How to Trigger a Camera Remotely without Physical Presence

The article discusses a simple RF remote control circuit which can be used for activating a digital camera remotely, by a press of a button. The idea was requested by Mr. Pat

Circuit Objectives and Requirements

1. I'm Pat, from France. Congratulations for your blog & website about electronic's devices : it's the paradise :o)
2. I'm photographer & i'm looking for a simple remote control for my Nikon D200 in RF. I need a transmitter and receiver in a single radio frequencies with good reach and operate on a 9V battery. the goal is to trigger the camera remotely. The Nikon camera has a 10-pin socket designed for it.
3. Here's a business model but very expensive here :

Would you have an assembly to propose? (I tinker with classical electronics as ham radio... :o)
thanks for your help :o)

Patrick / F5CEY
~90 miles north of Paris
France

Analyzing the Circuit

Hi Pat,

I am glad you liked my website.

I'll to try post the design as per my analysis soon in my website.

In the meantime you can go through the following article which I would be
using for the proposed implementation.

https://homemade-circuits.com/2013/07/simple-100-meter-rf-module-remote.html

The Design

I have discussed a simple 433 MHz RF remote control module based circuits which can be used in all kinds of remote switching applications within a range of 100 meters. Other forms of modules can be employed for getting higher ranges of distance.

These RF remote control modules can be also effectively used for the discussed remote camera switching application.

As per my interpretation, the pinouts from the camera's 10 pin socket which are relevant to the remote switching of the camera (using the proposed RF modules) are as follows:

pin#1 = Rx input data (triggering pulse)
pin#2 = +5V external input, or from the camera battery
pin#7 = power ground to be integrated with the RF module ground or negative.
Other pinouts does not look relevant for the intended functions and therefore may be left open.

As per the above data, the Rx or receiver module output could be integrated with the camera's existing 10 pin connector in the following shown manner:

If the camera is intended to be operated with an external power source then an external battery may be utilized for powering the Rx module and the same may be fed to the camera via the pin#2 of its 10 pin socket.

If the internal battery of the camera is used which looks more appropriate then the Rx module could be powered from this source via the pin#2.

The BC557 can be seen configured with one of the output pinouts of the RX module which happens to be pin#10 from the decoder IC of the Rx module, although any of the other output could be used for the same results.

In the Tx module you will also find compatible 4 inputs with switches, each corresponding to the individual 4 outputs of the Rx module, meaning if pin#10 button of the Tx is pressed, this will activate the pin#10 of the Rx module.... and so on.

Therefore in the above case the pin#10 switch of the Tx needs to be pressed for implementing the required remote controlled camera switching.

The press of a button in the Tx handset is supposed to generate a low logic at the relevant pinout of the Rx module (pin#10 in the present case), which causes the BBC557 to activate and send a +5V TTL pulse to pin#1 of the camera, activating the camera shutters.

The Transmitter circuit for the proposed remote control camera switching circuit

The following circuit depicts the transmitter circuit or the Tx circuit stage which is supposed to be utilized for triggering the camera located in the remote location:

As can be seen in the above image, the four switches correspond to the respective 4 outputs of the Rx module.

However since pin#10 is employed in the present design, the switch associated with pin#10 should be used which is indicated as SW1 in the above diagram. The rest of the switches could be ignored.

About the Author

I am an electronic engineer (dipIETE ), hobbyist, inventor, schematic/PCB designer, manufacturer. I am also the founder of the website: https://www.homemade-circuits.com/, where I love sharing my innovative circuit ideas and tutorials. If you have any circuit related query, you may interact through comments, I'll be most happy to help!