Olympus Evolt E510 Remote Cable Release (Version 2 with Auto Focus on Remote)

Step 4 Prepare the PC Board

Thread the camera cable through the opening created in step 3 before you being soldering.

If necessary, cut the wires for the DPDT switch so that they are a convenient length for the enclosure. Leave some slack to allow easy installation of the switch later.
Solder the components to the PC board using the schematic provided.

• SW1 - DPDT slide switch
• SW2, SW3 - SPST

Test your circuit using a multi meter. Once you are satisfied with the results, plug the cable into your camera and test it.

• DPDT switch should result in a full button push - the camera should focus and release the shutter immediately.
• SW2 should wake the camera from lite-sleep (monitor off) but do nothing else on its own
• SW3 should auto focus and meter
• SW3 and SW2 pressed together should result in focus and shutter release. Press SW3 to focus and then SW2 to release shutter when ready.

Cut the used portion of the PC board free using the Dremel tool.

TIP!
If you are unfamiliar with electronic schematics, the circles on the left side of the diagram indicate the connections to the cable for pins 3 and 11. The circles on the right side with a "-" next to them indicate ground. solid boxes on lines indicate connections between wires. Crossed lines do not connect unless there is a box over them.

Note, The schematic below is mislabeled; pin 4 should ACTUALLY be pin 3. Thanks to everyone that pointed this out!

Comments

[cornz]

Fantastic little hack..Just made mine and set it up as i wanted it. Only other thing i might do is get some white letraset and label the switches. Well done for posting this.Ssaved us Oly users a small fortune.

[txoof]

Yeah, it'd look more professional with some labels. The "finishing touches" have never really been my specialty tho. What is your enclosure made out of? I'm always curious to find new boxes to put my hacked junk into.

[cornz]

It was a small project box from "maplins".
I should have bought a narrower box but its no big deal.
It works and it works well....

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=43710&doy=25m1

Cracking little mod....

[cornz]

Completed remote shutter..

[Lori C]

Great project. Should the last sentence of the 'Test your circuit...' be amended to : 'Press SW3 to focus and then SW2 to release shutter when ready.'

[txoof]

Very astute. You're right, I flip-flopped the two switches. Have you built one of these? I'd love to hear how things worked out.

[Lori C]

It took a while but I finished the project and it works just great. I found a number of suitable containers in the electrical dept. of the local thrift store. Small transformers that can be opened ( some are sealed and not screwed together), game consoles, etc. I used a 'Mad Catz' (whatever that is) for my remote. One additional diagram (attached) that could be given is a pin numbers one of the rear of the Olympus connector in relation to the front pins. Many thanks, Lori

[txoof]

Wow! Yours looks way better than mine! It almost looks like it came out of a shop! Nice work on the enclosure. How was the cable disassembly and reassembly? That was probably the hardest part for me. Thanks for picture, the pin-outs are helpful.

[Lori C]

To remove the boot on the Olympus video cable I placed it in boiling water for a minute or so and it was easy to slide off. I did not even bother to de-solder the two video pins - I just gripped the wires and pulled them out. The two missing pins make no difference to the remote operation as pins 5 and 9 are not required. The video cable was discarded and two wires and the ground in an ordinary USB cable, which I purchased for $3 at a thrift store, was used. Soldering the wires to the connector was done very slowly and carefully. I did not use Gorilla glue (I didn't have any on hand) but used a glue gun for insulation purposes and then heated and replaced the connector boot anchoring it also with the glue gun.

[txoof]

The boiling water is a much better idea than the open flame. I wish I would have thought of that before filling my kitchen with burning plastic smell. Also, the hot glue gun is probably easier than the gorilla glue. I don't have one, but it might be worth the investment for insulating all the little projects I cook up. I'm kind of tired of zapping myself. I'm glad the whole thing worked for you. Post some shots when you get a second.

[Lori C]

I forgot to mention I use an E-410 but the Olympus version (RM-UC1) also works for the following cameras : SP-510UZ, SP-550UZ, SP-560UZ, E-410 and E-510. I don't know about the E-500. Lori

[txoof]

Thanks for the additional camera info too!