Cable release mount for Olympus SP-350 digital camera

This camera is great for copying documents, and much faster than using a flat bed scanner. I am principally interested in quickly copying printed or handwritten pages to create readable digital images, rather than to create high-fidelity images which are exact duplicates of the original, or that may be OCR'ed to create text or PDF files of the original.

I'd like to copy dozens of pages in one session, but there are 2 limiting factors, (1) positioning the pages, (2) the necessity to reach back to trigger the camera, which might blur the image or even misalign the camera.

This instructable offers a solution for (2), by a method which, as far as I know, has never been proposed on the internet.

Unlike the analog SLR and rangefinder 35mm cameras of yore, most modern digital cameras provide no way to attach a standard cable release (see extreme closeup below of the SP-350's shutter button and of a standard 35mm film camera's shutter button), and there are few such cameras for which there are commercially available remote or cable shutter releases.

This instructable uses epoxy putty to create a custom mount, molded to the shape of the camera, which provides a base to connect a standard cable release to the camera & allows it to trigger the shutter.

Outside of a patch of velcro glued to the front of the camera body, the camera is not modified at all.

The epoxy base is held to the camera with Velcro strapping, and the cable release is glued permanently into the base. Release of the Velcro straps allows the base to be removed from the camera. I only wish it were more attractive looking.

Step 1: Materials needed - Epoxy putty

Epoxy Putty (which is not the same as epoxy glue) is available at many hardware stores & at WalMart. Both components are packaged side by side and are of a firm, doughy consistency. To activate the putty, you cut off a portion, knead it until it turns from its blue & white color to an all white color. You have 5 minutes to work it, and its curing is complete in about 45 minutes. It gives off some heat while curing.