Remote control for SLR camera from IR receiver
Introduction
One of my hobbies is astronomy, and in particular astrophotography. SLR cameras, in contrast to compact cameras, are very well suited for this business, especially modified in this way .
It is no secret that when photographing celestial objects, slow shutter speeds are used. But when we press the shutter button directly, we create camera vibrations, after which the photos look a little blurry. But this problem can be circumvented by using a timer or remote controls, which can be either wired or wireless (the latter are not suitable for all cameras).
This article describes one way to create a remote control for a Canon SLR camera.
Problems
When using the timer, a problem arises: the maximum shutter speed of one shot can be a maximum of 30 seconds, which is not always enough. In some cases, alternative firmware comes to the rescue . But she also has flaws. Firstly, it was not written for all models, and secondly, it is not very responsive. If you need to quickly take a picture with a non-standard exposure (for example, when photographing artificial Earth satellites ), only a wired remote control will help.
On the market, the cheapest remote for a SLR camera costs from $ 10. But, for example, the remote control circuitry for Canon is quite simple, which allows you to make the remote yourself.
Remote control from the receiver
In my case, the remote control used an IR receiver for the AverMedia TV tuner. It is fully compatible with the remote control connector of the Canon EOS 400D camera and others.
As I noticed, with the camera turned on and manual shutter speed (BULB), the shutter fires when the plug is inserted halfway, and closes completely when inserted. Since this IR receiver has not found its intended purpose for a long time, I decided to make a remote control out of it.
The process of remaking the receiver under the remote control is very simple. It was only necessary to cut off the receiver directly and expose the wires. Under the insulation, only 3 colored wires are hidden. Using a simple brute force method, it turned out that when the plug is fully inserted, the camera reacts if you close the white and green wires. And when the red and white are locked, focusing is performed. All! Done. For complete happiness, it remains to bring the new remote control to its normal form and make it a button.
And how it works is shown in the video.
It remains unknown to me whether there can be any negative consequences for the camera when using the remote control made in such a barbaric way.