Trigger a camera shutter from half a mile away!
Using a cheap model airplane radio as a 35mm camera remote control.
 

Cardinal  (105mm)                                                         Pileated (300mm)

Kingfisher (105mm)

How to use a model airplane radio as a camera remote control

Pick up a cheap model airplane radio control unit, I bought mine online from Tower Hobbies for $65.
These things are rated for "out-of-sight" operation and will work at a distance approaching a mile!

You'll get the transmitter, receiver, battery pack, on/off switch, and a couple of servos. I had a zippered nylon pouch and arranged the components to fit inside using a paint stirrer, a rubber band and a few nylon wire-ties. (I picked up some cloth camo tape from a local hunting store.)

Attach (screw or epoxy) a micro-switch (available from Radio Shack) to the servo and solder it's terminals to the shutter release cable. I did not want to cut up an expensive Nikon remote cable so I hunted for a "plug" that would fit the 'remote cable' socket on my Nikon camera.  I found a generic 2-pin wire connector at a local hobby store (identical to the red battery connector in the above picture) which exactly fit the Nikon remote cable pins on the camera.

Next, shave down the white moving-thingy on top of the servo to form a cam (pictured below).  As it rotates it presses against the micro-switch:

Here's the final setup with the camera mounted on a Bogen Magic-Arm with Super-Clamp:

I added the side strap to the transmitter to make it one hand operable.

Just a small flick of the thumb trips the shutter.

Use some leaves, sticks and plastic ivy to hide the camera itself.

(Sorry for these dirt quality web-cam images.)

How to test your camera rig for camera shake.

An experiment on the effects of a 1% image resize in Photoshop. Also, optimum image sizing for the Fuji frontier.

The Wildlife Page - animal photos taken in our yard.

  Selecting a Hiking Tripod page.

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