Removing all unwanted parts of a DSLR to make a minimal weight and volume astro camera

[libraryman]

Hi Gina, an easy to follow guide and very useful too.

Attached is a photo of my 450D and i assume the power contacts...can you confirm the connections are the same as the 1100D?

[Gina]

DSCF5297.JPG

Hi Gina, an easy to follow guide and very useful too.

Attached is a photo of my 450D and i assume the power contacts...can you confirm the connections are the same as the 1100D?

Thank you

I'm pretty sure it's the same but I will check.

[astromerlin]

Hi Gina,  Great job, I love pics. A 350d stripdown would be interesting, I still havn't had the time or courage to strip or debayer mine yet.

 When I normally take flats using APT I turn the top switch from Manual to Av. Now if I soldered the connections up to only manual, would it make taking flats more difficult? What method do you employ?

[russellhq]

Yes, I read that advice during a Google search - didn't work unfortunately   May have another go at the shutter later - it should work.

I will be interested to see how you get on. My camera has just thrown the same error/behaviour: can't see anything physically wrong with it

[Gina]

Hi Gina,  Great job, I love pics. A 350d stripdown would be interesting, I still havn't had the time or courage to strip or debayer mine yet.

 When I normally take flats using APT I turn the top switch from Manual to Av. Now if I soldered the connections up to only manual, would it make taking flats more difficult? What method do you employ?

Thank you

OK I'll strip down a 350D.

I just do flats like lights setting the ADU around half way (as I recall) by using a suitable exposure.  APT won't let you call them flats without using Av so let it call them lights and save them separately .

[Gina]

I will be interested to see how you get on. My camera has just thrown the same error/behaviour: can't see anything physically wrong with it

I'll post any progress on repairing the shutter.  I'll see how I get on but I may have some working shutter units superfluous to my requirements and may have these for sale.  Same applies to other camera parts.  I have a feeling I may need to generate some cash  

[russellhq]

Cross posted/edited there   We are thinking the same   Though I'm also thinking of benefits in another project which don't apply here.

I've undone the edit so that my post matches your quote   I was adding

You could potentially use the battery box to hold the desiccant?

[Gina]

Oh yes, I've done that before

[Gina]

I am now stripping down a duff 450D.  The fault with it is actually the shutter but I have another 450D with a good shutter so I might try debayering the sensor from this one as that component is definitely working.  Sometimes the shutter works and then the image is perfect.

I started off by removing all visible screws from the case.  Some of these are arranged slightly differently from the 1100D that I posted all the photos for, but I'm sure anyone dismantling a 450D can cope with that.  However, there is one hidden screw in this model which stops the front coming off.  This is under the right-hand grip which needs peeling off to get at the screw.  I found this screw was impossibly tight and I actually broke the tip of my high quality screwdriver   I ended up drilling the head off to get the camera apart.  All this can be seen in the next few photos.

Here I have loosened the grip

Grip removed showing the screw

Head of rogue screw drilled off

Case removed leaving the shank of that screw

The next photo shows the power board with the battery beside it showing the order of the contacts and hence solder pads on the power board.  So I can now confirm that the connections are exactly the same as the 1000D and in the exact same order as the 1100D but with the solder pads a bit closer together than the 1100D.  I've shown the positive power connection as a red arrow and the negative (Gnd) in black connecting to two solder pads as described earlier.

[Dave_D]

Quick question (or two) about power. As i'm a long way off being brave enough to strip my camera completely for cooling and new box.

1. when the viewfinder is removed, is there enough room in the case where the viewfinder used to be, to fit a 3.5mm jack plug to be wired to the power pads?

2. when running on external power, does there need to be anything in the battery compartment? i read somewhere about the battery depressing a switch but i may be mistaken

[Gina]

Quick question (or two) about power. As i'm a long way off being brave enough to strip my camera completely for cooling and new box.

1. when the viewfinder is removed, is there enough room in the case where the viewfinder used to be, to fit a 3.5mm jack plug to be wired to the power pads?

2. when running on external power, does there need to be anything in the battery compartment? i read somewhere about the battery depressing a switch but i may be mistaken

1. Yes.  If you're going to retain the original case you will need to block up the hole from where the viewfinder was with an opaque piece of plastic or some such.  You could put a socket in that.  There are also other places where you could put the socket.

2. There is a switch that detects when the battery door is closed and that needs holding in.  But again, if you are using the original case the battery door can be closed and it will operate the switch.  There is no need for a battery or anything else in the battery compartment.  It is the door of the compartment that operates the switch rather than the battery itself.

[libraryman]

Thanks for the confirmation of the 450d power connection, I currently have my 450d in bits and have made the cold finger, just waiting on parts to arrive, have to take my time due to funding restrictions, I'll get there eventually though.

Will you cover the control function for the temperature control of the peltier etc Gina?

Ray

[Gina]

Thanks for the confirmation of the 450d power connection, I currently have my 450d in bits and have made the cold finger, just waiting on parts to arrive, have to take my time due to funding restrictions, I'll get there eventually though.

Will you cover the control function for the temperature control of the peltier etc Gina?

Ray

Yes, I will be covering all the cooling information in another thread including the circuit diagram and Arduino sketch plus the hardware.  I have covered this before but in various threads covering other things too so I plan to post a concise thread on this alone.

[Dave_D]

1. Yes.  If you're going to retain the original case you will need to block up the hole from where the viewfinder was with an opaque piece of plastic or some such.  You could put a socket in that.  There are also other places where you could put the socket.

2. There is a switch that detects when the battery door is closed and that needs holding in.  But again, if you are using the original case the battery door can be closed and it will operate the switch.  There is no need for a battery or anything else in the battery compartment.  It is the door of the compartment that operates the switch rather than the battery itself.

great i already blocked the viewfinder when i took the flip mirror out but i may make a plastic insert to mount a jack plug to fit where the rear lens is so i don't have to start drilling the case.

[Gina]

Returning to the 450D stripdown...

This camera differs from the 1100D in having a separate PCB for the shutter remote connector and video.  A ribbon cable to disconnect and two screws.

Most of the screws holding the main board are the same as the 1100D but one is under the ribbon to the top setcion and another holds a screen for the USB socket which needs removing.

One screw in a different place for the sensor assembly.  I have already removed the screws in this next photo.

Not a stripdown photo now but this shows the broken shutter with one blade rivet missing.

4 screws hold the viewfinder.

This is the sensor assembly.  3 screws and double sided adhesive tape hold the filter assembly onto the sensor.  Screwdriver and a thin knife blade are used to remove this.

[Dave_D]

YIKES!!!!

unfortunately, i found that the stripped down viewfinder housing is 2mm short of being able to house a LM2596 step down DC board.... no worries as this is only phase 2 of my mod, next will be a full rehousing of the camera.

you can see the + terminal of the jack plug i'm fitting to power the camera where the viewfinder lens used to be. 

[Dave_D]

Just a small tip if anyone is adding external power and keeping the original camera case. When soldering the wires to the power pads, have the wires flat to the circuit board and running towards the bottom of the camera, otherwise they will foul the case and not allow it to close properly (at least on a 1100d).

[Dave_D]

FINISHED!!!

Thank you Gina, your info has been worth it's weight in gold 

Time to make a proper lead to the camera now.

[Gina]

Glad to be of help

Just a small tip if anyone is adding external power and keeping the original camera case. When soldering the wires to the power pads, have the wires flat to the circuit board and running towards the bottom of the camera, otherwise they will foul the case and not allow it to close properly (at least on a 1100d).

Good point.  And I suggest covering the connections with insulation tape too.

Remember that if you want to use long exposures eg. for DSO imaging you will probably want to cool the sensor to reduce noise and if you do that you will need to reduce the moisture in the air and keep the humidity low.  This will mean a new case sealed from damp in the air around it.  That will be covered in another thread and is outside the remit of this thread.

[michael8554]

Gina, I've PM'd you about a 300D part you may no longer need.

Cheers

Michael

[Thalestris24]

Hi Gina

Just resurrecting this oldish thread Was wondering if there's any advantage to removing the mirror - does it affect the noisiness of the shutter closing?

Louise

[Gina]

Yes, the mirror is quie noisy.  I thought it worthwhile removing the mirror.

[D4N]

Yes I think it also contributes to any dust motes shifting around during an imaging session. It's quite involved to remove it properly but I found a pair of pliers did the trick pretty quickly.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mcolbert]

Yes I think it also contributes to any dust motes shifting around during an imaging session. It's quite involved to remove it properly but I found a pair of pliers did the trick pretty quickly. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

reminds me of a recent 'operation' - after removing all of the screws I could see, drilling small holes through what I thought were plastic covers, twisting, turning anything and everything else - it was the turn of the hacksaw blade!

You know the really weird thing, after sawing through about 1 cm of metal it was only then that I could unscrew the part!

So, pliers, hacksaw blade, sometimes it comes down to the same thing! :)

michael

[aqualand]

Just read through this great thread and couldn't see if you'd mentioned how much weight was actually reduced? In comparison to the original weight.

Also, what did you finally house the stripped down carcass in, did this go toward a cooled camera project?

Thanks