I just got one of these cable releases and I can't figure out how to install it. I thought there would be some kind of basic instructions in the package, but there was nothing. Do I need to take apart my camera to install it?

Here's my camera:

Thanks for any help anyone can give me

There's no pic , but are you trying to hook a mechanical cable release to the Olympus you list in your signature? If so, you've been misled, can't be done.

Oh, I thought those things worked with any camera. I guess I'll send it back then. What kind of cameras are they made for?

On second thought I'll hang on to it. I've been thinking of getting a new camera, but I wanted to do a little research first. Any recommendations for one around $500 or under?

Thanks

The old style shutter release cables are for old cameras that had the shutter release drilled and tapped for the standard cable end. I don't know if there are even any more cameras made to accept them.  

Then how do you take pictures without touching the camera? I wonder if I plug it into my laptop if I can take pictures and video like I do with the web cam from the computer without having to touch the camera. I'll check what kind of software came with it.

Thanks for your help John

 If it came with cables to connect it to a computer it's possible there may be some camera controls as part of the software. I use Oly equipment, but I'm not familiar with their digital P&S cameras. You can google it too and probably find out more about just what can be done with it. If no specific shutter operation is possible, most of those cameras have a self timer built in that allows tripping the shutter without touching it.

The mechanical cable releases are for the film 35mm and other film cameras. I wish all people with digital cameras would email, snail mail and phone the company of their camera they own and ask them to put the button back on the digital cameras. Then everyone would have the remote release for every camera. It should never have been taken off. tv5847@yahoo.com

When it comes to cameras, there are a lot of things the manufacturers should have done to maintain backward compatibility, but they didn't.

Camera makers, like everyone else these days, have a bunch of dweebs working back in design who think if it ain't electronic it ain't any good.

 CFB

Your XTi cable connection is electrical, not mechanical.

True!  However, it does the same job.  I used film and a mechanical release for my Canon AE-1 for a while,  and did not like it very much.

 

CFB

On the bottom of your camera is a 1/4 -20 thread. You can go to Ace hardware and get some flat aluminum stock. Bend it in a vise and make a bracket like this. Old school meets new! It works very good. Also if the camera has a 10 second delay you can use that by pressing and releasing the button and the 10 seconds allows the mount to quit shaking. Click on pic's to enlarge:

http://www.inskysd.org//gallery/categories.php?cat_id=64&sessionid=6737ba246aff7c9c65c9516dd6bb8cf0

JJ 

 

 

 Nice idea and with some correct bends could be made for about any DSLR. And even worked in with piggy back arrangements.

It works good for cameras that have the "Bulb" setting also as you can press it to start an exposure and press it again to stop it by watching a stop watch or the cameras timer.

JJ 

There are still a few Digital cameras that can use a cable release, but I can't tell you more about that except that they are the higher-priced ones. What the camera makers did by removing that feature from their standard cameras is just plain stupid, but they are in business to provide what most people want to buy and the majority of people who take pictures wouldn't know what a cable release is, let alone what to do with it.

Having used cameras for years with cable releases for a steady long exposure, I was NOT a happy camper and in my desperation built (what it appears several others also built) a way to use the cable release with my digital SLR.

I made a device that provides a holder on a frame that stretches around from the mounting hole on the bottom of the camera, but it got in the way even though it worked pretty well.

Then in a moment of inspiration I designed a cap that has a threaded insert (called a Leica Adapter) formed into it. The cap is small and covers enough of the top area around the shutter button so that when it is attached with double sticky foam tape it essentially becomes part of the camera. The material of choice here is that epoxy putty that comes in a tube about 6" long. You have about 10 minutes to use it after kneeding and mixing the putty, so it pays to do all the nit-picky figuring and masking first. If you get all the dimensions right it works like a charm. If not, then you get to see for yourself just how hard it is to get that double sticky foam tape off ! !

The best method I came up with is to cover the camera with saran-wrap and then squish the epoxy putty on in the best location. The camera becomes a mold for the device!  You can embed the threaded adapter at this time, or wait until the epoxy cures and then use a dremel tool to fit it in. It also helps to have some extra material, like about 10 to 20 layers of masking tape to just cover the shutter button before you cover it with the saran wrap so the shutter button is not constrained in any way because there is an air-space integrated into your Threaded Insert Shutter Cap Assembly.

 

Wow projo,
Really like your project description. Unfortunately I am one of those who
like pictures.
Is there any way you can post some pictures of your process?
That would be great.

Clear Skies   --- Silveradogold

 

 

Hi Silveradogold-

I just read through the description above and I think it is really too complicated for those who have not used lots of different tools and methods. Sorry...

There is actually not much to it.

All you really want is a thingy about 2 or 3 cm round or rectangular shaped with a hole in it that the cable release screws into. It only needs to be around 5 mm thick.

It fits on the camera directly over the shutter button anyplace where it can be stuck on and not get in the way. Since every camera design is completely different, you just have to wing it.

The key elements are:

>the tiny metal threaded piece (embedded in the hole) that enables you to use your cable release,

>the thingy itself- (made of self-curing epoxy putty that you mix and place with your fingers), which is approximately concave-convex with the concave side towards the camera,

>and the 3M double-sticky foam tape which you can get in any office supply.

The difficult part that no photograph can show has to do with the fact that this epoxy putty will stick directly to your camera, but you really need there to be hollow empty spaces inside the concavity so you're not pushing the shutter button unless it is with the shutter release cable!! So, in order to make the thingy properly you need to first protectively cover the camera and then add extra material in places to contour the concave inside so that it doesn't touch anything it shouldn't, THEN you apply the epoxy putty over the modified surface of your camera, so that the finished piece is the correct shape, doesn't touch where it shouldn't, and comes in contact with the solid surfaces of the camera where it can be attached with small pieces of the 3M tape.

If you want to make a thingy for your own digital camera, think about it, do some sketches, or whatever works for you, and just make it happen.  It might help if you were familiar with the material- if you haven't used the epoxy putty (that comes in a solid form, that you just tear off a small chunk and mix it until its ready), this might be a good time to get some and experiment with it. Make a knob for a drawer-pull, or a small handle for a file, and you can see how it works before you try a more ambitious project.