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Mike Anderson
8-Feb-2011, 14:55
What's the common way to get a remote shutter trigger for LF? The air bulb with long tube? Any other cheap options?

I'm thinking of a group photo with me in it. Of course the helpful stranger would work but I don't want to depend on finding one.

..Mike

Jim Jones
8-Feb-2011, 16:25
I prefer using an air bulb, but have also used external self timers attached to a cable release. Examples were made by Autoknips, Walz, and others. The solenoids found on some Speed Graphics and some other cameras also work with those shutters.

Mike Anderson
9-Feb-2011, 10:05
I prefer using an air bulb, but have also used external self timers attached to a cable release. Examples were made by Autoknips, Walz, and others. The solenoids found on some Speed Graphics and some other cameras also work with those shutters.

Thanks Jim. Sounds like air bulb is the way to go - I guess I'll put it on the ground and step on it. Timers for group photo is always error prone in my experience, especially when there's kids in the group.

...Mike

Sevo
9-Feb-2011, 11:21
Air bulbs work to some 10-15m - if it gets any longer than that, it is not that hard to roll a DIY electric release from a spare Graphic solenoid and a couple of batteries (two 9V blocks in series safely set off mine).

BetterSense
9-Feb-2011, 12:29
I have two 'remote detonators' I have made. My first one uses an RC car radio I had lying around, and a servo actuates the cable release. It works well except the radio transmitter is large, and the shutter lag is on the order of 1/2s.

The second one I made uses a solenoid, a 9v battery, and a IR demodulator IC. It is triggered using any TV remote. It has almost no shutter lag but it only has a ~15m range compared to the ~400m range of the RC one.

cdholden
9-Feb-2011, 14:23
I once considered hacking apart an old Canon LC-1 to fire a solenoid/cable combo.
The LC-1 allows quite a bit of distance (I've used to 25-30 feet) between infrared transmitter and receiver for commanding the shutter, or by 1000T3 10 meter cable (can connect multiple if necessary), moving the receiver away from the camera for strategic placement. Connect each device to spikes for digging in the dirt, or feet for sitting on ground. Not very discreet, but very flexible for functionality.