D70 gift suggestions

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Archive 2011 · D70 gift suggestions

Aaron D
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p.1 #1 · D70 gift suggestions

Looking for some cheap accessory suggestions for my step-father for Christmas. Problem is, I come from the Canon side of the tracks and don't know what's available.

He's got a D70 (not D70s). Are there any cheap intervalometer type remotes that work with the D70?

Looking for other suggestions (other than filters) in the sub-$50 range. All suggestions are helpful.

Thanks!

Aaron

Dec 08, 2011 at 03:03 AM

runamuck
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p.1 #2 · D70 gift suggestions

IIRC, no. It uses an IR remote only. ML-L3 THe D70s will take a wired remote and intervolometer.

I just checked mine. No.

Dec 08, 2011 at 04:59 AM

Aaron D
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p.1 #3 · D70 gift suggestions

runamuck wrote:
IIRC, no. It uses an IR remote only. ML-L3 THe D70s will take a wired remote and intervolometer.

I just checked mine. No.

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. BUT..I've read of people modifying their D70 to put a 2.5mm remote jack on it. Then a simple, wired, Canon remote release will work. Has anybody done this? I'm curious if it would work with a wired intervolometer designed for a Canon.

I'm more than capable of modifying the cam, but it isn't worth the time if he can't use an intervolometer on it.

Dec 08, 2011 at 06:31 AM

runamuck
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p.1 #4 · D70 gift suggestions

If you can get the camera to stay in remote mode (the D70 is on a timer) the camera firing is controlled by the remote. Would the wired in jack be part of the original shutter button circuit? If so, it should work. It might be easier to get a D70s than rewiring the D70?

Amazon has the MC-DC1 that will work with the D70s or even D80 without having to rewire a camera.

Dec 09, 2011 at 12:05 AM

RRRoger
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p.1 #5 · D70 gift suggestions

I would upgrade the camera body before trying to rewire a D70.

The YongNuo ML-3A might work.
It is cheap, has many connection versions and can be used as a trip activating shutter or flash.

Dec 09, 2011 at 03:13 PM

Aaron D
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p.1 #6 · D70 gift suggestions

runamuck wrote:
Would the wired in jack be part of the original shutter button circuit?

I believe so. So the hardest part would be taking the camera apart and putting it back together again. I found a company that will modify the D70 and install the remote jack, but they want $135. It's not a difficult job, just tedious and time consuming.

RRRoger wrote:
I would upgrade the camera body before trying to rewire a D70.

The YongNuo ML-3A might work.
It is cheap, has many connection versions and can be used as a trip activating shutter or flash.
I don't think it will work for the D70. The receiver interprets the IR pulses / commands from the transmitter / remote. The receiver then sends the signal to the camera, via wire to a port on the body.

I'm in the process of making him a USB remote for his Canon SX30is. The Canon only needs a simple 5-volt signal across two pins in the USB connector in the camera. Unfortunately, the D70 requires much more complex signaling / coding through it's USB port.

I found two solutions to having a cheap intervalometer for a D70 -

http://www.bigmike.it/intervalometer/index.html - He charges about $75 for an assembled and tested unit.
and
http://forum.timescapes.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=335

The first one I would modify by putting in a 2.5mm jack and wiring it in-line with the "manual" button. This would allow the unit to be mounted to the camera or flash bracket and would allow the user to fire the camera manually from a distance using a cheap, wired, generic, Canon remote.

The second one is cheaper and I can build this one myself.

Dec 09, 2011 at 10:48 PM

runamuck
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p.1 #7 · D70 gift suggestions

Whatever floats your boat. I would much rather upgrade the camera. I'm with RRRoger on this one.

Dec 11, 2011 at 03:43 AM

Avi B
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p.1 #8 · D70 gift suggestions

Why not a set of wireless flash transmitter/receivers instead? Although the D70 is long in the tooth, it does have unlimited flash sync speed which can make for some very interesting shots.

Dec 11, 2011 at 04:47 AM

Aaron D
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p.1 #9 · D70 gift suggestions

runamuck wrote:
I would much rather upgrade the camera. I'm with RRRoger on this one.

Well yeah, who wouldn't? And I agree with you completely. But being it's a Christmas gift, and money being tight having to get others gifts, finances don't exactly allow me to splurge on such a nicety. Besides, my mother is talking about getting him a new body sometime next year.

Avi B wrote:
Why not a set of wireless flash transmitter/receivers instead? Although the D70 is long in the tooth, it does have unlimited flash sync speed which can make for some very interesting shots.

I've actually read that in my quest for educating myself on the D70. I know he already has a dedicated flash. But to be honest, I don't think he's ever used it. He like's "techy" and "gadgety" things. Hence the idea of an intervolameter.

I've actually come across something that may work. He has an Android based smartphone. There are numerous apps that allow using the phone as an IR DSLR remote.You may be saying, "but most Android phones don't have an IR transmitter." You would be correct. A small IR transmitter is built from a handful of parts, quite cheaply I might add, and plugs into the the headset / headphone jack.

I'm going to see about building one of these and see if I can get my hands on his D70 for a week for testing. I've seen comments and claims about this working on some other Nikon bodies, but haven't come across anything about them working on the D70 yet. The most I'll be out is about $10 if it doesn't work.

If that doesn't work, there is another solution to a wireless intervalometer that I can build for about $60 that does in fact work.

PS - In case anyone is interested in building this IR transmitter I speak about, here's a link to a site that has schematics and instructions for 4 different types (2 wireless IR, and 2 wired) of adapters.
http://bitshift.bi.funpic.de/

Dec 12, 2011 at 06:03 AM

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