Can anyone tell me the direction of current flow?
I'd like to use an optocoupler but I don't have the camera with me...
Is it towards the base of the connector or towards the ring?

Thanks in advance!
Michael

Hello Xyzzy!!

Dang thank God I found this post!!! Tried making a remote shutter for FZ100 and it didn't work... All because I didn't know that it needed some resistors to power up! Will this series work on FZ100? Don't wanna fry up my camera.. Thanks!!

works even with 1k + .5k instead of 2k 2k + .7k instead of 3k a trio of resistances with the value of 34.47k instead of 36k

Thank you very much for this information! I've ordered a 2.5mm plug (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=090-504) and cobbled together an assortment of resistors that adds up to the proper values. Once this works, the next step is the arduino intervalometer! http://www.highonsolder.com/blog/2009/7/20/arduino-intervalometer-for-time-lapse-photography.html?lastPage=true#comment5634321

This circuit is a great info snippit...........
On eBay they sell a remote that works for: Panasonic G1, GH1, FZ30, FZ50, L1, L10, DMW-RS1 and I know DMW-RSL1 uses the same as DMW-RS1 and I know FZ20 uses the same as FZ50.
This suggests this circuit should work for quite a lot of Panasonic cameras.

Just what I need!

Haha.  Don't mind me anyone... With the Panasonic GH1 (I got mine in Japan but it's probably identical to the US version in terms of hardware), the circuit above works exactly as designed.

I was trying to get the camera to respond to a 5kohm resistance (as it sees during a half-press) and the camera would do nothing.  The trick is that the camera first has to see the 41kohms of all three resistors in series.  I guess the camera uses 41kohms to indicate there is a shutter remote plugged in, then 5kohm to indicate a half-press, then 2kohm for a full press.

Thank you for this info, Xyzzy!

Hello Xyzzy! I received the part from parts-express.com and am pleased to find that it is a proper four-wire 2.5mm plug. Unfortunately, I am not able to get my Panasonic GH1 camera to respond to the resistances you've described above. I have a set of resistors in series that add up to 5Kohms (+/- .05 Kohms) but when I connect them to contacts 3 and 4 (counting from the tip as 1), I can't get the camera to focus. (I've also tried connecting that resistance across all combinations of leads.) Touching contacts 3 and 4 directly together makes the camera give an on-screen notice that I need to turn the microphone power on - so at least I know the connector is making contact with the inside of the camera. The camera is set to Auto Focus Single and P mode. I must be doing something silly... Do you have to set anything on your camera to enable a remote shutter? Thanks in advance for any advice.