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PocketWizard to N3 connector?

Hi there,
I have just purchased a set of PocketWizards or radio slaves to fire either an off camera flash or fire the camera remotely. However I am quite disgusted with the extra price of the cables required. I would like to build a cable to connect one PW to the N3 terminal on my camera, an EOS 5D. I bought a couple of 2 & 3 pin 3.5mm phono plugs today, which plug into the PW, and I have a spare N3 connector. I can't find any info on the pin outs for the PW's though, so do not know how to wire up the phono plug to the N3. Does the N3 connector require voltage to actuate? And is this supplied by the camera or the PW? What would be the safest way to test the pinouts of the PW? Any help would be appreciated, and I'm sure a lot of people would love to figure this out.

Shaun
Mon, 10 Jul 2006 04:23:42 -0700

Just found some info in the manual that might help. The phono plugs used with pocketwizards are mono or two pin, with 3.3v DC present. So I'm assuming this would bypass the third pin on the N3 connector which autofocusses the camera first before firing the shutter. Would be good if anyone has any further thoughts on this, cheers Shaun.

Shaun
Mon, 10 Jul 2006 05:04:59 -0700

Shaun,

I don't believe the N3 connector require any voltage to actuate. You can actuate the trigger by shorting pins. See "Canon N3 Connector Pin-Out".

Do you have access to a digital multimeter? You can test the pins with a digital multimeter. Actuate the pins with the PocketWizard remote and see which pins' resistence goes to zero.

Chieh Cheng
Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:04:05 -0700

Thanks for the reply, I've been thinking heaps over the last few sleeps and am gonna test the remote first by shorting the connections. Then solder up the new cable and test it with the pocket wizard, I'll post back my results in the weekend. I do have a digital multimeter, please explain in a bit more detail about resistence and how I should test the N3 pins once connected to the pocket wizard.

Shaun
Tue, 11 Jul 2006 23:57:16 -0700

Shaun, can you show us a picture of the connector and socket on the PocketWizard side?

Chieh Cheng
Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:51:53 -0700

They're still in the post but should arrive thursday/friday, I'll post a photo then, I'm away from home at the moment but will have the soldering gun out saturday to make this cable so look forward to some help with it then.

Shaun
Wed, 12 Jul 2006 23:05:45 -0700

I spent a few hours researching the N3 connector and other things, finally settled on using just the one N3 connector.
I cut the cable about 10 inches from the connector, and soldered to this a female 3.5mm stereo socket, then soldered a male 3.5mm stereo plug onto the end of the cable of the remote.
Next I made another 10 inch cable, at one end a 3.5mm male stereo plug, at the other a 3.5mm mono plug.
So now when I'm using the pocket wizards to fire the camera remotely, I disconnect the 3.5mm connection of the RS-80N3 remote, and connect the N3 to the camera, then connect my other short cable from the pocket wizard to the 3.5mm at the end of the N3 cable. However if I want to use the RS-80N3 to fire the camera, I simply plug it in as normal. This was a very simple process, it leaves out middle pin of the N3 connector, which autofocusses first, then fires when all three make contact. You could easily make this to autofocus, however it will constantly autofocus and wear down the battery of the camera.

Total cost of materials - US$10

Cost to buy one from a shop - US$125

Shaun
Wed, 19 Jul 2006 03:27:50 -0700

Heres a picture of what I ended up with, as you can see its super easy to switch between PW and remote, I also have a 3 metre extension for use with the remote. The 3.5mm connections are solid and snap together, but I'd probably gaffa them in certain situiations, the cable I used is exatcly the same as the Canon remote cable, 2 core with a shield, and can be bought at any good electrical store.

Hope this helps someone as there ain't much else on the internet about it and it sure as hell beats paying unecessary amounts for simple cables.

Pocket Wizard Canon N3 Remote Trigger

Attached Image:

Cable-Mod.jpg

Shaun
Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:10:36 -0700

Nice work Shaun. My result is the same, but as I already had a TC-80N3, I installed a 3.5mm stereo jack into the side of it. Wired it so when connected, a mono plug will activate the auto-focus continuously. This means all I need to do is connect the Canon remote into the camera and then the PWizard into the remote. One fewer bit of gear to cart around and in cost me $1. I do need to have the chunky remote connected though.

I also use MultiMAXs which means the one trigger can receive the signal, fire the camera and then transmit to the strobes on a different channel. Cool.

Attached Image:

DSC01508.JPG

Leuis
Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:31:54 -0800

Hi guys,

I'm fascinated with your capabilities in this arena. How difficult of a project is this for someone that's never held a soldering iron? I'd like to make a cable like the one Shaun created, however, I don't think I have the talent.

Alex Kolyer
Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:10:26 -0800

Alex, soldering is easy once you learned the basics. The soldering tools are also inexpensive to acquire. Try looking around for articles on soldering on the Internet. If you are more a book person, I've written a very good 7-pages chapter on "Soldering Basics" in my "Hacking Digital Cameras" book.

Chieh Cheng
Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:09:22 -0800

Thanks Chieh, I do have a soldering iron that came with a computer kit I own. I just haven't found a project I wanted to use it for. I'll look into it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, what would be the main things that I would need for this project?

Alex Kolyer
Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:49:34 -0800

Alex, what equipment do you have? You have a PocketWizard and a Canon DSLR?

Chieh Cheng
Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:20:38 -0800

thanks a ton for the tips, this really helped me out. I just bought a 3.5mm extension M/M cable, and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm for my remote control which then plus into my 1d and 10d for less than 10 dollars. This is awesome. Basically what Leuis did.

Brent
Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:42:37 -0800

Chieh,

Yes, I have three multimax pocket wizards and a EOS 1D mk II.

Alex Kolyer
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 11:32:57 -0800

You know, after looking at it, wouldnt it be easier to run the N3 straight to the PW Reciever, then put a female 3.5mm connector on the end of the remote cord?

Ed
Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:15:09 -0800

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