Remote Shutter Trigger for Digital Cameras

Make a remote shutter release for your canon digital camera (and some other brands such as Pentax, sony, and some nikons) for about 3 bucks in under 5 minutes, even a 1st grader can do this. This is great for getting the perfect exposure, and enables you to go past the 30 second exposure offered with canon cameras. I use this on my Canon Digital Rebel SLR and it works every time...

Step 1: Hands Free Phone Headset $3

First you'll need a "hands free" headset for phones, Make sure it is one of the kinds with a button about 8 inch below the ear piece. And make sure its a 3/32-inch (2.5-mm) plug (like the plug on a pair of Regular headphones, but one size smaller). I took a pic next to a quarter so you can make sure its the right size. Usually anything for Motorola phones should have this

I found one for $3 at a store called Big Lots (its like a step up from the dollar store) and better yet my g/f works there so i got 20% off!

Step 2: Cut Off the Ear Peice

Use a knife or something to gently pry open the electronic housing. Inside is a switch leading to a microphone. a wire leading out to the plug, and a wire leading out to the ear piece. Cut the wire leading to the ear piece. TEST this in your camera, if it doesnt work, the microphone might have to be carefully removed. it all depends on the model of your headset.

Step 3: Replace Housing

Now just make sure everything is back in place and then close back up, if needed tie a SMALL knot in the wire to make sure it doesn't get yanked out. The soldering doesn't look very strong on these....

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

[onemoroni1]

I used this to take a telephoto shot of the moon to prevent shake. I set up my wife's Rebel T3 fitted with my FD 500mm using a FD to EOS adapter on my heavy duty tripod. I'm trying to attach one of the shots to this post.

[Infinitevortex]

Whoa! Nice shot!! :)

[onemoroni1]

Thanks, all settings including focus were manual. I just used the "sunny 16" rule as the moon is reflecting bright sun. I use this shot as my desktop background.

[mdavis31]

can anyone tell me if this works for a canon 1000D, it would be greatly appreciated

[Exavo]

it does work, i have the same camera and have tested it. :)

[C3PBRO]

It does, you have to remove the mic. I have an xs, that's the same camera.

[Money_Illusion]

Wondering if there's a instructable somewhere to make a dual shutter release to fire 2 cameras at the same time. Want to use it to create 3D photos, ex.: ( http://www.well.com/~jimg/stereo/stereo_list.html ) Plan to mount 2 identical canon/lens on a tripod dual camera mounts and fire them at the same time to capture moving objects. Currently use 1 camera for static objects.

[atanum]

normal headphone splitters won't work!

You need a 4-pole TRRS male to 2x 4-pole TRRS female splitter cable. These are not easily found. CablesOnline sells such splitters.

[Roshy10]

Use a headphone splitter?

[VincentL1]

Sorry correct me if I'm wrong, this is just a 2.5mm plug that makes contact with the momentary push button that you decided to use out of an old school hands free rig. That's clever in a pinch, Falls more in the category of The Young MacGyver Application category.
Never the less congratulations on receiving recognition from instructables. I wish they would send some people money to never show the world anything again, because what they have made is really that bad.

[lel101460]

I have a Canon PowerShot S2 IS I cannot find a place to place this installation into my camera? Can you help. We are getting married just the 2 of us and the minister and want person shots of the wedding and can't find a remote trigger for my camera.

[fischej]

Excellent tip! A few notes from my experience implementing this:

I have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. I found the hands free headset in my electronics odds-and-ends box, so I don't know what phone it came from, but it was essentially as pictured above. I did have to remove both the earphone and the mic.

At first I thought my new cable would only trip the shutter if auto-focus was disengaged, but it seems that the a/f was just "hunting" and couldn't lock. After further experimentation, it appears that the DIY switch does engage a/f, and if it locks, it will trip the shutter. However, there is no "beep" feedback as when manually holding the shutter release on the camera body half-way down. (Apparently the "official" Canon wired remote has a two-position button, so it acts like the built-in shutter release; i.e., half-way down activates a/f, full down trips the shutter.)

Since you can get an aftermarket Canon-compatible wired shutter release for $6-8 online, it probably doesn't make sense to buy a hands free headset (if you can even find them anymore) for this purpose, but for a limited-functionality quick hack on an otherwise useless piece of equipment you already have, this works a treat. Thanks again!

[Spydamonky]

dont you hate it when manafutuers have custom plugs fr remotes to stop you from doing this... DAMN YOU SONY

[Roshy10]

and NIkon (Grrrrr)

[Spydamonky]

Well at least for Nikon you can get hold of the IR codes and build a wireless shutter instead!

[skittlelover0311]

would this shutter release work with my camera? i have a Fujiflim Finepix S4200. Fujifilm makes shutter releases for just about every camera except the S4200, so i have to resort to making my own. Will this DIY shutter release work for a S4200?

[timk333]

cool gadget

[onemoroni1]

Allright, excellent! The photo showed up. I is quite dramatic as my new desktop background.

[shamanths3]

hi will this work on sony slr a37 , it has a mic jack. thank you a lot for replying

[onemoroni1]

I just made this. I picked up a hands free at the 99cent store and had to review your instructable and remove the microphone to get it to work. It works great, This is perfect for tripod set up. I compliment you for your ingenuity and thank you for publishing your instructable. Canon T3 Rebel EOS.