Shutter Release via Electronic Signal from Circuit

xxJaRxx

New member
Hello,

I am looking to integrate my D60 into an electronic circuit I am going to make. Basically I would like to be able to release the shutter of the camera (take a picture) by sending an electronic signal from my circuit to the camera.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to do this?

I am hoping that the shutter button internals are fairly easily accessible (without having to rip the camera to shreds or anything) and I can bypass (presumably) the push switch that the chrome shutter button is connected to, with a couple of wires, then send my signal. Does this sound possible/sensible? Or if anyone has any better ideas I'm all ears :)

Cheers
​James
 

nickt

Senior Member
Do you need this setup to stay active indefinitely, or are you setting up for a planned shot that you control? What I am getting at is you could hack open a ML-L3 remote rather than your camera. Unfortunately the camera will only wait for up to 15 minutes for a signal from the remote. After 15 minutes it goes to sleep. So if you were setting up to catch a planned shot like a splash or glass breaking with some trigger the hacked ML-L3 would work, but if you need longer unattended operation, it won't help you.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Most Nikon DSLR models have a connector on them to attach a wired cable shutter release. There are different versions, and Nikon makes various shutter release cables to do this. Or there are cheapie cables on Ebay for Nikon, from which you can cut off the button and build your own cable, which is fairly easy to do. Then you just short one wire to ground to trip the shutter (half press focus is a different wire). FWIW, here is one example: Shutter Cable for Stopshot for a D70.

But the D60 seems to be the exception, it does not have this connector. It only has the infrared remote, so for the D60, it appears your circuit is going to have to figure out how to squeeze that remote IR button... a solenoid maybe.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
You can get knock-off ML-L3's on Amazon for $5 and even cheaper on Dealextreme. For that price, I think its worth a try to crack one open get some wires soldered in there. It all depends on if the OP can work with the time out.
If he can find a suitable solenoid then he might as well mount it right to the camera rather than the remote. That would eliminate the time out problem.
It just seems a shame to take apart a good camera so hopefully he can use the remote or a solenoid.
 

xxJaRxx

New member
Thanks for all the responses, I wasn't expecting so many so soon :)

The connector to attach a wired shutter release would have been perfect! Bit annoying that my camera is the exception and doesn't have that feature though!

I already have a ML-L3 and had considered hacking it, but I thought the sleep time for the camera was a lot less than 15 minutes? Is there some way to change/increase it, because I'm sure my camera goes to sleep (or at least won't respond to the ML-L3) after a couple of mins?

If the sleep period is 15 mins though, that should be fine. I don't think a solenoid would be needed, I imagine once open, it should be a very simple circuit inside the
ML-L3, with not much more than a battery, switch and IR LED (hopefully).

If I do need the system to be active for over 15 mins I could quite easily ping the
ML-L3 and take a picture before the time is up, purely to keep the camera awake for another 15 mins.

I think I will go about taking the ML-L3 apart in the next few days to see what's in there. Glad I don't have to take my camera apart!

It is a planned series of shots I am looking to capture btw, in response to a sensor being tripped. I always tend to underestimate the projects I undertake though and I can see this one being a lot more complicated than I imagine atm! E.g. the camera will be left outside so will need to be fairly secure, needs waterproof housing & the ability to still take clear pictures when raining and it will be angled
(40 degrees maybe) upwards and so I haven't thought about what's going to happen if it ends up pointing into the sun!

James
 
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nickt

Senior Member
You should be able set the 'remote on duration' under the custom menu settings. I was just glancing through the online manual, it looks like you need to first select 'Full' menu somewhere for 'remote on duration' option to reveal itself.
 

xxJaRxx

New member
Thanks nickt, I managed to find the 15 min mode with your instructions.

For anyone else looking to do something similar to this, I found a really useful 'How To' on the subject of taking apart the ML-L3:

http://thehowzone.com/how/d70-remote/3

Haven't yet got round to doing it myself yet but will do soon.

James
 
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