Canon 10D remote shutter release

[petemac]

I am at the limit of my wits with my shutter release. I've propped, jabbed and pretty much done everything to get my long shutter times in bulb mode but its pretty annoying. What worse is that the remote costs 49 dollars! 49 dollars for a fancy switch?

My question is if anyone has converted the elan 7 remote to work with the 10D. Surely a few of us have this issue. They are both 3 terminal connecters that offer the same features, so it seems to me all I need is to figure out what is what and then make an adapter. Please chime in with your experience. I seem to always be trying things like this......sometimes works :-)

-pete

[Lionheart]

Are you using the RS-80N3 shutter release? I use this and it has worked on all my EOS models from the 630 all the way through the 1DMkII, including the 10D.

[Clemmie]

$49 for a switch? Yup - believe it! Camera prices are highly competitive, so they make their real money on the Accessories after you're locked in.

I know Minolta's RC-1000L remote cord is $40, so don't feel too bad. Once you get a remote release, and see how handy it can be, the initial 'sticker shock' is soon nothing but a distant memory.

[Peter_AUS]

Stop your complaining and be happy it is only $49 to you, here in Australia it is $129 Aus which is around $90US. I got mine from BHPhoto&Video online for $49 plus postage which still works out around $85Aus.

[petemac]

Flashram-
I would like to point out that your last post was at best, very rude. I am sorry that living in austraulia results in high prices. I do not, however, think that has any bearing on my question. Instead, your reply is combative and against the spirit of innovation found in the original post. I apologize if my question was provocative in any way.


To all others intersted-
I have found the pinouts of canon remotes. They were as simple as i had originally thought.

For Canon EOS 1D, 1Ds, 1D Mark II, 10D, 20D, D30, and D60 cameras:
Top is ground, left is shutter, and right is focus. All you have to do to release the shutter is short the shutter pin to ground. I checked this by shorting my 10D with a jumper, and it is verified. With this in hand, I grabbed some probes and 10 feet of wire, constructing a makeshift remote. Upon testing it works fine. Free remote, but sketchy connection.

The elan7e remote (RS60-e3):
Pin1 is top of connecter,2 is middle, and 3 is bottom. The connector is a 2.5mm sub-mini stereo jack. The standard headphone plug is 1/8 inch, or 3.17 mm, so i think this remote really is a 2.5 jack. The 2.5mm connector is available from any radio shack or at jameco.com...anywhere really. Shorting pins 1 and 2, will focus, shorting them all will release the shutter.

Since i usually manually focus all the remote shots i take, i will only use two pins from the elan 7 remote if i convert it to the 10D ... just pins 1 and 3. Then I can lock the release. Since I already have a jack from my ham radio ( kenwood th-79) that accepts the connector from the elan remote i won't need to get another one of them. That means all that is left for me to buy is the N3 connector. Since I don't have any idea where to get one of those, and i am cheap, i eventually plan on milling one or hacking one up from another connector.



The end result of this search is that i have answered my own question - you definetly do not need the remote to release the shutter on the 10D. There are no sophisticated electronics or anything else to stop you from releaseing the shutter with a screwdriver shorting two pins. If i get enough free time to construct an N3 connector, i hope to post pictures so you do not have to pay 49 dollars for a remote (or 129 aus dollars) but instead can make a remote of any length with nothing but a few spare parts. If all else fails, ive read that its pretty easy to trigger a digital rebel with an iPaq , maybe i can work on a 10D trigger from mine :-) Essentially, if you have 15 minutes to research this subject you might consider it before spending 49 dollars (129 aus dollars) on the canon remote.


-pete

[Clemmie]

Proof that 'where there's a will, there's a way' - just as with most any system out there.

The main challenge lies in making sure you have the connector sequence right, and then execute this right - cause if you get it wrong and fry something, there is no warranty coverage. Thus, one's tolerance for that risk, is the ultimate deciding factor in whether to go factory or homebuilt.

[b_slow]

Hi Pete,

I seem to remember using a headlamp wrapped around my tripod holding the shutter down while on my most recent backpacking trip--didn't work too well.

Maybe you have an answer to this or maybe not, but I'm concerned about the battery life during long exposures with a digital sensor. Now I'm not exactly sure how the sensor works, but I would assume that the the battery needs to both hold the shutter open AND power the sensor during the exposure. This especially concerns me for my intended purposes--several hour long exposures in very cold weather (where batteries don't last too long anyway).

As of right now, I'm just looking to use my F65 for the sole purpose of long exposure star shots. But do you know anything about long exposures and power consumption?

[another view]

I think you're taking Peter's reply the wrong way, doubt he meant anything by it. I shoot Nikon and had to buy the two-pin release with my N8008s for $50, but then had to get a different 10-pin with my F100. That time I went to the one with the timer (actually pretty handy with night shots) for twice the money... Just consider it part of the price of the camera. I looked into trying to buy a plug and sodering a cable on it, but if I get something wrong then I have a really nice expensive paperweight (formerly a camera) so I went ahead and bought the Nikon release. The place I work at deals with industrial electronic stuff like this so I thought I could find the parts - but (surprise ) it's not a standard plug anyway.

b_slow: You mean F65 as in Nikon? I remember Galen Rowell saying the N8008s with it's 4xAA alkalines would last 3 to 3-1/2 hours on a new set. Depending on what the F65 uses for batteries it could be similar. Even though it's gotten much better, the big problem with digital long exposures is noise. I've heard that when the sensor heats up (from being charged while in use) it gets really bad - so you might do better in cold weather. I've shot 30sec with pretty good luck at ISO100 with my Fuji S2 but nothing more than that - still use film for that. Actually been using my F100 but thinking about getting a well-used and very inexpensive F3 for this.

[Peter_AUS]

petemac,

No I didn't mean anything by my post other than, it is a hell of a lot more expensive here in Australian than in the USA which has an effect on the rest of the world anytime someone sneezes there.

I actually think I have the parts pdf file for the RS-80N3 showing how it is put together, thought about doing the same thing you are thinking of, but taking into account the time involved, getting it correct and seeing some of the problems people have had when doing these sorts of things, I decided the camera is too precious to me if something goes wrong and fry's it.

If you are unaware, I don't work due to a back injury and money is very tight with me, so spending it is very frugale. I have had to spend $2,500 last 3 weeks, just getting my car serviced and some mechanical repairs done as well, I have been delaying for a while due to lack of funds. That is around 2 months income for me straight onto the credit card, but having paid nearly $3,000 for the camera, for the sake of $90 I bought the switch for safety reasons.

Good luck with your project, hope it works out for you, and hope you get the length you want.

[petemac]

My use for the remote is 1 to 2 minute exposures. If my subject is really light I can pick out the noise at iso 100. This is evident in my pinhole photos, but doesn;t really lower the image quality. I never experienced a reciprocity failure with film but I imagine that digital noise isn't much worse to deal with, and is easier to correct in PS then it would be in the darkroom or by monkeying with exposure times. Battery life at this exposure time doesn't really bug me. I have taken 50 30 second photos in an evening and never noticed my batteries go down.

As for the remote itself. http://members.tripod.com/~ghonis/10dshutterswitch.html this gentleman seems to have made a workable remote. On this site he also provides a link to software called egg timer plus, which allows the remote capture software to trigger a long exposure. Additionally, he has taken many atronomy pictures with his 10D, showing that noise shouldn't be that big of a problem. I was relieved to find this since it shows that you won't fry a camera.

The only fear I have for the remote somehow wrecking the camera would be shorting the shutter and focus pins. I so far have just been careful not to do that. Since all my remote work will be in low light, i am only planning to do a two wire remote, so i will never use the focus pin. I might just put some heat shrink tubing over it, then the worst i can do is take a picture. As for the plug, I am hoping to find something good to use around the shop.

thanks for reading
-Pete


Flashram- I am glad that i misinterpreted your post, and am sorry to hear that you are injured. I hope that things work out.