Why, hello there. I am so happy to meet you!

I wanted to buy a remote for my new minolta 5d... After a short search on ebay i found that wire remote were almost 25€ (~30$) and that there were no wireless.

First, i tried to contact the remote connector's outlets. One was neutral, one was for focus, and the last one triggers the picture.

So i decided to build one on my own, and that's not that difficult. Plus, it brings a new function to my camera : a A mode.

First, you need to buy some things in an electronic shop. Here's what i choose :
- a do it yourself command box Keeloq decoder from microship (reference : ERMES210, 50€, ~60$)
- a two button remote from microship (reference : ERMES208, 10€, 12$)
- A 12V battery for the remote
- A 9V battery for the command box
- A 9V battery connector
- Two switches
- Some wire
- some small connectors for the camera
- a box to put the circuit in (reference HAED300, 3€, 3.2$)
- A welding kit if you don't have one

Here's the finished circuit :

You can notice wires going out the box, the white wire is connected to the neutral outlet of the camera, and to the two command switches. The yellow wire goes from one switches to the focus outlet and the orange wire goes to the trigger outlet.

I have also connected tha 9v battery to a switch to prevent it from short cutted when i connect it on an external power outlet.

Finally, i have replace a chip switch with another external switch, which allows me to trigger the camera with an impulsion or something continuious.

On the front face, you can the two switches, the left one can be use to switch from single shot to gust or A mode (used with the B mode of my camera)

Now let's see the camera connector :
i used some serial port inside connectors

I weld it to the wires and assembled it with... a bit of paper like that :

Now i have a wireless remote that i can use to make some narcissics autoportraits like this one :

You should note the remote in my left hand

PS: if you notice some languages mistake, tell me, i'll make some corrections. It's been a long time i haven't trained my english.

[Edited by Warny on 7/9/2006 6:53:48 PM]

[Edited by Warny on 7/9/2006 6:58:38 PM]

Wow. You lost me at "command box Keeloq decoder from microship" (I can barely program my VCR). Awesome job, though. And lace up your skates! My ankles are hurting just looking at them.

[Edited by User on 7/9/2006 6:54:44 PM]

Well, that's not a big deal. You may follow the kit instruction guide or find a friend or a relative who is kind with that sort of kit and who may be very happy if you make portaits of him and his/her family.
When the kit is finished mounting, you'll need only a finger to trigger it which you may not find problematic.

um wow your cool!

What id like to know is will this remote turn the camera on aswell?

You also say it could be triggered some other way.... im thinking a setup with motion detector switching would be cool, save you carrying the remote then!!

Looks fun to build!

You win this smiley :) for this !

welcome to the photo forum!

Any more cool gadgets for us ?

This circuit doesn't turn my camera on, unless it's already on but asleep. On some other camera, or if your camera is externaly powered, it's possible to trigger it on remotely.

The circuit i bought is specialized to be triggered with a remote. It's possible to modify the remote. As the three outlet of the camera are very simple, you can think about different triggering circuits, such as and infrared ray, a volume detector or even a computer connected directly to the camera or to the remote.

PS : the remote has a 200meters (220 yard) range.
PS2 : you can register up to 7 remotes in the box, which could be 7 different ways to take photos.

[Edited by User on 7/10/2006 5:22:50 AM]

With 2500 visits within less than 24hours, it seems that this subject is hot.
I may turn this post in a real tutorial but i'll need someone to help me translate my franglish into real English. I also need to improve the contents of the article, if you have some suggestions or unanswered questions about this, i could make it better.
I'll also need some remote connector specifications for other camera's builders (i have two minoltas).

I found the plans for the canon EOS 350D from
Camera Hacker :

Now, i am ready to make a tutorial

you're really inventive!

wow this is pretty cool but is way too complex for me.

Well done Warny!

Wondering if you can help me with expanding on this a bit. I'd like to create a time lapse trigger mechanism.

What I have in mind is to write software for a PC to trigger the camera remotely via an USB cable. I'm confortable with the software aspects. However, I'm not an electrical engineer.

So the question is what kind of signal the camera would need to recieve from the cable, voltage etc..?

Any advise?



[Edited by User on 8/7/2006 2:29:54 PM]

You are kidding us aren't you??


[goes off to weep in a corner :(]

---> it may all be difficult but..

I certainly wasn't kidding, although I can't speak for Warny as I haven't tried building the kit described.

A time lapse system for the camera is just a logical accessory, and I'm surprised that no one else has done it.

[Edited by User on 8/7/2006 4:17:57 PM]

That camera hack site is sure a gem theres a lotof info there on different camera hacks ... i think its the site that has things like make our own led ring flash and the like.

there's a much cheaper radio triggered remote for the 350d / anything that uses a 2.5mm jack plug on my site and involves very little conversion work.

for the connector for the minolta, try chopping a computer cd cable. again, details can be found here

Hello, i'm back from vacations.
I tried using a cd cable. As i had no tools to shop it properly, i tried something else. However, your method is better.

About the radio remote. I bought a secure remote which is protected by a 40bits keys. This could be useless for photography but it's a guarantee that nothing (even electrical disturbances) will trigger a picture but me. However using a cheaper radio trigger is something possible and if it's already mounted, this can be a really good alternative for a wide majority.

Building a trigger using a serial connector is really easy. I didn't studied USB specs already so i can't help. You'll find some USB to Serial connectors that can help making something easy.
You just have to connect the camera's outlet, their's no more specifications. Their should be only a button, so you have to put an external circuit that just close or open the camera circuit (a simple transistor should match).