Control Bulb Shutter with Arduino Mega

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

Hello,

i am trying to control my nikon d3100 with an Arduino board. I short circuited the focus and shutter and used a transistor to connect it to the arduino.

If I am controlling the opening time of the shutter on the camera the sketch works fine.

Now I am trying to set the shutter time in my sketch.

I am setting the camera on bulb mode. As soon i run the sketch the shutter opens, but does not close and when i unplug the caple the shutter closes.

Does anybody have experience with this?

Thank you,

S

fertig000.ino (1.25 KB)

2

Try adding a pull-down resistor on the Base of the transistor.

Otherwise, replace the transistors with Optocouplers, those are a better solution for a remote shutter. This way you won't destroy your camera if you mess something up.

// Per.

3

I did put a 220 Ohm resistor and also a resistor between ground and the transistor.
It works just to trigger the camera with pre set speed (1/20 for example).

But it does not close the shutter in bulb mode.

4

Maybe the camera is set to open at first push of the button, and then close at the next push ? Try giving it two pulses after each other. Another thing can be the order of the two signals that needs to be correct (1. Focus on - 2. Shutter on - 3. Shutter off - 4. Focus off)

// Per.

5

Thank you. I will try that.

6

If it's anything like the canon remote control connection its just a switch that holds the shutter when closed.

Probably worth having a play just with the loose wires, only plugged into the camera, manually pulse it to see what happens.

I'd also endorse using an optocouple to get the job done. simplifies it a whole lot.