same. I left the springy bit of the flash cable on the camera end, figuring it will dampen anyone tripping on the cable to maybe save the camera.

Great solution, and hats off to Jim G for pioneering this for us.