Wireless Arduino Remote Camera Trigger

by WinstonMakes

10K125

Intro: Wireless Arduino Remote Camera Trigger

Wired camera triggers typically work by acting as a switch. Camera circuitry operates at 3.7V (a single Li-Ion cell, i think) so you can either complete a physical switch to trigger the camera shutter, or you can apply 3.7 volts across the two contacts to trick the camera into firing. In this project, I used an Arduino to apply the 3.7V to activate the camera trigger through my old mouse camera trigger.

The Arduino Fio was controlled over XBee radio modules (efffective range of 250 feet...? ish...). I wrote a simple program on my laptop so that when i clicked in a window, it sent a command to briefly apply voltage to an I/O pin on the Arduino. It could also be automated, so that the Arduino is an intervalometer.

5 Comments

jack002 11 years ago

Can you tell us how you wired it? Is there some place I can go to see how wired remotes are wired? I have a Pentax k110d I'd like to do this with.

WinstonMakes 11 years ago

Pentax and canon I believe use 2.5mm TRS audio jacks. TRS = "tip-ring-sleeve".
You "focus" button will simply short "ring" (middle contact) to "sleeve" (ground). Your "shutter" button will connect "tip" (self-explanatory) to "sleeve". (I may have mixed them up...)
You could go to radio shack and spend $$$ on a custom breakout audio jack... or just get a headset for older smartphones/cellphones and splice the cable yourself.
Just get a digital multimeter and see which wire goes to what part of the jack.
No need for resistors or anything in between, you're not introducing an external power source, unless you're using an Arduino.

diy_bloke 12 years ago

With all due respect, this isnt much of an instructable, more a 'hey, see what I built'
Also I do not understand what you mean with 'remotely via my laptop'
You mean to say that you need a modified mouse AND and Arduino AND yr laptop to take a picture?

A little bit more description would surely help

WinstonMakes 12 years ago

You are right. I uploaded this awhile ago, thinking I'd remember to flesh it out a bit more. Finally got around to it. I might reference a circuit schematic from another Instructables camera trigger.

But yea, thanks for giving me a heads up on my negligence.

diy_bloke 12 years ago

Is OK, please do not get me wrong, it was not meant as any type of criticism