Canon PC remote shutter cable

[beamish]

Just wondering if anyone out there could tell me how to wire up a 9-pin serial to jack plug for the above, and what type of cable I'd need.

Ta, Karlo

[steppenwolf]

Karlo,

Unfortunately, it is not quite as simple as that, you will need some additional components to make an interface as the serial port cannot drive the Canon shutter release directly. There are four options:-

1. A transistor switch and relay ( I wouldn't )

2. A transistor switch ( I did! ) This is a link to how I did mine (go down the page when you get there to the serial version)

http://www.dslrfocus.com/help/eoscable.htm

3. An opto-isolator switch ( The safest method )

4. Buy one of these:-http://www.store.shoestringastronomy.com/products_ds.htm

[Beyond_Vision]

Heres a link to a parallel pc to canon 400D shutter release cable I made. The initial diagram shown at start of thread was superceded by another circuit I made this is shown at the end of the thread. The cable is compatible with the free DSLR Remote software by StarkLabs.

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,20060.msg211970.html#msg211970

Regards

Kevin

[beamish]

Thanks for that guys, given that I already have such a cable from Astronomiser( albeit a short one),is it possible to simplify the whole thing and just get a female -male extension ? All I'm trying to do is extend the range without having to go to the expense of buying another longer cable.

Karlo

[steppenwolf]

Karlo,

You could easily make up a serial cable extension but just as easy to buy this one:-

http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=821

[beamish]

Thanks Steve but actually I was thinking more along the lines of a 2.5mm jack-plug(male -female) extension. I haven't found one yet and so was wondering if one could be made up using 2-core or 3-core cable?

Karlo

[steppenwolf]

Hi Karlo,

It must be me!!! Finally I can see what it is you actually want - Doh!!!

You could easily make one up using 2 core and Earth 'Audio Cable. These are the plugs and in-line sockets you would need:-

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?MenuNo=12293&MenuName=2.5mm+Stereo+Jacks&FromMenu=y&doy=Search

.... and this cable from the same source would be suitable:-

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=127&doy=23m1

[beamish]

Yet again, many thanks Steve, that should do the job!!

Karlo

[beamish]

Okay just to say another big thank you to Steve and Kevin, I'm flush with success having easily made myself an ext of 10m to the shutter release cable(and it works!) and followed that up with a further ext for the puter control of the scope allowing the SN6 pro access to mount, and then of course there was my earlier success with the 5M cable ext for the autofocuser !! BLIMEY O'REILLY !!!

Look I'm sure you think it's no great shakes but without you being there in the background helping out and oozing confidence I wouldn't have even tried !! So cheers !!

Karlo

[cygnusx1]

O.K this may sound daft but doesnt canon have remote s/w that controls the shutter anyway.

Well i cant seem to control it for exposures lonfer than 30s. :scratch:

Or is this for extending the PC usb/firewire Camera connection cable??

[steppenwolf]

Well i cant seem to control it for exposures lonfer than 30s.

Sadly, that is why there is third party software available to operate an electronic shutter release in 'BULB' mode to get past the 30 second threshold limit that Canon have incorporated in the USB control software.

[beamish]

Kevin, it's an ext to a cable bought from astronomiser(serial-2.5mm jack) plus a serial-usb converter that allows you to use DSLRShutter and/or DSLRFocus S/W. This gives you the opportunity to use the Bulb function and take exposures of whatever length remotely plus for the 300D it means I can exploit Mirror-lock !! The DSLRSHUTTER S/w is free, I'm not bothering with the DSLRFocus due to the download times of the USB-1 of the 300D and just do it by eye thru the VF and use of a h/made Hartman mask.

Hope this helps, Karlo

[cygnusx1]

Well i cant seem to control it for exposures lonfer than 30s.

Sadly, that is why there is third party software available to operate an electronic shutter release in 'BULB' mode to get past the 30 second threshold limit that Canon have incorporated in the USB control software.

What software is that?

[beamish]

There you go Kevin.

http://www.stark-labs.com/DSLR_Shutter.html

As i said I got my initial cable from Astronomiser http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/300d.htm

my usb-serial converter from Maplin plus all the bits to make up a 10M ext to the 3m astronomiser lead.

Karlo

[steppenwolf]

What software is that?

There are others but I use this for both focus control and long exposure control:-

http://home.btconnect.com/astro-site/digital_slr_focus.htm

[beamish]

Steve, am I right in thinking the focus control for me with the 300D would be slow since it would require downloads thru the USB-1 ?

[cygnusx1]

What software is that?

There are others but I use this for both focus control and long exposure control:-

http://home.btconnect.com/astro-site/digital_slr_focus.htm

thanks SW looks perfect, does it need a special cable/adapter?

[steppenwolf]

thanks SW looks perfect, does it need a special cable/adapter?

Yes, it does. This one will do just fine assuming that you have a suitable serial port on your PC:-

http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/300d.htm

If you don't have a suitable serial port but only USB ports then you will need one of these (second item down the page):-

http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/converters.htm#serusb

[steppenwolf]

Steve, am I right in thinking the focus control for me with the 300D would be slow since it would require downloads thru the USB-1 ?

I have very successfully used a USB 1.1 port for this and the secret is to have two settings (easily achieved in DSLRFocus):-

1. For focus, set high ISO, relatively fast shutter speed (say 6 seconds), high resolution but minimum quality JPEG to get a fast exposure that downloads relatively quickly because the compression is high

2. For the final capture, a lower ISO to reduce noise, the correct long exposure to collect the light (say 120 seconds) high resolution, maximum quality (preferably RAW)

This means that the focus frames download as fast as possible but as soon as you are happy with focus and shift to actually imaging, the second set of parameters come into force.

[beamish]

You know you ought to be given a special award of merit ! That's great and not what I expected, so i could use the focus S/W as you've described but happily keep the actual images on the 4gb card without the terminally long d/load times. Just never knew about the fast speeds re focusing so never bothered buying DSLRfocus, assumed it'd be too slow.

How many thank you's is that this week ? :D

Karlo

[steppenwolf]

Karlo, I normally download the main images straight to the memory card on board the camera for just this reason although once it is all set up and focussed and you are tracking and taking long exposures, the time it takes to download the high res./high quality images probably isn't quite so significant as by then you are inside having a coffee while DSLRFocus takes a series of images for you! I have to say that DSLRFocus was one of my best value for money purchases as it does an excellent job of both focus control and image acquisition for not a lot of hard earned!

[beamish]

Hi Steve, I've just bought it !!! and listening to some classic tunes "when the Levee breaks" Led Zep , not listened to this for far too long.

Cheers, Karlo.