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REMOTE RELEASE JS-28
After replacing my old F-801 with an F90x, my self-made remote release became
useless with the new body. That's 'cause Nikon replaced the old 2-pin connection
with a 10-pin one for the F90x. Part of the reason is the fact that the
same connecttion is used for the data-transfer between the body and a computer.
That means that the changes in the remote release start from the plug and
actually go thru the whole construction. All and all, JS-28 is an updated
model of the release built for the 801. Many of the technical details have
been developed by gathering information from various sources - one of the
most valuable ones has again been the Nikon-Digest mailing list. That was
also the source of the pinout description.
The first problem was to get a plug for the connection. I found out the
whole pinout description, but I'll concentrate on the three pins needed
for the remote only. On the picture below you can see the necessary contacts
marked in red. You could also use some other pins (there are for example
two ground-contacts). I found my way to be good, since I didn't need any
electronical components besides simple switches. Also, I was able to use
simple and cheap "stereo-plugs" for the connections since I only needed
3 wires.
The plug
Finding a plug appered to be impossible, so the only option was to make
one myself. I first tried making it by removing pins from other plugs, but
I soon gave up. If you can find a suitable plug that only has a few pins
to remove, this could work. I found another way around this. Thank's to
a tip from the Nikon-Digest, I went to a local crafts shop and bought some
oven bake modelling clay called Cernit. After parctising with one plug,
I managed to shape a working one with my second try. I used three "shirt-pins"
(you know the ones that come with hard-collar shirts) and some of that clay.
I placed the pins on the camera and molded a plug around the pins, leaving
the top of the pins visible so that I could attach the wires later on. I
also used a small piece of eraser to stiffen the plug, but I don't think
it was necessary at all...The problem with the clay was that it gets soft
when you mold it, so that it's impossible to remove the plug and get it
in the oven (I wouldn't suggest to bake the clay with the camera...). My
solution was to put the whole camera with the plug to the freezer for a
half an hour or so. After that, the clay was hard enough to remove from
the camera. I hardened the clay in about 100C for 5-10 minutes and then
soldered the three wires on the pins. After the wires were attached I insulated
the wires with tape and then molded a cover from the same clay (I also added
some clay around the bottom of the pins, just to make the plug fit a bit
better on the socket). Again, I freezed the thing and then hardened it in
the oven.
On the other end of the wires I chose a small male "stereo-plug" that I
"loaned" from a pair of headphones. I also attached a "curtain-clip" to
the stereo-plug - this is used to attach the wire to the neck-strap thus
avoiding any pull on the plug.
The remote
 The remote
itself is even more simple than the one ment for the 801 as you can see
from the picture. I used three switches, one for the focusing(a), one for
shutter release(b), and one lockable one(c) for the shutter release in bulb-mode.
One end of all the switches have been connected to each other and then to
the ground wire 3, and the other end of the lockable switch was connected
to the switch b. The remaining wire on the switch a was connected with the
wire from the pin 2 and the last wire from the switch b and c was connected
with the pin 1.
I built the whole thing in a plastic film container and attached the switches
on the cover, just like I did with the remote release for the 801. I added
a female stereo-plug on the bottom of the container, so now i can either
use it just with the short wire coming from the connector, or add a longer
wire in between. Photos of the container can be seen in my MB-10s-page.
Components:
- three "shirt-pins"
- oven bake modelling clay, for example Cernit
- three switches, for example a red one and two black ones for clarity.
One of these should be lockable.
- cord with three wires
- film container or something similiar for the housing
- stereoplugs, male and female
The components without the wire cost about 4 bucks, the most expensive part
was the modelling clay that costed a "staggering" 2 bucks (I only used a
small piece from the corner...).
It only took me a moment to make this and the result is a fully working
AF-remote release.
J.Suokas
I'm not taking any responsability for these instructions
or the damage they might cause.
Eveything is,
however, tested and used by me regularly.
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