I have now bought a proper serial to usb cable which allows me to connect the 350d. However, I still can't get the shutter to fire over 1 second exposures. If I touch the bottom left pin of the optoisolator (above) the shutter fires off, but not necessarily the correct exposure. It's more like when I release this pin. I thought I could get the bulb exposure to operate correctly when making a contact between the tip and ring sections of the 2.5mm jack at the camera end.
I have tried soldering both connections together, but this still doesn't solve the problem. I have read somewhere that just the tip doesn't make the shutter open and close. As you can see in the pic, is that small indentation pin 1? Should I solder the isolator the other way around to try it? I really am stuck after being on this all bleedin' night. Thanks for any advice. The dot is pin 1.
The picture is a bit iffy so obvious stuff: Is pin 5 short to pin 6? If so it shouldn't be.
I can't see the diode. You sure it's connected the correct way around? I assume the chip is a pin-for-pin compatible with the schematic?
There is no short between pins 5 and 6, although it does look like from the pic. The diode is there underneath; the black band on it faces the pin 1 of the isolator, and therefore away from the serial pin 5. I assume the isolator pins are the same as the one in the schematic, but don't know for sure. If pin 1 is in the right place, wouldn't the others? What software are you using to trigger your camera? Are you telling it what port the shutter release is on and have you configured it to use pin 7 (RTS) as the trigger. Some software also requires pin 4 (DTR) and pin 6 (DSR or DTS) to be connected together.
I use the revised circuit which works well for both Canon and Nikon cameras. It also gives you a visual reference of being in an Active or Passive state by using a bi-coloured LED. Hi, NOTE. you do not need the PIN diode for a canon. If you are using a 3.3v or 5v USB to serial adaptor then the 2k2 ohm resistor is somewhat too large and will not allow enough current to activate the photo diode inside the opto isolator. At 5v 2.2k will only allow 2.2mA and at 3.3v this will only be 1.5mA. Typically the opto requires around 5 - 6mA to operate adequately.
Try reducing the value of the resistor to 470 ohm. Hope this helps a bit.
Best regards. What software are you using to trigger your camera?
Are you telling it what port the shutter release is on and have you configured it to use pin 7 (RTS) as the trigger. Some software also requires pin 4 (DTR) and pin 6 (DSR or DTS) to be connected together. I use the revised circuit which works well for both Canon and Nikon cameras. It also gives you a visual reference of being in an Active or Passive state by using a bi-coloured LED. Hi, NOTE. you do not need the PIN diode for a canon. If you are using a 3.3v or 5v USB to serial adaptor then the 2k2 ohm resistor is somewhat too large and will not allow enough current to activate the photo diode inside the opto isolator.
At 5v 2.2k will only allow 2.2mA and at 3.3v this will only be 1.5mA. Typically the opto requires around 5 - 6mA to operate adequately. Try reducing the value of the resistor to 470 ohm.
Hope this helps a bit. Best regards.What does configure it to pin 7 mean? I don't use APT as I use a Nikon camera. So I am not sure exactly where everything is on APT.
Under long exposure you will find a list of available ports, one of thee will be your USB - SERIAL adapter. Check under your computers control panel device Manager Ports and establish which port it is connected to.
Select this port number in APT. I don't think you need to worry about setting up pin 7 (RTS) as I believe APT already has this set to RTS (pin 7) as default. For some other software you also need to tell the software which pin on the serial port is used for shutter release in which case you would specify pin 7 or RTS.
Next you need to find the settings window for the number of exposures you want to take. This will also have a setting box for the exposure length.
Both of these need to be set before it will operate the camera correctly. There is probably also a setting box for DELAY between exposures. This should be set for 10- 20 seconds to allow the previous exposure to download and to allow the sensor to cool down between exposures. You should not need to connect the tip to the ring. The switch is made between the tip and the body(sleeve). Hope you get it working. Best regards.
Hi Watersblue, Just been looking at the user manual for your 350d (downloaded version) and a couple of things came to light that may be confusing the issue. Have you got 'Mirror Lock up' enabled? If so then you will need to close the shutter button twice to take a picture. 1st full press locks the mirror. 2nd full press takes the picture. The mirror will return to it's down position after 30 seconds if you don't press the shutter a second time.
If this is the case then I suggest you disable mirror lock up to simplify things. It would appear that you can enable the self timer when using BULB mode which will provide a 2 second delay after triggering the shutter, to allow the mirror to stabilise in the raised position, before the exposure is taken.
This might be a good option to use, if the mirror causes shake/blurring, but you will need to add 2 seconds to your exposure time to compensate for the self timer. See 'Mirror Lockup' page in your manual. (page 94 on my downloaded version) I don't use 'Mirror lockup' with my Nikon D90 and have not experienced any problems with blurring, but I cannot say you will not get any. Try it and see. Hope the 470 ohm resistor gets you going. Best Regards. Hi Watersblue, Just been looking at the user manual for your 350d (downloaded version) and a couple of things came to light that may be confusing the issue.
Have you got 'Mirror Lock up' enabled? If so then you will need to close the shutter button twice to take a picture.
1st full press locks the mirror. 2nd full press takes the picture. The mirror will return to it's down position after 30 seconds if you don't press the shutter a second time. If this is the case then I suggest you disable mirror lock up to simplify things. It would appear that you can enable the self timer when using BULB mode which will provide a 2 second delay after triggering the shutter, to allow the mirror to stabilise in the raised position, before the exposure is taken. This might be a good option to use, if the mirror causes shake/blurring, but you will need to add 2 seconds to your exposure time to compensate for the self timer. See 'Mirror Lockup' page in your manual.
(page 94 on my downloaded version) I don't use 'Mirror lockup' with my Nikon D90 and have not experienced any problems with blurring, but I cannot say you will not get any. Try it and see. Hope the 470 ohm resistor gets you going. Best Regards. Sandy.thanks, Sandy. I intially didn't have the mirror lockup enabled, but have tried this option to no avail. I haven't used this with my wired timer either.
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My biggest issue is the motor drive; it seems to be very temperamental. I've just bought a regulated adapter for it, so hopefully this will sort the jitters. Now, let's hope that resistor arrives in the post on Friday. Cheers steve. Hi Steve, Ok, the usb-serial converter looks ok on the surface, however, I am not convinced it has true RS232 outputs/inputs. The PL2303HXD chip is a 3.3 volt device and can only accept inputs between 1.8V - 3.3v.
If your device does not also have the SP213EH level converter chip, which converts 3.3v to true RS232 levels then it will only be outputing 3.3v signals. Which can create problems with communications. The RS232 level converter changes the 0v - 3.3v signal levels to +/- 9v signal levels, and Vice-Versa, giving much greater drive capability. I use an FTDI converter which has this level conversion built in and I have no problems with it. I use the FTDI US232R - 10 premium device. The ser2pl file you had to download is in fact a windows.sys file and is needed for the converter to work properly with windows. One possible problem is that the prolific installer can corrupt this file.
This corruption can also occur with the MAC version. So It might pay you to delete all the prolific files and drivers, including this one and try re-loading everything using the following method: - I have installed and used this technique on XP, Vista and Win7 (32 and 64 bit). And I never ran the “compatibility wizard or tried to change the compatibility. I just ran the installer on whatever system I put it on Apparently the driver from DOES work however I think the installer program corrupts SER2PL.SYS, the very driver that is needed. Here’s my workaround.
Download from Prolific 1. PL2303ProlificDriverInstallerv1.5.0.zip 2.
PL2303DRemoverv1001.zip And from 1. Download ser2pl.sys 2. Don’t worry about the other 3 or 4 files that come with it ALL YOU NEED IS SER2PL.SYS Ok let’s get started,. REMEMBER WHERE YOU EXTRACTED ALL THE FILES TO INCLUDING SER2PL.SYS. After all downloads and extractions from Zip, run the prolific driver installer. Run the PL2303 remover program, all this does is remove the SER2PL.SYS file from your system.
NOW comes the fun part (/sarc) Go to your device manager (your Prolific USB to Serial cable plugged in). XP control panel System Hardware tabDevice Manager. Click on “ports (com & LPT). Or however you know how to get there! You should see the “prolific” device, “Prolific USB to Serial COM Port (com#)” If you don’t it’s not plugged in!.
right click and select “update driver”. select “install from a list, or specific place(advanced).
On the next menu select the radio button “search for the best driver in these locations”. Deselect the tick box for “search for removable media”. Select the tick box for “Include this location in the search”. Browse to the folder where you extracted and saved the SER2PL.SYS file. Press next and install the driver. Your USB to SERIAL cable now works! This is the process I used for XP and it is in general the same process I used for Vista and Win7 (32 and 64 Bit).
This should eliminate any possible problem with the prolific side of things. Other than the signal levels. It is possible that something is not set up correctly in APT, however, I am not familiar enough with it to suggest what. Try simplifying things a little. Take APT out of the equation for now. Download DSLR Shutter from: - It is a free programme which is just a straight forward and simple intervalometer.
Once installed it has a very simple user interface. To connect to your USB converter just select the correct port number and click connect. Set the number of exposures, any delay between exposures, and the exposure length and click go. Used on it's own you will save any exposures to your camera's memory card. If used with another camera tethering programme, such as the Canon EOS capture supplied with the camera, then you would be able to save to PC.
I hope all this makes sense. Let us know how you get on. Best Regards.
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I couldn't find the files through the links, Sandy. However, I managed to download the file called 'PL2303Remover' from somewhere, and also the 'PL2303ProlificDriverInstallerv1.8.0' file that you mentioned. I removed the previous driver using the first file, and then ran the prolific installer. I connected my camera and what do you know, APT now controls my camera for over 1 second exposures! I am over the moon lol!
Thanks for all of your input and help with this, everyone, especially Sandy. I was close to giving up, but so glad to have the encouragement to persevere. I just have to put all of the components inside the serial 'box' and I should have a fully functional camera+pc connected to my scope. Hi Steve, That is what SGL is all about. Helping each other. I am pleased you have finally got it all working, no matter where you got the files from. Just goes to show.
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DON'T always BELIEVE what M.Soft says when it comes to drivers. Any problems. CLEAR and RELOAD.
It's looking fairly settled for most of the week so hope you can manage to get some photos. Best Regards. Sandy.Well, this thread has shown me that sgl is a fantastic place to get advice. I have now put all the bits and bobs inside the serial connector and amazingly, the thing still works lol! I'll hopefully get a decent night's sleep tonight and then make the most of the clear nights in the week. That mirror lock up works too, by the way.