Shutter Trigger for Kodak C653

This will show you how to add a shutter trigger to a Kodak C653 camera to allow automated photography, or use of a remote trigger system.

You will need:

.25mm wire available from hobby/model stores. (I only used one colour, but you will find it extremely useful to use three)

And you are advised to have:

A positionable magnifying glass
A thin-point soldering iron.

As long as you are careful and take your time, this modification is not particularly difficult.

Step 1 Remove the plastic body of the camera

The body of the camera is quite straight forward to remove;

1) Remove the 5 obvious screws from the case.

2) Slide your fingernail gently down the seem of the camera to snap the clips off. The back section of
the camera body will come away.

3) Remove the small metal rod that forms part of the camera strap anchor, and save it for reassembly.

4) Remove the single right side screw, and remove the front section.

Be sure not to accidentally touch the flash capacitor contacts, which will give a nasty shock!

Comments

[trebuchet03]

I'm brave.... but not that brave. I say this, because I'm trying to work on a mechanical solution for time lapse photography with my point and shoot that doesn't have a remove trigger. I thought about wiring up to the shutter button, but I just don't want to risk damaging my only digital camera :P

[joshharle]

I must admit I was originally not very enthusiastic towards actually modifying the camera, and had been thinking of a solenoid-based actuator. This would have been more expensive and much more "messy" in the end though, and I like the direct connection for more confidence that it will work without problems. The actual modification is fairly innocuous - the switch section of the board can certainly handle a little bit of soldering. As long as one is gentle when removing the body, and makes sure the wires are out of the way of the mode selectors path, then all should be fine. :)

[Nelson_Yepez]

first of all great job i have been looking for something like this forever i was thinking i was the only one that wanted to try this....
i have a fuji s1500 i i want to do this i have the camera open already but how can i figure out where to solder my cables ( which one is ground, focus, shutter )please help i know this is old but hopefully you still there

[trebuchet03]

question for ya.... did you ever come across a suitable solenoid? If so, where? You may have convinced me to go ahead... my camera could use a good cleaning anyway - bits of food, resin, dust etc. have made some of the buttons stick :P I'll see what ToolUA has to say first :P

[5Volt]

A solenoid might give a shock to the camera and blur the picture. How about a geared motor from a toy car? Could modify one of the gears and make it press the button. Ciao

[trebuchet03]

I was just thinking about that on my walk to class..... My camera can be slow to focus (sometimes taking as much as 2 seconds) -- so shock won't be an issue whatsoever :D

[trebuchet03]

A solenoid might give a shock to the camera

I'll just have to increase it's mass (well, it will be attached to a frame and then bolted to a car) :P I'm on the fence on how I'm going to go about it -- Tool and I are both working on solutions for time lapse photography. His prototype is 100% mechanical, I'm working on one that's a little more electrical :P

[5Volt]

Yesterday I was also thinking about something in the line of a remote control thing. It could be derived from here : the receiving part uP case could be a Microchip SOT23 chip and the IR receiver could be something the size of a plastic transistor. The whole thing could fit into the camera. No wires coming out. The uP would time the sequence focus-then-shoot. Need only to find out where to pick up power supply inside the camera (must be controlled by the rotary dial).
My camera (Olympus SP-350) is lacking a remote switch too but regretfully I'm definitely not "that brave" to open it.

I'll have go mechanical, or use self timer ....

[joshharle]

Here in Australia you can get a miniature 12v push type solenoid from Jaycar. I expect you can get something similar from Radioshack-type electronics stores. Good luck however you choose to do timelapse :)

[trebuchet03]

Radioshack has gotten pretty bad.... unless you want to buy a cell phone :/

[Tool Using Animal]

Trebuchet I'll PM you later. NDA okay?!

[Joe Martin]

I'm gonna give this a go very soon as I've got the camera and when I'm using it on the tripod it NEEDS remote trigger!