2. BUILD THE CAMERA POWER SWITCH
2a. Make the switch coupling. My camera’s main
power switch rotates about 30 degrees and has a
small lever-like protrusion. If yours is configured like
that, Dremel-shape a small section of plastic plumbing riser (pipe) to match the camera switch on one
end and the servo horn (the part that moves) on the
other. Then screw the horn and your homemade
coupling together with the #4×½" wood screws.
2b. Make the camera bracket. Mine is ugly and tortuously bent to hold the servo, receiver, and LED brackets.
Make it from 1"×¾" aluminum extrusion. Be careful
that the bracket doesn’t block the optical viewfinder or
the LCD; you’ll need access to one of these for aiming
and/or focusing the camera.
2c. Make the servo and receiver brackets. Made
from thin sheet metal, these brackets attach the
servo and receiver to the camera bracket. Use the
assembly screws for mounting the servo and the
#6-32 screw to mount the receiver.
2d. Mount the camera bracket loosely to the camera (for testing) by trapping its lower end between
the camera and your tripod with a longer ¼"- 20
machine screw, replacing the tripod’s screw. Make
sure the screw doesn’t bottom out in the camera’s
tripod-mounting hole.
2e. Add the servo and receiver. Ensure the switch
end of your coupling just snugly engages the camera’s switch. Excessive pressure requires excessive
torque (thus current) to turn the switch on and off.
Photography by Sam Murphy
2f. Test the servo coupling. With the ¼"- 20 screw
loosened and the coupling disengaged from the
switch, connect and turn everything on. Press the
appropriate joystick to observe how many degrees
and in which direction the coupling moves. You can
reposition the horn on the servo, tweak the trimmer
on the transmitter, and/or limit the amount and
direction of joystick travel by gluing a couple of pieces
of thin plastic, such as Formica, near the joystick.
MAKE AN INDICATOR FLAG: Tighten the ¼"- 20 screw
and add a small but visible-from-a-distance “Camera
On” flag to the servo’s horn. Bend the music wire into
an “L” shape and add colored tape or paper to the tip.
Make: 121
