Remote / Cable Release for Underwater Housings?

[tgait 2]

This may have been addressed, but I couldn't find it. For those that want to do long exposure photography in "bulb" mode, what do you use for a cable release / remote. I'm shooting a D800 in a Nauticam housing, but also still shoot a D300 in a Subal Housing. Something like the old Retra uTrigger that was universal would be perfect, but it was discontinued in 2015.  Any thoughts or creative solutions (besides the rubber band that I have been using?).  I dive cold waters, so the easier it is to work with dry gloves, the better. Thanks!!

[TimG 62]

I'm sure I recall seeing something here a couple of years or so ago (from maybe Alex Mustard?) about using an old push bike hand brake mechanism and cable to pull a Subal shutter release lever.

So it was a mechanical system which, if I remember rightly, he used for photographing garden eels.

[Tom_Kline 143]

3 hours ago, tgait said:

This may have been addressed, but I couldn't find it. For those that want to do long exposure photography in "bulb" mode, what do you use for a cable release / remote. I'm shooting a D800 in a Nauticam housing, but also still shoot a D300 in a Subal Housing. Something like the old Retra uTrigger that was universal would be perfect, but it was discontinued in 2015.  Any thoughts or creative solutions (besides the rubber band that I have been using?).  I dive cold waters, so the easier it is to work with dry gloves, the better. Thanks!!

There is a remote control made by Nikon with a switch in it for long exposures. One option would be to make a housing for this remote that you would connect via a bulkhead to the cameras. Alternatively you could build a remote control that does the same thing using the type of switch used for lamps (the things you have at home such as table lamps). This type of switch is pushed once to close the circuit and a second time to open the circuit. It could go on the end of a cable that is cabled to a bulkhead or possibly built into the housing by repurpusing an existing but unused lead-in in your housing - you need to have the space inside the housing to fit the switch without impacting camera functions.

You would need a remote cord plugged into the camera inside the housing that would connect to the bulkhead (or the switch) on the inside. Nikon (as well as Canon) remote cords have three wires - one is a common (#1). One of the others, call it #2, is for waking up the camera and starting the autofocus. The third is for triggering the shot. It is possible to close both at the same time either mechanically with the switch (the switch needs to have connections to do this) or by connecting wire 2 and 3 together (inside the housing) so that closing the circuit with the switch connects wire 1 with 2 and 3 simultaneously. I did this with my D1X when using the Aquatica remote and set the camera to focus priority when using AF. It also works for MF.

 

Edited October 29, 2020 by Tom_Kline

[tgait 2]

19 hours ago, Tom_Kline said:

There is a remote control made by Nikon with a switch in it for long exposures. One option would be to make a housing for this remote that you would connect via a bulkhead to the cameras. Alternatively you could build a remote control that does the same thing using the type of switch used for lamps (the things you have at home such as table lamps). This type of switch is pushed once to close the circuit and a second time to open the circuit. It could go on the end of a cable that is cabled to a bulkhead or possibly built into the housing by repurpusing an existing but unused lead-in in your housing - you need to have the space inside the housing to fit the switch without impacting camera functions.

You would need a remote cord plugged into the camera inside the housing that would connect to the bulkhead (or the switch) on the inside. Nikon (as well as Canon) remote cords have three wires - one is a common (#1). One of the others, call it #2, is for waking up the camera and starting the autofocus. The third is for triggering the shot. It is possible to close both at the same time either mechanically with the switch (the switch needs to have connections to do this) or by connecting wire 2 and 3 together (inside the housing) so that closing the circuit with the switch connects wire 1 with 2 and 3 simultaneously. I did this with my D1X when using the Aquatica remote and set the camera to focus priority when using AF. It also works for MF.

 

Thanks for the info, especially the hardwiring within the remotes. I routinely use cable releases for my landscape stuff, but the uTrigger had me very interested because it didn't require a bulkhead or any penetration through the housing (I don't need to give my housing any other reasons to leak  ). It was a magnetic switch I think. That's what I'm hoping for. Retra said they may reintroduce it, but no production schedule, and the reason they dropped it in 2015 was lack of demand (which I can easily imagine for such a specific item). So, I may end up DIY'ing it yet.