TheBassmans

Here you will find answers to nothing.

Jump to Items: Lightning Shots Shots by Moonlight DIY Shutter Timer Canon Sub mirror Repair

These pictures open up full resolution. All Images are copyright of "TheBassman". Use by permission only

Not wanting to spend a ton of money on a $400 camera shutter controller, I decided to build my own.

I had been playing around with a Parallax BASIC STAMP micro controller kit looking for a new project. When it occurred to me that using it as a camera shutter timer was the perfect project. I had already created a lightning activated shutter release that I used to capture the images above, but this was a bit more complex. Using the "BASIC Stamp Activity Kit" from Parallax, I started by planning my outputs, and prototyping the circuit. The shutter circuit is very basic consisting of a 5VDC relay connected to one of the STAMP outputs. The LCD is a 16x2 line red. inverse character display with red LED backlighting. It uses a Hitachi HD44780 4 or 8 bit control. I purchased it here for $13 , but any HD44780 will do the trick. I liked the red option so it would not affect my night vision while shooting at night. Very easy to interface using 4 STAMP outputs. (LCDDemo.rar) Everything needed to wire the display can be found here:

I wanted to use it to take exposures more than the 30 sec. limitation of my Canon Rebel. So I started by writing a simple STAMP BASIC program that would allow me to select any exposure length I wanted. After that, I decided to expand the capabilities to include a "Time Lapse" function.

Time lapse allows me to enter the number of shots I want to take, and the time between shots. This is definitely the more fun of the 2 functions!

After perfecting the prototype, I was ready to build a permanent version. I ordered a "Homebrew STAMP" from Peter Anderson at www.phanderson.com for $24.95 which consists of the PCB, and a bag of parts. Add a couple of LED's 6 buttons, some type of plug for your camera cable, a $4 Radio Shack reed type relay, and viola! For less than $50, I was in heaven.

Email me if you want the BASIC program I wrote. It is free for anyone interested.

After over 100,000 shots on my first generation Canon, my sub mirror stopped moving up when shooting pictures. This is a known issue on Canon "300D" and newer Rebels. I found a great step by step site that walks the slightly handier person through the repair of the sub-mirror pin.

Be VERY, VERY careful when removing the ribbon flex cable from the socket. From many bad experiences, I know that these thing break just looking at them wrong. I had problems with mine, even knowing how they work, and how fragile they are.