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Canon EOS 350d DIY Radio Controlled Shutter Release
** See disclaimer at the end
of this page **
This page details how you can construct a radio controlled trigger device
for any Canon camera that uses the 2.5mm remote release (e.g. 350d,
300d) or indeed, to trigger the Portaflash series of studio strobes
that also use a 2.5mm trigger socket.
The DIY bit is a little bit of a misnomer as this project involves hacking
a bought radio trigger system.
But why?
I use mine to trigger a 2nd camera on hitting the shutter release on
the first, therefore giving me the option of 2 different angles for
the same shot. You can also fire the radio trigger manually (with a
range of up to 30m) letting you take group shots without being tethered
to the camera or having to race the timer to get yourself into the frame.
You can use it triggering the camera where your presence would otherwise
be obtrusive - e.g. bird watching. You could use it to place the camera
in a position you wouldn't be comfortable shooting from yourself. etc
etc.
You will need:
A radio trigger system
A 2.5mm mono jack plug
Some wire cutters
Perhaps a soldering iron
Some insulation tape
My radio trigger was sourced from a trader in Hong Kong via eBay. Check
out seller
link-delight (a first class ebayer who you should have no problems
with at all) and search their items for "Radio Slave Wireless Remote
Flash Trigger for Studio". This box of tricks is a single channel,
dual frequency radio transmitter and receiver that terminates in a 1/4"
jack plug.
Basically, you need to remove the existing jack plug and attach a 2.5mm
jack plug in its place. Fortunately, in the supplied pack, you get a
PC to 2.5mm adaptor cable which conveniently gives you the required
plug!
Bare the wires of the cable that comes from the receiver. They should
be colour coded red and white. If not, use a multimeter to test the
1/4" socket for which colour goes to the tip of the connector.
With mine, this was WHITE.
If you are using the PC -> 2.5mm cable, remove the PC socket and
again, bare the wires. Check and note the polarity (again, white goes
to the tip of the 2.5mm plug)
Now, join the pairs of wires (twist or solder), observing the correct
polarity (this may not be necessary, but why not just get it right to
begin with?)
If you elected to not use the supplied PC -> 2.5mm cable, attach
the wires from the receiver to your 2.5mm plug, with the white (or whatever
colour yours happens to be) wire going to the tip. The red wire goes
to the barrel.
Use the tape to insulate the joined wires and go play!
Using the trigger
As this is effectively only a single switch, we can only use the unit
to fire the shutter. This means you will need to pre-focus on your subject
and flick the lens into manual focus mode. Once you have done that,
plug the 2.5mm plug into the camera and switch the receiver on. The
shutter may fire once. To prevent that happening, turn the camera off
while you connect the receiver to the camera.
Turn your camera on and try manually firing the shutter by pressing
the button on the transmitter unit.
It's assumed you've put batteries into the receiver and have the transmitter
and receiver set to the same channel ;-)
Here is a pair of photos from the first use in anger of the system on
the Leukaemia Road Rally 2006. The first shot is from the 10d I was
holding (the transmitter unit being connected to the hotshoe of the
10d), the 2nd from the remotely triggered 350d.
I had originally tried getting a front and rear shot, but the dust being
kicked up obscured the cars
Not too bad for something that cost about £15!
Disclaimer
Neither myself, www.devilgas.com, my family, my friends, my pets or my arachnophobic anteater take any
responsibility whatsoever for any damage caused to anything or anyone by duplicating what I've done. If
you feel confident in not destroying your expensive digital imaging equipment by trying this little
ditty, that's your choice and not mine.
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