Note: Proceed at your own risk. Be careful when you make a connector so that it fits well and does not bend or break the pins of the camera's N3 connector.
There are many web sites that explain how to build a low cost shutter release cable that connects to the Canon 10D via the camera's Remote Control Terminal (N3). The cable I made uses the following parts:
1. Cable from old broken Atari 2600 joystick
2. Two small SPST toggle switches
3. Modular Telephone Outlet Box
4. Phone Cord
I used a 12 foot ultra-thin phone
cord to keep the cable's weight light since it would be hanging
off the camera when connected to the scope. A longer cable could
be used or the cable extended with a standard modular phone connnector.
Using a razor knife, I cut all
of the Atari joystick female connectors off except for three connectors
that formed the triangle pattern needed for the camera's male
connector. The resulting 3-conductor Atari connector fits well
into the camera's N3 port and the face of the Atari connector
sits flush against the camera's body making a secure connection.
The camera's N3 connector has three male pins arranged in a triangle. The top pin of the triangle is ground (ground pin). A half way press of the mechanical shutter button for setting focus can be emulated by shorting the ground pin to the pin on the lower right of the camera (focus pin) with a switch. A full press of the mechanical shutter button for tripping the shutter can be emulated by shorting the ground pin to the pin on the lower left of the camera (shutter pin).
I soldered the three wires of the
Atari joystick connector to three leads of the phone cable and
used shrink wrap to seal the connection. Two toggle switches were
mounted on the modular phone outlet box, one for focus and one
for the shutter. The modular phone box had color coded cable leads
for soldering to the two switches.
OPERATION:
To use the shutter release cable for astro imaging, when the camera is in manual focus mode, I flip the shutter switch on for the duration of the exposure and to off at the end of the exposure.
Canon's Remote Capture Software provided with the camera can
remotely trigger exposures up to 30 seconds. For timing longer
than 30 second
exposures, I use a freeware program called "Egg Timer Plus".
It is a small window that I run on the notebook along with the
Canon Remote Capture software. It works as a timer/stopwatch,
you can have preset exposure settings and use your favorite sound
file as the alarm. Egg Timer Plus can be downloaded at:
http://www.sardinesoftware.com/
The focus switch was also included for normal photography where auto focus may be used. In that case, the focus switch is flipped on first (emulates halfway shutter botton press) followed by the shutter switch being flipped on. The focus switch can stay in the on position for subsequent exposures of the same object by just toggling the shutter switch. As an option, a momentary pushbutton switch could also be added to the phone box for tripping the shutter for short exposures.
For a bracket I built for the Canon 10D that allows using a standard camera mechanical shutter relase cable CLICK HERE.
For images of M51 taken at Eckley, PA on 05/18/03with a Canon 10D, Denkmeier OCS and 20" Starmaster CLICK HERE
For images of M51, M13, M57, M104, M27, M17, M81 & M82 taken on 4/24-27/03 with a Canon 10D, Denkmeier OCS and 20" Starmaster CLICK HERE
For images of M92, Moon & Mare Crisium taken on 5/5/03 with a Canon 10D, Denkmeier OCS and 20" Starmaster CLICK HERE
Olympus C2000Z & C2020Z pages:
TO PART 8 - DEEP SKY IMAGES WITH AIR-COOLED C2000Z
TO PART 7 - AIR_COOLING MODIFICATION FOR C2000Z
TO PART 6 - DISASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS FOR C2000Z
TO PART 5 - 32 SECOND IMAGES WITH C2000Z
TO PART 4 - DEEP SKY IMAGING - LONG EXPOSURES
TO PART 3 - DEEP SKY IMAGING ON 10/31/00
TO PART 2 - DEEP SKY IMAGING ON 10/20/00
TO PART 1 - DEEP SKY IMAGING WITH 2X BARLOW
TO MY DIGITAL CAMERA IMAGING HOME PAGE
TO MY MAIN ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY PAGE