Homemade remote cable release for Pentax, Canon DSLRs

[Groucho]

I only found out about this a week or two ago and thought I'd mention it in case anyone else is interested in building their own remote cable release. This applies to Pentax DSLRs and Canon DSLRs as they use interchangable remotes (I'm not sure if any PnS cameras use the same connector.) Nikons use some other system that isn't so readily made, as I understand it.

You can built your own remote cable release (aka remote shutter, etc) for very cheaply. There's a jack on your camera that accepts a standard submini 3/32s headphone jack. This is not the slightly larger "mini" 1/8th jack that you find with standard headphones, but the smaller one like cell phone headsets use.

The remotes work very simply - they just short either the left or the right channel to ground. One is equivalent to a half-button press, the other fires the shutter. This means that you can make your own using stuff you have lying around or with a few parts from Radio Shack.

I ended up with a 3/32 plug and a couple buttons, for under $6 total. If you have a spare cell headset you don't use, you can probably use that and just cut the headset off and use the wires from there. Because what I got was just the plug, I had to solder the wires to it.

For buttons, you can use anything. One guy has a page where he describes using a computer mouse, with the mouse buttons doing the work. Anything that closes a connection (a SPST switch) will do the trick. I just used a set of small buttons that Radio Shack sells. If you like to do very long exposures (like of stars), you can also wire in a switch, so you can flick it on and leave it, when your camera is in Bulb mode.

For wire, I used an old phone cord, which has four wires inside, because I wanted something about 6' long. You need three (left, right, and ground) wires so I just cut off the unused one when I was stripping back the insulation. You wire it so one button has the left and ground and the other has right and ground - the ground goes to both buttons.

Then you just have to figure out what to put the buttons in. The guy using a mouse was all set already. Some people have used old film canisters. Some use small Radio Shack project boxes. Me, I'm a bit "off" and decided that I wanted something smaller... here's what I ended up with:

I fully expect to get some strange looks with this one.

 

[mabas9395]

I have the wireless remote, and while thats handy when I want to take a picture with me in it, it is a pain when I want to do some longer exposure shots because the wireless remote requires you to be in front of the camera to beam the signal.

I have heard about these and will probably make one this winter (not as many chances to go out and take pictures with all the rain we get in Seattle during the winter). Besides, it sounds like a fun project to do. I'm always looking for an excuse to go to either Radio Shack or Home Depot.

 

[Master Mason]

I have both the canon wired and wireless remote shutter releases. I am sure the homemade one would work fine, but I am a parinoid sort when it comes to stuff like this, and would rather spend the few bucks extra to get the one the manufacturer makes.

 

[Groucho]

For one of the "stupid camera tricks" I plan to do in Disney, I need to have the camera focus, meter, and shoot when no one is holding it. Originally I was just going to use a 2-second delay than put the camera where I want, but when doing that, the camera does its focusing and metering when you begin the delay. Manually focusing could help but would be a guess, same for manual metering.

Wireless would be tricky as I might not always have line-of-sight plus normally the camera still does its focusing beforehand, but that's changeable in a custom menu. The wired remote, however, does everything I want - the only downside is a long cable hanging around, but that's OK.

Mr Mason, I understand, but this is so exceedingly simple that it's quite safe. Even if do buy a "name" one, it's interesting to know that the Pentax and Canon ares are interchangeable. And certainly the official ones aren't terribly expensive but I had fun making this one and certainly have a unique final product. No shame in buying a factory one though.

One advantage of the homebuilt ones is that you can add the switch for long bulb mode - I believe the factory ones require you to hold down the button if you're doing a long exposure. I could be wrong, but that's how I understand it.

 

[Miss Kelly]

Wow! That looks really cool. Who wants to make it for me? I am not handy with anything electric or mechanical at all.

 

[extreme8]

Thrd party remote switches are becoming available for most major brands at reasonable cost.
I found some for the Canon on ebay for about $13.00 including shipping. They offer all of the features of the factory units (including the locking "bulb" position) at a fraction of the cost. I've purchased them for my Minolta 5D and my Nikon D200 and have been happy with the quality.

Just another option for those that aren't comfortable soldering, or don't need a minty fresh remote enclosure .

 

[Master Mason]

the factory one has a slide that locks it open for very long bulb exposures so you don't have to hold it. Like the lock out on an electric saw or the gas pump.

 

[extreme8]

The generics have the same "push and slide" lock that the OEM's have.

Nothing against home brew parts, believe me. I'm the king of hardware hacks - self proclaimed of course.
Just an option for anyone who doesn't want to tackle a project like that.

 

[jann1033]

good idea but i'd wonder if it might be hard to get through security at someplaces...looks a little dangerous.. course if you used the regular tic tac instead of the bold....

 

[brack]

Thanks for the tip. I love making gadgets and I like the "box" you used.

 

[SplshMtn99]

When seeing yours, my first thought was this.
You remind me of my dad.

 

[boBQuincy]

My "old" D30 and 10D both use the Canon "N3" style remote plug, which has three tiny gold pins in a roundish socket. The phono plug would not work on these, maybe an adapter is available.

My DW's Rebel XT has the mini phono jack, so maybe this style is on the Rebels while the N3 style is on the others.

I sure wish my cameras had a readily available remote jack, the Canon wired remote is kinda' high priced (but I bought one anyway).

 

[DrHug]

Thanks for the tip. I love making gadgets and I like the "box" you used.

Thanks for the tip from me also, and thanks Brack, for pointing it out. I don't usually post on this thread. It's all I can do to get time for our cruise thread. LOL. DW hogs the computer and the laptop/cellphone combo is not too efficient.
I wonder how an old Zippo lighter would work as a case? That woould be getting back to the old metal chassis. LOL!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'm a big fan of the Canon TC-80N3. It works as a remote shutter relase but it can do a lot more than just remotely release the shutter. You can tell it how long to wait before opening the shutter. You can tell it how many pictures to take. You can tell it how long to wait between pictures. You can also tell it how long to keep the shutter open.

At $130, it isn't a steal, but I've used mine on three different bodies now and am very happy I bought it.

What I'd like next is a motion sensitive shutter release. That'd be great for wildlife photos. Just set up the camera aimed at a nest, hole, feeder, or whatever and tell it to take pictures when it sees something moving.

 

[Groucho]

Mark, on one of the sites where a guy built a remote like mine, he also built a homemade motion sensitive shutter, for around $30 I think. ...OK, I couldn't find it in Google, fortunately it was still hanging around Firefox's history. Here is the page. He's using a Nikon D70, which requires some weird USB work to use a wired remote, but the basic construction should be able to used on Canon/Pentaxes, probably much easier actually. (His technique for triggering the Nikon's shutter is modifying the factory remote.)

good idea but i'd wonder if it might be hard to get through security at someplaces...looks a little dangerous.. course if you used the regular tic tac instead of the bold....

I might have, but in a sorta-serious response to a not-so-serious sentence... The regular Tic Tacs are a harder plastic that cracks easily. (I always see now many cracks I can put into one by the time I'm done with it!) The "bold" ones (which I'm not sure if I'd buy again - I had a coupon!) have a rubbery, flexible plastic housing, which should survive abuse much better than the brittle normal ones.

I just noticed that someone on the Pentax DSLR forum at Steve's used a box of Eclipse mints. So much for me being the first one to use a candy container.

SplshMtn99, I did become a Dad about 19 months ago so that makes sense. I was doing weird stuff like this long before, but I'm sure I will still qualify as "that weird Dad" sometimes.