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I decided to make a quality DIY intervalometer for my DSLR Pentax camera so that I could do time-lapse photography. This intervalometer should work with most major brands of DSLR cameras such as Nikons and Canons. It works by triggering the shutter using the camera's remote trigger port. It can also auto-focus before each shot if so desired (or toggle this on or off at any time). The brains of this intervalometer is an Arduino chip. It may seem very complicated at first glance, but is actually a simple circuit and not that hard to make.
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You will need:
(x1) Small wood box
(x1) 1/8" acrylic panel (see next step)
(x1) black acrylic paint and brush
(x1) Arduino
(x1) perfboard
(x1) 1K resistor
(x1) 100 ohm resistor
(x1) LM7805 5V regulator
(x1) 2-color LED
(x1) 16MHz crystal
(x2) 22pf capacitors
(x1) 10K potentiometer
(x1) 28 pin socket
(x1) DPDT toggle switch
(x1) SPST push-button switch
(x1) M-type socket
(x2) SPST 5V reed relays
(x1) shielded stereo cable
(x1) 3/32" (2.5mm) male plug
(x1) 6VDC power adapter with M-type plug
(x1) knob
(x1) toggle switch cover (optional)
(x4) 1" wood screws
(x1) red, black and green wire
(x1) soldering setup
(x1) multimeter
(x1) drill press (or hand drill) and misc. tools.
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Also- do you think it is alright if I have the intervalometer combined into the receiver? Or should I just have an AUX input for it?
Many thanks- hope to enter my completed creation/guide into next weeks wireless contest :)
-Astroboy907
At the end I've permanently removed the focus (I should never use it) and I've replaced it with the option to use a photoresistor wich interrupt the cycle in the night.
I used a logarithmic potentiometer so to choose with the same precision the small intervals and the bigger one. So my scale go approximately from 6 sec, through 15, 30, 60, 120 sec. Anyway a digital scale (also discrete) should work better, so my next project should be with a push-button and maybe a display or some leds to show the value.
Ciao :-)
I currently let it focus for one picture, but then turn it off. In retrospect, I probably should just set it all up myself in advance. Maybe it will be useful for something sooner or later...?
You are probably right about the digital delay :-)
Remember that the mirror in SLRs is damaged after a lot of shots, usually 100.000 I remember, you reach that in a week with 10 shots per minute..
bye!
Two years ago I stumbled onto Nerdkits - a couple of MIT grads put the company together. For around $80 they will send you a serious Atmega microcontroller, programming environment for Mac and PC, USB cable, breadboard, 4-line LCD display, temperature sensor, speaker, switches, wire, leds and a CD full of theory and excellent example programs.
You will have to learn C language, but that's not so bad (I come from FORTRAN, PL1, BASIC, PASCAL, and assembly - C is better). You will also have to learn the logic of bitwise manipulation, so that you can change one bit of a byte-wide port - pretty easy once you grasp it.
What you get for your money is a complete, stand-alone industrial microcontroller with it's programming environment, plus lots of examples of how to put it to use.
Nerdkits site has continuous forums on anything you could want, with real newbies asking, and getting answers to all of their problems. The two owners of the site also respond in the forums, and even respond to email questions (I don't know how they handle the volume - but they do, quickly and with friendly help).
I've built several real-time clocks with different displays. One is a "one digit clock" - it uses one 7-segment LED to tell the time: at 2:35 it flashes the "2", then the "3" then the "5". Under the display is four regular leds - each one lights to let you know what number you're looking at: the 2nd one lights when "2" is displayed, the 3rd one lights when the "3" is displayed, etc. I love this project - I had to learn how to tell time with the microcontroller, and found that it wasn't accurate. Then I bought a second Real Time Clock chip with it's own crystal and battery backup, and had to learn how to interface that with the MCU using the MCU's serial port. (It has several - different modes, several analog-to-digital converters, etc, etc, etc). My other hobby is woodworking, so I built really nice cases for the clocks using spalted and curly woods. My parents and girlfriend each have one and love them. Of course, I don't have one for myself (of course), but I'm building another one very soon, using a larger, 2-1/2" LED, which, of course, needs higher voltage than the regular LED (which the MCU can drive itself) so now I'll have to learn how to switch higher voltages (8 volts) using transistors triggerd by the MCU's 5v outputs. It's been a wonderful learning experience.
Sorry for waffling on so much, but I think you owe it to yourself to buy a kit from Nerdkits - you'll curse me when you're learning the ins and outs (the included datasheet for the MCU is about 400 pages of fine print), but you'll thank me forever after you get over the learning curve. Their examples will have you up and running your first successful project within an hour - a digital thermometer that displays temperature on the LCD and on your computer's serial port. You'll thank me. Go buy a Nerdkit- no doubt about it. (No, I am not affiliated with the company - just a fumbling hacker who lucked onto their site.)
Just wondering why you had it start at 10 seconds, I found 4 to be good for clouds and other relatively fast moving objects?
An Arduino is easier but more expensive.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. I figured that I probably wouldn't want to shoot anything faster than that.
Just a quick easier trick for the decal. Anyone that etches their own printed circuit boards should know this.
- Just print it in reverse on Bubble jet photo paper but on a laser printer.
- Place on the backing and iron on with an old clothes iron.
- Let cool.
- Soak in hot water for about 10 minutes till cooled down.
- While still wet paper will just about slide off. Rub slightly for remaining paper.
Presto label applied and ready
Here's a sample from my Olympus OM-20, which had a built-in intervalometer that I sorely miss.
(It's a 142MB download. Be patient.)
You could always use a program designed for stop motion, since there's quite a few out there for free.
you might instead use a saw for the frontplate.
and use a piece of pcb instead of acryllic-glass.
in that case you could print the layout and etch it on the pcb.
this is eassier to do at home. you only need some sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid. and prefereble an laserprinter for the print. dont forget to use parchment paper(im not shure this is the right translation for what i mean. i am refering to a kind of paper wich is fat-proof. a litteral translation would be fat-free paper.) instead of normal paper.
I can say, in response to this kind of comment... go make your own and do it that way...
Heck... he COULD have just bought one
Other on the cheap solutions- soap box, old (minidv?) tape box, the box the arduino came in, dollar store boxes... cardboard boxes. a lot of solutions if you dont happen to have a laser cutter or a fancy enclosure near by :)