#Arduino camera timer trigger manual
#Arduino camera timer trigger software
#Arduino camera timer trigger code

1 x 10k resistor (to reduce the transistor base current).1 x npn BC547, TO92 transistor (to switch power off).1 x 100k variable resistor (to manually regulate the contrast).1 x LCD 16×2 with HD44780 chipset (to directly use the Arduino LCD library).I opted for a 2 lines, 16 characters per line type giving me enough room to display some human readable data (words and sentences!): 1 x DIP socket (to avoid burning the chip upon soldering it).1 x ATmega328 microcontroller (with arduino bootloader).So to use the ATmega328 microcontroller as a standalone (or bare arduino) one has to supply some basics electronics: a crystal for the timing and capacitors. I quickly realized a whole Arduino Uno board with a LCD shield would be far overkilling for the project, and I preferred to stick to a more minimal ATmega328 microcontroller and a 16×2 LCD.

#Arduino camera timer trigger software

So I ordered my first Arduino UNO board, an electronic starter kit (with LEDs, resistors, transistors.) and programmed a first bare version of the software to make a simple proof of concept test: Arduino is very easy to use and gives a lot of options for all the features I had in mind, moreover it has a large community, development tools, it is open… and made in Italy :) Many DIY intervalometers I have seen relies on either an Arduino or its ATmega328 chip. Part 3: What do I need for that ? The brain

minor cheap, fairly useless, goodies (a buzz for beeps, a thermistor for measuring the temperature.).

be small / light enough to fit in a (jacket) pocket to be carried around.

small number (4) of press buttons to navigate the menu/set the values.

have a simple and nice interface (LCD) with a navigating menu with possibility to switch off for battery save.

use either batteries or plug for indoor use.

be conveniently reprogammable (in case of bugs or new features).

possibility to shoot on sharp light changes (think of lightnings.).

different conditions to start (timer, light threshold).

set sec/min/hours interval for photos (!).

After disposing the most useless and impracticable, my list turned out to be as follows: This is the nice step where you just think and write down a list of additional (reasonable) features you would like to have. That said, the rest is crafting :) Part 2: Feature wish list Essentially, the schematics would be the following:

#Arduino camera timer trigger manual

As a bonus, the remote came with a pluggable 3.5 audio jack which I could use putting my intervalometer in series in case I also need a manual shot overriding the intervalometer. So I preferred to buy an extremely basic and cheap remote for my camera on ebay and reverse-engineer it. Googling around I found that most remote shutters have a simple resistance circuit to control the focus/shoot but I did not find any specifics for my camera model. Once found, it would be just a matter of using some electronics magic to take care of the timing. So, the first thing is to make sure the project is actually doable! This essentially means to find out what is the correct signal the camera expects from the input jack to either focus or shoot. I thought a do-it-yourself (DIY) intervalometer would perfectly fit as my first electronic project since it would merge many things I like – photography, electronics and programming – into a compact, portable, box! Part 1: Is it doable? So I thought I would build one with the features I would like to have. (Un)fortunately my camera (a Leica V-Lux 1) has no intervalometer possibilities built-in but only a jack for an external remote. The mountain or Mountain Light to name just two of the most inspiring) that I wanted to humbly approach this ‘art’ as well. I have seen many beautiful time-lapse photography in the last times (e.g. That said, I assume one has some basic electronics knowledge and is not too afraid of writing a program… Indeed, this is not a manual on electronics nor an arduino programming tutorial but, as the title says, just a detailed “making of” ) Part 0 (prerequisite): Motivation

#Arduino camera timer trigger code

When I started looking for similar projects on the web I found extremely useful to have a look at either the circuit schematics or snippets of code or even soldering videos!įor this reason I try here to be the most complete and precise that I can, so to give some hints and ideas to anyone willing to make a similar project. I would like to share with you my Intervallino project with all the steps and details it involved.