DIY Shutter Release Cable for Canon EOS 450D

Thanks Chandasa, for having sparked this in my mind. I knew a shutter release cable would help me get self shots, and also some bird shots from our garden.

So this is what I started with:
1. earphone socket pin, that of Nokia 1108 series' size
2. 3-stranded wire, 3m long
3. a 1 to 2 audio extension cord
4. soldering gun
5. sodering metal
6. a push-to-on switch
7. a toggle switch

The key was to get this pin, for it is considered to be an 'old' one, and what I got was actually an extension pin, from mobile EP socket to a normal full size EP socket. Even this was after having spent about 45 minutes in the electronics market in Pune (Pasodya Vithoba).

I tried opening the pin to get wire connections directly, but the intricate soldering arrangement was an immense hurdle right there. Thankfully I had a full size extension cord, which I could use. I put the pin back together, taped it to one piece, and turned to the extension cord.

It has a ready made arrangement for the purpose we have: a 3-lead pin to go to the camera, and 2 combinations (ground-L1 and ground-L2) to go to the 2 switches. One for half click, one for full click.

Chopped off the two extension pins, and extended the cord with the 3m long wire I had got. The green went to the ground, black to one live, and red to the other live. Ensured to use plenty of insulation tape at the joint, to prevent any shorting.

What I now had was a 3+ m long wire, with one end as a 3 lead full size EP socket pin that could fit into the mobile extension I bought, and the other end with 3 leads hanging free.

To test which combination of leads should go to which switch, testing was the way. Put the pin into the camera, switched it on, and tried shorting the 2 combinations (red-green and green-black). Turned out that black was for half click, and red for full.

The push-to-on switch went on to the half click combo, and the toggle on the full click one. What I had finally in my hands as a control was this:


And there it was, my virtual remote control to my camera, because of the sheer length of the wires I had chosen.

Here is the deal, in terms of cash:
1. The mobile to full size EP socket extension pin: INR 40
2. The 3 m long wire with 3 strands: INR 24 (8 per metre)
3. The 1 to two audio extension cable: INR 20
4. Soldering metal: INR 40 (I still have LOADS of this left, still adding it to the cost)
5. The 2 switches: INR 15 (10 for toggle, 5 for push to on)
6. Petrol to go all the way to the market and back: INR 25 (approx, conservative though)
7. My time, 2 hours in total, with current remuneration rate: INR 250

Total: INR 414, v/s the $25 cable Canon sells.

A long cable arrangement: INR 44
Two switches and an extender: INR 55
Having family awestruck by controling a $1000 camera with a self made cable: priceless.

Gulmarg With 'Old' Buddies

Pestered with articles and phone calls describing the beauty of Gulmarg and Pahalgam, I decided to give it the benefit of doubt. Going to the taxi stand was told to be the best idea. What was not, was that Bengalis (no offenses please, I derive the feeling associated with this from my year-long stay in East Bengal) could wait until even the last seat of their shared taxi got occupied.

I was the one. Although I cannot deny the fact that such situation did help me by reducing my travel expense, I was much annoyed by the constant high amplitude high pitch conversations, often monologues, delivered by one Mr Pal (or Roy, I do not remember now). Needless to say, those were studded with wisdom pearls, from Sanskrit and obviously other travel experiences. These included trips made earlier on exactly the same dates or to exactly the very same destinations, or with exactly the same (except me of course) company. Gosh, I was with the regular travel company of theirs!

As though this was not enough, it started drizzling. I was hell bent on defining my own happiness despite the possible oncoming slaughter of my dream vacation, and excluded the ‘I hate rains’ thing from the definition. A prop to that was our driver being benevolent to warn us against the horse riding business touts at Gulmarg. Alternative arrangement suggested was to walk straight to the cable car. Another and an amazing one was that a place called ‘Bakshi’ served the most amazing parathas I had had before I went to Sonamarg. Crisp-ish, nicely cooked with soft stuffing, the paneer paratha was more than enough for me to stand the flak of the horse ride touts, aimed at me for they thought it was me who educated my co-travelers, weaning them away.

A 2-km long walk, a thousand metres high haul and a 5 hours drive in total – all in rains, was what filled the time until 4pm, and I was back to the Swiss Hotel to tell Altaf about how the trip to Gulmarg sucked.


Nevertheless, I had quite a few gems that day: connecting with Rafique, our driver; seeing an apple tree with more apples than leaves; and having walnuts sold by the roadside like ‘wada pav’! The evening was as free as it could have got – no bag packing, no tidying up, nothing. I was warm and cozy in holding my steaming tea-cup in the living of Swiss, watching ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ with Fayaz and Altaf.

Then was a solitary night again, totally bent on spending a lazy lazy next day, after a Shikara ride early in the morning.

Return trip to Gulmarg in a Toyota Qualis: INR 300
Return ride in the world’s highest cable car: INR 300
Knowing 15-odd words of Bengali and being thought as a small brother by Bengalis: Priceless