Shutter Trigger for Kodak C653

Intro: 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!

STEP 2: Solder the Contacts

You will need to solder wires to three different points on the camera. One wire will will connected to the focus contact, one to the shutter contact, and the third will be connected to ground.

1) Strip and tin each wire, and cut the uninsulated end of the wire down to about 1mm for the focus and shutter wires, and about 5mm for the ground.

2) The focus wire needs to be soldered to the small metal "leg" of the push switch, labelled "1".
This will require quite a steady hand and possibly use of a magnifying glass.
Once the wire has been soldered, use a multimeter to make sure it is not accidentally shorted to ground, and to confirm that it is grounded only when the button is pressed.

3) Repeat step 2 for the shutter wire, which solders onto the leg labelled "4".

4) Now solder the ground wire to the metal bracket at the corner of the camera.

5) Arrange the two trigger wires so that they will be out of the way of the mode selection knob (i.e. as shown), and use a dab of epoxy glue to hold them in place.

STEP 3: Arranging the Wires, and Reassembly

1) Pass the wires around the side of the camera, using the same indentation that the blue and white wires use.

2) Replace the front section of the body, and snake the wires around any screw points so that they are tucked into the camera strap anchor.

3) Replace the metal rod, and wrap the wires around it once, to help reduce any pull strain on the wires.

4) Using a craft knife, shave off 2mm from the back camera body section where shown. This will allow space for the wires to pass through.

5) Replace the screw attaching the front of the camera to the internals.

5) Replace the back of the camera, and all screws removed earlier.

STEP 4: Finishing Up

Now terminate the wires appropriately for your project. I chose to use a 3-way plug socket, but it may be useful to use a jack socket or similar to allow you to plug commercial remote trigger devices into the camera. Remember to double-check the pin configurations to suit your chosen application.

To operate the focus, short the focus wire to ground. To trigger the shutter, both the focus and the shutter wire need to be grounded.

Enjoy!

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]

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 ....

[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

[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!