Remote shutter trigger for Digital Cameras

Step 4 ENJOI

plug in your camera and have fun, if you set your exposure to bulb, the shutter will stay open till you let go of the button. And it looks WAY cooler than any of the other homemade ones made out of stuff like film canisters, or pill bottles, I made 3 and sold them on craigslist for $20 each, and this instructable won the instructables "tool tips" contest which got me a free shnazzy shirt

Comments

[thissecretjedi]

what's the point of making this if there's nothing to keep the button held down? i thought that was the whole point of a shutter release?

[lotusduck]

If you don't cut up your headset, then the shutter will be open as long as your jack is plugged in, and will finish when you pull it.

[deth2all]

you can set the time to "bulb" and the shutter will stay open as long as you hold the button, if thats what your talking bout..

[deth2all]

umm...... actually the WHOLE point of a remote shutter release is to eliminate camera shake. i use mine in astrophotography and it works fine just holding the button

[Twistx77]

For that propose you could just set the timer for the shutter for two seconds :P

[rtadlock]

Yeah, but waiting 2 seconds between every shot can become frustrating. Also, when taking a series of shots (for HDR for example), you want no movement between shots, which you may get by pressing the camera button on the first shot. Anyway, I'm sure you could do it with without a shutter release just fine, but having one makes it easy, and you can't go wrong with a < $5 investment IMHO.

[lfassetta]

i have a panasonic fz100, that i searched a lot and i almost gave up, because the fz100 is not in the argentinian market.
once i get the fz100 from an importer, i noticed that the only accesory available here, is the battery replacement. big deception.
i heard that my lumix can be used in bulb mode whith one of this, but i dont find any comercial remote shooter. does this one works with an fz100? it has the 2.5mm jack, for the remote, and also for the microphone, but i don't know how this stuff works. if you answer me "yes", i start right now to build one! sometimes i have to set the ISO to 1600 (over 800 the noise is brutal!).
thanks, and if the shooter works on my lumix, you'll be my new god! :P

[rghosh-1]

Is this works for canon 1000D

[kuyax101]

where do i plug the jack in my camera? i have a d60...

[paul1407]

i have d60 too , the plug is on the top of the usb connector on the side of the camera, but for our d60's you'll need a bigger jack suck as the one on ipod earplugs

[davegoossen]

this looks really cool! will it work for a powershot S5 IS? If yes, I'm stumped as to where i would plug it in. thanks, dave

[kglong]

Dave, this remote will not work with the S5 IS, or most (if not all) point and shoot cameras.

However, you can make a remote shutter release for the S5 IS.  I have built one for my S5 IS.  You can see a photo and description of my remote release at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29608783@N06/4119413715/.

Most Canon point and shoot cameras, and all modern ones, can use a software enhancement called Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK).  It is a free, open-source, non-permanent enhancement to the camera firmware (the program that gives you menus and takes a picture when you press the shutter release button, for example).  You do not have to take the camera apart.

To use the remote shutter release, which plugs into the USB port on the camera, you have to install CHDK and select "enable remote" from the appropriate CHDK menu.  The CHDK website explains how to do it.  Start with the FAQ.

The CHDK website is http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/.

By the way, CHDK does much more than just allow the remote shutter release.  Some are full time battery indicator, Raw file, shutter speeds shorter and longer than normal.  See the CHDK website for details.

[derek82]

Hi. Are there any pre-built ones by you that are available for purchase for use with my S5 is? I have a neuromuscular problem with my right hand that makes pressing the shutter release button difficult and the resulting photos are quite blurry

Regards

[jef713]

there is usually a little jack on the side or somewhere on the camera i don't know about your camera but my jack is labeled ACC i assume for accessory

[drumz0rz]

It only works on camera's that have remote shutter port, that has a 2.5mm jack. My Digital Rebel XT has one, so it works, my PowerShot G9 however only has USB to computer, and 3.5mm A/V out jack, so it doesn't work with that.

[adamtj]

i have a sd1000 and am wondering the same thing. does it plug into the headphone jack next to the usb connector?

[hantu]

Oh man, this rocks albeit I'm a little late on the discovery! Lol. This'll save me at least a hundred bucks!! Can't wait to try!

[hamorhead]

will it work on nikon D80?

[bishopp14]

How about a nikon D300?

[armyofmeisbliss]

wow man, just WOW! you just save me a lot of trouble by teaching us that genious thing. Thanks A LOT!!! The first time i tried the phone was the only thing i had cut off. My Rebel XT wouldn`t stop taking pictures. Then I had to remove the mic, i mean, cut it off completely, and VOILA! btw, i used a nokia mono phone HS-9. Woot woot

[lafaymom]

I did it, it really works. I have a Pentax K100D and it is wonderful, I also have a Minolta and I spent $40 for one made for the camera and it doesn't work as well so thanks. I did have to remove the speaker so it would work.

[josemonkey]

I tried this with an old headset that I have, but it didn't work. My headset is a little different - I'm wondering if the process is the same. Could you look at this and offer any advice? My headset has a switch about a foot below the headpiece. This switch is a momentary mute switch; when it is depressed, the mic is off. It also has a wheel to control the volume to the speaker. Inside the box for the switch, there are four wires going out in either direction. Four go to the plug, four go the other way to the headpiece to connect to the speaker and mic. The wire colors are blue, red, white, and bare copper. The red and blue wires appear to be for the ear piece speaker and the white and copper seem to be for the mic. They are soldered to the board at postions that are marked as follows: GS (red) SP (blue) GM (copper) MI (white) I tried disconnecting the speaker wires (red and blue). When I plugged it in, nothing happened, whether I pressed the button or not. Any ideas?

[deth2all]

So i tried selling these on craigslist, and today some guy posted a link to this instructable here saying it was a cheap trick and not to buy it. wtf? talk about back-fire, my instructable ruined it for me.........

[drumz0rz]

I tried to do this, and it doesn't work for me. When I plug the wire into my Digital Rebel XT it takes a picture (immediately on plug in) then when I press the button it does nothing.

[jef713]

i have kind of the same problem when i plugged it into my cybershot it just turned the camera on and it wouldn't take a picture with the button

[deth2all]

then you did something wrong, probably have wires crossed somewhere inside the housing, cuz i use this also on a rebel

[dreamefx]

(removed by author or community request)

[drumz0rz]

I figured it out. Maybe it was just my headset, but the MIC made it so it was always on. I ended up cutting the MIC off, as well as the speaker, and voila! Works perfectly. So all I've got is the switch by itself inside the housing.

[deth2all]

thanks for the feedback, ive updated step 2 to try to address this problem

[calikoala]

Your instructable does not show any update to reflect possible issues with the microphone wires.

[yooper1019]

will this work on 35mm Canon SLRs as well?