Radio-Controlled Mechanical Shutter Release

I'm trying to find a RC-controlled shutter release for my Hasselblad, so I can take some portraits of my soon-to-be wife and I after our wedding.

I know some of these exist, (Kenlock Super DX is the only one I've actually seen), but I can't seem to find them anywhere--not on ebay or from a yahoo/google search. Are these things even still around? I've heard of people rigging up their own--is that something that is relatively easy to do, or is it fairly complicated (as it would seem to me!).

I've looked at mechanical self-timers, which is my backup plan. Ideally, I'd like the option to be able to control exactly when the photograph is taken, rather than waiting for a timer to run down--I'm really lousy at holding a smile, and would love to catch impromptu moments, etc.

Ideally something not too expensive would be ideal--I had to sell most of my darkroom to help pay for part of our wedding (FYI, I'll be scanning my film--I know, I know, that's taboo on APUG, but it's what I have to work with)

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million,

-Brent

In case anyone is interested (now, or in the distant future and come across this post via a google search), I figured out how to do this using a solenoid, remote control, and a 12-v battery from a drill (more current can be drawn from it than using, say, a 9V and two 1.5V AA batteries in series), and it works like a charm, even with a Hasselblad. It's not too complicated either, and was quite a fun project!

My total cost (just the necessarily equipment--not including the little things like the multimeter I purchased) was about $200 or so, $75 of which was for the wall/car charger for the 12V battery, so I'm sure it can be done for quite a bit less, especially if you have a camera that's easier to trip than a Hasselblad (like a large format lens...), as Hasselblads take a lot of "umph" to trip the shutter. If you don't mind something slightly bulky, two 6V lantern batteries can mostly do the trick (with the solenoid I used they did't trip the shutter instantaneously, however, it took a about a second or two for the plunger to trip the cable release fully). Lantern batteries also are not as portable in terms of weight and size, nor as powerful, as the Li-ion battery meant for power tools. (Of course, I've voided any chance of a warranty by using the battery the way I am

Specifically, here's what I used:

-12Vdc solenoid from McMaster-Carr, part 69905K77. It's about 1.7 in long and has a 1.5 in diameter, and looks rather cool. (about $25)

-Milwaukee 12v Li-ion battery, along with a charger (I bought the more expensive one that has a car charger as well) ($35 for battery, $75 for charger unit). This is definitely enough to trip a Hasselblad shutter--I also ordered the model that was one step less powerful and it does the trick with a Hasselblad if you have a shorter shutter release (mine is 40 inches) and/or it's a very easy release to trigger. However, in my case, that slightly weaker solenoid wasn't quite enough with my cable release, so I opted for the bigger one. Preferably, you don't want to use a solenoid that's too powerful, as you'll really be clanging on your shutter and potentially damaging it.

-I also bought a $25 flashlight/worklight attachment for the Milwaukee battery system--otherwise I'd have to hack into the battery, which isn't a good idea considering batteries have so much energy (ie, like a bomb!). So instead I just hacked into the flashlight and borrowed the adapter part that plugs into the battery, which has contacts that are very easy to connect wires to. I found that portions of the flashlight casing also make for a nice and compact casing for my remote trigger as well.

-Random long-distance remote relay control and transmitter from ebay ($20). Amazon sells quite a few too--the ones without antennas look more or less like electronic car lock/alarm controls, and would probably be more than adequate. I just wanted my remote to have an external antenna

-I bought a small tripod case (12 inches long, about 2 in inside diameter) to hold the unit--I wanted something that will make it easily accessible if I need to fix anything, and I wanted it to be water resistant, etc.

-I already had a cable release, but I guess if you're working from scratch that'd be another $20 or so. Of course, buying one used would be far less.

I'd be willing to bet if you wanted to do something like this for your view camera, you could most certainly use a smaller solenoid, and could probably use a much smaller battery as well. You may even be able to get away with using common household batteries...

In case you're interested in doing a project like this, feel free to PM me if you have any questions, need any pointers, etc.

Brent,

Thanks for the follow-up post, I've been watching this one. Any chance you could post some pics of final set-up?

I made a system like this using an RC car servo, 4AA battery holder, and modulated IR chip. Mine was much cheaper (<$20). It works with literally any IR remote control. I tried using a car-door-unlocking solenoid first, but it was just too power hungry. By using the RC servo to convert rotational into translational motion, you avoid the need for a monster solenoid and battery. The penalty is a couple hundred milliseconds of delay.

bobwysiwyg said:

Brent,

Thanks for the follow-up post, I've been watching this one. Any chance you could post some pics of final set-up?

Click to expand...

Hmm... Well, I can try! But I really haven't permanently assembled it yet (in terms of soldering, etc.), and probably won't do so until after finals and just before my wedding--that way my brother and Dad can help me figure out the best way to permanently assemble it. Right now I've basically got a battery unit, a solenoid unit, a receiver unit, and they're all connected by wires and work and can get stuffed in the case I bought, but it's not really field-ready in terms of ruggedness.

I'll see if I can upload some photos of what I have so far in the next couple days or so.

BetterSense said:

I made a system like this using an RC car servo, 4AA battery holder, and modulated IR chip. Mine was much cheaper (<$20). It works with literally any IR remote control. I tried using a car-door-unlocking solenoid first, but it was just too power hungry. By using the RC servo to convert rotational into translational motion, you avoid the need for a monster solenoid and battery. The penalty is a couple hundred milliseconds of delay.

Click to expand...

I looked into the servo method a bit, but I didn't want to have to transfer rotational motion to linear motion, and I felt the solenoid would keep things simple for me. Another worry of mine is a Hasselblad is hard enough to trigger with a self-timer (most of the self-timers I've bought and tried aren't strong enough) and I was able to find more data regarding the strength of solenoids. I wasn't confident that a servo meant for an RC car would be strong enough, (but it sounds like it is if it works for you!)

I also didn't know anything about modulated IR chips...

Still, for $20, not bad! I couldn't find to much info on building this kind of system, so I kind of had to blaze my own path more-or-less and while it might not have been the most efficient, it was fun!

If you could post some pics of your system, I'd really appreciate it! For under $20 I could afford to build another one of these systems and see which works better and is more portable.

slightly/greatly off topic; but:
I found that you can plug the ebay trigger(receiver) directly into an SQA-M and use the transmitter as a hand held remote. Then a second transmitter on the hot shoe (on a different channel) to fire lights if necessary.

I wasn't confident that a servo meant for an RC car would be strong enough, (but it sounds like it is if it works for you!)

Click to expand...

A good concern. Using a standard-size airplane servo, it's strong enough to trip a copal self-cocking shutter, but it's just barely not strong enough to trip a speed graphic's focal plane shutter body release. If you make one, try to get a high-torque servo.

I'll see if I have any pics later.

brent8927 said:

Hmm... Well, I can try! But I really haven't permanently assembled it yet (in terms of soldering, etc.), and probably won't do so until after finals and just before my wedding--that way my brother and Dad can help me figure out the best way to permanently assemble it. Right now I've basically got a battery unit, a solenoid unit, a receiver unit, and they're all connected by wires and work and can get stuffed in the case I bought, but it's not really field-ready in terms of ruggedness.

I'll see if I can upload some photos of what I have so far in the next couple days or so.

Click to expand...

No problem. Sounds like you have your priorities in order. I'll watch for possible future updates.

I have almost finished mine. Using a free (gift) model airplane controller and servo to trip the shutter through a cable shutter release. With proper design you can make the tripping force as much as you wish - it just increases the delay.

The batteries required were change from rechargable LIons to AA's. And one of the goals was to make it as small as possible. The other goal was cheap.

With proper design you can make the tripping force as much as you wish - it just increases the delay.

Click to expand...

With normal cable release sockets where the travel is near-zero, this is true. But on my Copal self-cocking shutter, there is nearly 1/2 inch of travel required--some cable releases won't even travel far enough--so shortening the lever-arm to get more force will not work, since it will result in a mechanism that has enough force but not enough travel.

There's a linear adapter available for one model of the Futaba servo. It attaches to the top cover using the original holes in the servo. As I recall it gives about 3/4" travel & 2+lbs of pressure.

A motorcycle or lantern battery seems like severe overkill for this application. The need for one suggests a solenoid that may jar the camera when it fires. I'd want to make sure that it doesn't, and/or that it's mechanically isolated from the camera and tripod. In any event, I'd sure want to run some tests with actual film, before a shoot as important as my own wedding!

I don't know about Hasselblad motordrives and whether they have a port to trigger electrically (some models like the old ELM did, I think) but there are myriad other 645 and perhaps 2-1/4 square systems that operate off an electrical release cable which can be plugged into a commercially available remote releases. I've got a ~$35 Phottix Cleon that triggers my Pentax 645N, and a ~$60 Yongnuo RF-602 flash/camera trigger set as well. (These also do double duty with my 35mm film bodies like the F5s and LXs too... as well as working with DSLRs. The Yongnuo has so little propagation time that it's a flash trigger to 1/250s sync, to boot).

Pupfish said:

A motorcycle or lantern battery seems like severe overkill for this application. The need for one suggests a solenoid that may jar the camera when it fires. I'd want to make sure that it doesn't, and/or that it's mechanically isolated from the camera and tripod. In any event, I'd sure want to run some tests with actual film, before a shoot as important as my own wedding!

I don't know about Hasselblad motordrives and whether they have a port to trigger electrically (some models like the old ELM did, I think) but there are myriad other 645 and perhaps 2-1/4 square systems that operate off an electrical release cable which can be plugged into a commercially available remote releases. I've got a ~$35 Phottix Cleon that triggers my Pentax 645N, and a ~$60 Yongnuo RF-602 flash/camera trigger set as well. (These also do double duty with my 35mm film bodies like the F5s and LXs too... as well as working with DSLRs. The Yongnuo has so little propagation time that it's a flash trigger to 1/250s sync, to boot).

Click to expand...

You're absolutely right about testing the camera first! However, the solenoid I purchased is vibration-resistant, and seems to only create motion linearly (it really isn't jarring the camera, as it's just the right strength). However, I'm also isolating it from the camera and tripod by dangling it by a flexible connection to the tripod, and the cable release is a very long 40-inch one, which also helps a bit dissipate the energy a little bit as it's located rather far from the camera. So the only vibration really reaching the camera is the linear force via the shutter release, and as I mentioned, this seems to be just strong enough to trip the shutter, so hopefully it shouldn't be vibrating the camera much more than my own finger would. But we'll see!

Anyway, the batteries don't seem to be overkill (yet!), as the force required to trip a Hasselblad is rather large, and a solenoid isn't exactly the most efficient way to transmit energy, so it's going to take more juice than the servo. It's really just using a lot of coil of wire to create a magnetic field, which drives the <insert-proper-word-for-the-piston-like-pole-here> forward. As you can imagine, this probably isn't going to have quite as much strength as a mechanical device with gear ratios, etc. But, the two main reasons I went with the solenoid were that it was going to be very simple to create the contraption, and when the power is turned off it automatically "relaxes," so I didn't have to devise a method to reset the shutter release.

(Really, the solenoid project just seemed like a lot of fun. I think over the summer I'm going to try and create a servo unit, and see which one I prefer more).

brent8927 said:

. . . .

It's really just using a lot of coil of wire to create a magnetic field, which drives the <insert-proper-word-for-the-piston-like-pole-here> forward.

. . . .

Click to expand...

Good morning, Brent;

I think the "official" word you want is "armature" or the plunger part of the solenoid.

Armature photography!

I happen to be in the process of building a remote actuator for Packard shutters (I plan to build it so that it operates from a contact closure, with the idea of using the camera contacts on my RF strobe trigger). The mechanics are a bit more complicated than would be required for a modern shutter, so handling the peak power requirement is of some interest. I suspect that I will use a largish capacitor to supply the inrush current for the solenoids (one to open, one to close) because the force exerted by a pull-type solenoid goes up rapidly as it nears the end of it's stroke.



Alternatively, I will just buy a small gel-cell 12V battery and associated charger from the hobby shop; they are used for radio-controlled toys and would make both the peak and average power demands moot.

Although it is not much of an issue for a Packard, the solution to over-stressing the shutter innards is to let the solenoid push against a spring, with enough initial compression that the force will trip the shutter and enough overtravel distance that when the solenoid is fully extended (or contracted, as the case may be) the force is still determined by the spring compression.

I apologize that you took it as advertisement, but either way you look at it, I was simply answering the question of this post.

Reading about total costs of about $200, the obvious solution would be to get a 500 EL/M and a radio remote.

There are very many EL/Ms about, and they are very cheap.

I have a couple of chinese made radio remotes, which i bought (through eBay) for the huge sum of $9, including batteries, and shipping to the other side of the world.
Such things are abundant on eBay, sold for all sorts of cameras, but not Hasselblad. But all they need to do is make a contact on the receiver end, so the only camera specific thing is the plug on the end of it.
I changed the plug for the Hasselblad 5 pin/contact DIN plug, so i can plug it into the side connector.

The units i have have two 'modes': push it's release button half way, and it 'activates' a contact that sets AF in action on cameras that have such a thing; press it all the way and it releases the camera through another contact. I connected both contacts to the same pin in the DIN plug, so no matter how i do it, the camera is released when i press the button.
The remote has a usefull extra option: if you keep the button depressed for 2 seconds, i.e. give the receiver a signal for that long, the unit switches over to permanent on (until you press the button again). Quite usefull on Hasselblads, which need the release depressed during long exposures.

Now don't think that, because they are cheap and from China, that these remote units are no good. They are very good.
So good, in fact, that a reputable firm, mostly know for selling flash cables and such, offer the very same Chinese units, but rebranded and for about $100+.