freefli 2 #1 February 12, 2005 so i'm putting together a camera helmet with a 20d top mounted. i want the top to be clean when the 20d is not being used. what do people use as the connector that's mounted in the helmet so there's no exterior wires. i guess it's a coupler but i'm not sure. hope my question is clear enough.....pictures would be great.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IvanPeters 0 #2 February 13, 2005 A lot of people use an RCA connector like these. They don't stick out from the helmet too much, L shaped plugs are easy to find and they make a good, solid connection that is not going to come apart easily. The downside is that you have only two connections. You have to decide what you want to do with the focus wire and hard-wire it into the cable. I went for a 3.5mm stereo jack socket. It's about as low profile as you can get, with and without a plug connected, and it has 3 connections, allowing me to decide what I want to do with the focus later. You can go even smaller and use a 2.5mm socket like that used for the Sony LANC port. But, as many people can report, they can tend to break with a lot of use. The 3.5 is a bit stronger and the mechanism seems to lock in place more firmly. Ivan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefli 2 #3 February 14, 2005 Thanks for the info. that's exactly what i was looking for. so i know i need a bite switch and i thought i also needed a mono remote switch to plug into the camera. i have a few more questions now.... 1.the 3.5 stereo plug that you use will work with this system since it's not mono? 2. do i wire the bite switch to the 3.5 without using any other components? 3. would you suggest using one of those focus switchs you have if shotting a 20d with a sigma 15? 4. lastly, where would you pick up a 90 degree plug and the 3.5? Radio shack or a camera shop? sorry for the amateur questions but i'm new to the whole wiring switch thing.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IvanPeters 0 #4 February 14, 2005 I don't know what the plug is on a 20D. The two cameras I have both have custom plugs. So I had to get hold of a remote switch for each, chop the switch off and put a jack plug on instead. Both switches had 3 wires. I suspect the 20D does as well. On the inside of the helmet I got a conceptus tongue switch, chopped the plug off and wired it to the socket and switch. In retrospect, I think I should have put a second socket inside for the switch because I suspect it will wear out and need replacing one day. Getting the wiring right is a real pain. You don't want to solder everything up and then find you got it wrong. There's little or no documentation out there so you have to experiment a lot by touching wires togther to work out what is needed. Then test frequently to make sure you didn't get it wrong. I'll try to draw you a wiring diagram of what I did later today. Up until two weeks ago, I didn't have a camera with autofocus capability. So I didn't have the switch. I added the switch because all the experienced camera people I have spoken to since starting have different opinions on the use of autofocus. So, it seems the best option to give myself the choice to try everything. Note that my autofocus label is slightly misleading. It should really say "continuous focus." The switch does the same thing as holding the button halfway down on the camera. If your camera/lens has a continuous focus mode then this causes it to continuously focus on whatever is in front of it. The idea is that, when you shoot, it is quicker because it has already focused. A camera in autofocus mode with my switch set to off will still autofocus before shooting. And turning my switch on with a camera in single-shot autofocus mode will give very bad results. I got all my plugs and sockets from Maplin which, I think, is the UK version of Radio Shack. Some sort of electronic component shop is what you want - I doubt if a caera shop would stock that stuff (certainly not here in the UK). Ivan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IvanPeters 0 #5 February 14, 2005 Here is that circuit diagram. Note that it is from memory so you should test carefully that it works for you before soldering anything. It's pretty simple really. The focus wire connects all the way to the tongue switch for "off" and connects to "common" for "on". The shielding on your existing remote cable is usually the "common." You'll have to do some testing to work out which of the other two wires is which. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
