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Canon RS60-E3 Remote Pin-Out

you know about the TI (Texas Instruments) graphing calculators, don't you? well, the TI-83+ comes with this nifty transfer cable for sending/recieving info and stuff with other TI's... this cable has miniplug connections! I was sitting there looking at my Rebel 2K and my TI 83+ with cable, and started wondering exactly *WHAT* these could do together... I knew something would happen, because the calculator is simply sending electronic pulses to the other end of the cable... I plugged camera and calculator together, and proceeded to "transfer" an AF/Shutter-triggering signal to the Rebel 2K! it searched for focus, and when it was found, 2 frames were taken! then my TI 83+ gave me an error saying something about a bad connection... HA!

Chris Lynch
Sat, 09 Mar 2002 22:57:31 -0600

Good work! I am always interested in hearing other people's experimentation. Maybe you can make your own timer remote using that method.

Chieh Cheng
Mon Mar 11 10:49:21 PST 2002

Do you know of a way to use a Canon RS60-E3 wired remote control or similar device to make multiple one time use cameras snap at the same time? Thank you in advance for your help.

Kevin Harbin
Wed Apr 24 14:54:45 PDT 2002

Kevin, you will probably be better off with a mechanical remote shutter release. The RS60-E3 is a electrical shutter release and will not work very well with the one-time use cameras' mechanical releases. I think a mechanical release for older cameras will probably work if you are able to attach it to the one-time use cameras' shutter releases, somehow.

Chieh Cheng
Fri Apr 26 16:05:54 PDT 2002

Speaking electrical shutter releases, can any of you tell me where to find a push-button switch to use on a homemade shoulder stock?? I already cut my RS80-N3 and put a 1/8" plug on it. I customized an electric guitar pickup selector switch to do the job, but would like a more "clean" look. The switch would have to have an "idle" position, ground tip+ ground when depressed half-way, and ground all three contacts when depressed all the way. Any help would be appreciated, thanks

Lucio Gomes
Mon Apr 29 11:14:45 PDT 2002

How about www.mouser.com? They seem to have all kinds of electrical parts.

Chieh Cheng
Mon Apr 29 13:36:39 PDT 2002

not that you don't get a ton of questions already... ;-)

I'm looking at the pinout for the rebel 2k remote control, considering building a couple of my own remotes (since I've lost two so far and I'm getting tired of paying $20+ per), and I had a couple of questions.

1: not that I doubt your research, but did you by any chance put an ohm-meter to the contacts to test the resistance of the remote switch? I only ask because I found another site with plans for a computer-controlled serial-cable based remote, and he included a 47Kohm resistor on pins 2 and 3, and I'd hate to have something nasty happen because I left out a buck's worth of resistance...

2: would I be safe in assuming that pin 1 is the hot lead, with 2 and 3 leading to ground via their respective circuitry? I'm basically wondering if there'd be any issue with me shorting 2 and 3 together at one position in my switch and using the switch to open/close pin 1's path

and yes, I realize that anything I do to my camera is my own damn fault, I'm not looking to displace any blame, and assume full responsibility. i'm just better with electrical wiring then electronics, and figure it can't hurt to get a second opinion...

thanks...

Brian Lojeck
Sat, 29 Mar 2003 21:54:30 -0800

There was no resistance when I tested it. I had the remote apart, and there is no resister in the remote. Where is the web-site that showed the 47 Kohm resister?

Chieh Cheng
Thu May 1 15:30:22 PDT 2003

My ti-89 works with this thing too. I go into the "var-link" menu for AF, then I hit "connect" to fire the shutter. Sweet!!!

Mike Green
Wed Jan 14 00:09:06 PST 2004

I tried yesterday evening....was great!!!

Thanks for 25? saved

Pippolone
Tue Jan 20 23:44:10 PST 2004

Hi, I have the TI 89 as well and I would like to use it as the shutter release to my camera but my intent is to use it for long exposures, my question is: when you hit connect on the TI at what speed does it fire the shutter and how can I take bulb speed photos, and considering the home made release cable with the audio plug, when I short all three regions, does it leave the shuter open until I release one of the region ?

Thanks

Gilad
Sun Mar 28 04:05:53 PST 2004

Hi,
im trying to build a motion-activated trigger for the Canon 300D. i was hoping to connect this circuit to the RS60-E3 wired remote socket.
I dont have a RS60-E3 remote so im not sure how it works. When the button is pressed does it simply close some internal circuit in the camera which triggers the shutter, or is there actual electronics inside the remote? A picture of it opened up or a clear wiring diagram would be much apprieciated.
thanks,
S.

Shane
Tue Feb 22 05:27:33 PST 2005

Shane, it simply closes two internal circuits. All this is described with a picture and some wiring signal description in the article. Click on the "<< Back to Article" to read it.

Chieh Cheng
Tue Feb 22 10:42:38 PST 2005

Hi Chieh

In your article about the Canon RS60 E3 remote control you describe its function as:

half way position: sections 1 and 2 are shorted resulting in lens focusing when in AF mode.

fully depressed: sections 1, 2, and 3 are shorted causing the shutter to be released.

You then say that " you can split the auto focus and shutter release function by using two switches or use two independent circuits."

I'm not saying this will not work but surely the RS60-E3 functions you describe are not independent of each other (in the same way that the camera's own shutter release button operates) namely , when the remote control (or camera button) is fully depressed contact is still made between sections 1 and 2.

Regards

Terry Godfrey

Terry Godfrey
Thu, 25 Aug 2005 02:13:34 -0700

You missed two additional sentences in the article that said, "Pin 1 is actually the ground connector. Therefore, it's pin 1 and pin 3 that causes the camera to trigger."

Pin 1 & 2 - AF
Pin 1 & 3 - Trigger

Chieh Cheng
Thu, 25 Aug 2005 11:26:21 -0700

I appreciate that but with the Canon RS60-E3 (and also the camera's shutter button), contact is continued to the AF control when the button is fully depressed for the shutter (i.e. pins 1, 2 and 3 are shorted).

In a home made version, If the controls are separated into two functions, is it necessary to continue to hold down the AF button ( i.e shorting pins 1&2) while pressing the shutter button ( i.e shorting pins 1&3) ?

This replicates the action of the RS60-E3.

Terry Godfrey
Fri, 26 Aug 2005 00:24:29 -0700

Like you said, it would replicate the RS60-E3 function. But you don't have to. You can short 1&2 to AF. After achieving focus, short 1&3 to trigger the shutter. This means by splitting the function into two, you can trigger the shutter without achieving focus.

However, there are some slight complications with Canon automatic modes. For example, in some modes, Canon cameras will not allow you to trigger the shutter until focus is achieved. In these cases, you will need to short 1&2 to achieve focus, then short 1&3 to trigger.

In manual focus mode, pin 1&2 doesn't do anything. All you need is to short 1&3.

Chieh Cheng
Fri, 26 Aug 2005 16:27:25 -0700

a related project (easily adaptable to canon protocol)

new box for RF remote (fz30, pics)

I used a solid state relay chip and so there are 2 outputs that you can use for the canon protocol - quite easily.

fyi.

linux-works
Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:37:58 -0800

Cool I was looking for some materials to make one myselph and was wondering if this would work to replace the focus and shutter buttons? (in other words does the shutter need to de released whilst the focus button is pressed?)

Product description:
SPDT Centre Off Spring Return Both Sides

Momentary contacts with spring return to centre on both sides. Can be used for car power antennas and power windows. Rated at 6A 250V. With European marking on actuator.

Thanks

Phil

Attached Image:

product_4434.jpg

Philip Keymer
Thu, 2 Feb 2006 13:51:17 -0800

as you know the lenth of the cord of this remote is barely 2 feet long so unless i want to take extreme closeups it's useless. so has anyone spliced in a longer cable to make it useful? if so please detail.i'm just curious if the wire needs to have a certain resistance.

camera hacker
Mon, 10 Jul 2006 08:37:41 -0700

Previous poster, I have written up an article called "How to extend the RS60-E3 remote switch?" several years ago. It details how to extend the RS60-E3 switch. I've successfully extended up to 25 feet. It's also covered in my "Hacking Digital Cameras" book, a complete reference to a whole range of hacks for your camera.

Chieh Cheng
Mon, 10 Jul 2006 10:47:36 -0700

I bought a nokia hands free set for the Nokia 3310 Model. Cut off the ear piece and the speaker. It works beautifully well on my Rebel XT.

Vivekanandan Marimuthu
Sun, 17 Sep 2006 06:06:18 -0700

Hi I am trying to build my own parallel interface to canon 350d bulb connection. But it does not seem to trigger the shutter as I expected. My parallel port pin 1,3 when activated through my circuit produces a sustained 400mV to keep the shutter open.

Is that what the Canon350D is expecting?

Could the fact that I am using a 3/32" Radio Stereo plug over a 2.5mm Stereo Plug be the culprit?

Mr Chang mentioned that some DSLR require you to achieve focus first before letting shutter release...even if I set my Lens to manual focus?

Thank You. Hopefully this thread is still active..I cant sleep at nights trying to figure out why my cable is not working!

Alex Wolff
Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:43:17 -0800

Hi. I am been thankful for your article over how make a remote control. But I dont know how make the contacts in the grip. Please put more images of this.

Gracias.

Abraham
Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:11:26 -0700

Abraham, what do you mean by "contacts in the grip"?

Chieh Cheng
Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:41:55 -0700

Just tried to make my own remote for the Canon 400D and I discovered that its not possible to trigger the shutter without having the camera focusing before (in AF-mode ofc), this was in Manual exposure too. Perhaps it�s possible to trigger only the shutter in some other modes but I haven't tried that yet.

Daniel
Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:22:38 +0000

That is true for the Rebel series. There are two ways to get the camera to ignore focus: 1) lens has to be in MF mode; 2) the camera has to be in continuous focus mode.

Chieh Cheng
Fri, 28 Dec 2007 02:12:06 +0000

hello,

is it possible to make a series with different trigger times
in Bulb Mode ? e.g. 1/32 s, 1/8 s, 1/2 s, 2 s, 8 s and 32 s !

regard

era
Mon, 25 May 2009 16:35:42 +0000

Sure. Use a circuit with a 555-timer chip to set up different intervals. I've covered this topic in the "Hacking Digital Cameras" book.

Chieh Cheng
Wed, 27 May 2009 07:01:22 +0000

TO EXTEND the remote cable release for longer distances from the camera, just use a stereo headphones extension cable.

Jeffery G Scism
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:48:20 +0000

To those commenting about TI graphing calculators (TI-83+ and TI-89 were mentioned above, years ago), I just wrote a remote shutter release trigger program for the TI-86: http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/fileinfo/430/43090.html I actually got the idea to write it from those comments!

This program gives you full control over the focus and shutter, just like with an actual shutter switch. You can lock the Focus to easily take long exposures in Bulb mode (toggle Focus to on, then press Shutter to open the shutter; toggle Focus to off to close the shutter).

I released the first version of it only a few days ago, but I plan to extend it with more features like a count-down timer and an exposure timer (for Bulb mode), and also to improve the user interface. If anyone has suggestions for features or improvements, let me know!

Christopher Williams
Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:19:13 +0000

Thanks for the article. Using your informaiton, the old TC-80N3 found a new life as a controller for 3 cameras at once (2 Canon G15s and a Canon G5X). When I built the cable I cut the remote cord, and I cut a 3.5mm extension (male to female 3.5mm cable). I put sliced the female of the extension to the male of the remote, and the male of the extension to the remote.
That gave me a remote to 3.5mm male plug. And a female 3.5mm jack to the proprietary Canon connector (in case I ever have another camera that uses that.)

Twist: I made a "splitter" wiring together 5 3.5mm female audio connectors (Lsgoodcare 5PCS 3.5mm Stereo Jack Panel Mount Connector) in a RadioShack project box. To that, I hooked the remote (3.5mm plug) and then 3 cameras, using... extension 3.5mm cables (PlugLug 3.5mm Male to 3.5mm Female Stereo Audio Cable), and for each camera, a 3.5 mm male to 2.5mm male cable (Red 9ft Gold Plated Design 3.5mm Male to 2.5mm Male Car Auxiliary Audio cable Cord headphone connect cable for Apple, Android Smartphone, Tablet and MP3 Player).

So with the remote to 3.5mm, the splitter, extensions, and converter cables, I remote controlled 3 cameras at once with my TC-80N3.

I attached a picture of the wiring from the TC-80N3. To complement the article.

Thank you again for the direction, and the courage to cut the damned wire!!! Your advice opened up new possibilities.

Attached Image:

pin-diagram-Canon-TC-80N3-remote.jpg

James LeMay
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 01:47:16 +0400

Hello james Lemay
could you please give a photo of what you have done. drawings will be even more helpful for neophytes like me.

Thanks

Ramakrishna
Sat, 22 Oct 2016 22:22:22 +0400

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Title: Sharing Canon TC-80N3 between Canon and Pentax SLR cameras
Weblog: Camera Hacker
Excerpt: Just found a new Hack for you Hi Ian Tinker Here I just bought a Canon Rebel XTi and wanted to use the TC-80N3 Remote timer on it for some astrophotography and weather shots and could not because of the wrong plug type. I just found this on the Digital SLR Astronomical Imaging site Fo . . .
Tracked: Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:44:52 -0700

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