Here is a post that I made about a year ago. Because of renewed interest, I'm posting it again.
Many of you have expressed interest in the motion detector trigger that I use with my DSLR. I happen to use the Nikon D-100 camera, but all others are essentially the same provided that they have an external connector for remote shutter control.
While I use a snoot made from a toilet paper roll, its use isn’t absolutely necessary. It does provide a sharp cutoff angle for positioning the detector to avoid extraneous movement of nearby objects. The fresnel lens on the detector gives it a rather narrow angle of acceptance – about 8-10 degrees.
The red handled switch is the on/off switch, and the green handled one is a test switch that provides a test position for “walk testing” the detector. When in the test position, two bright led’s light up inside the snoot whenever motion is detected. They can be seen from in front of the detector a couple of hundred feet away, even in daylight.
On top of the unit is the output trigger jack and a button for manually firing the shutter. On the back is a sensitivity control for adjusting the sensitivity of the detector. I use this infrequently, usually only when there are blowing branches or such behind where I expect the subject to appear.
The main thing about this gizmo is that IT WORKS! It reliably triggers on deer size animals out to over 100 feet, and on something as small as hummingbirds at about 10 feet. The only trick is positioning it so that it does not trigger on extraneous moving objects that may be within its narrow field of view.
Here are a couple of examples of photos made with the detector:
Thank you so much for posting the information. The word document is an excellent set of instructions. Sadly, they are sold out of the module until March. So I guess I'll just have to wait.
So does that mean that if you get a photo of the year, you can not take credit for taking it since you were not there? Ha Ha. Nice set up, I love the samples of what you have done with it. Bruce
shhh don't tell hubby now I need to go shopping again......I wonder how hard it would be to put mine in that eagle nest down the road? (scratching head).....joking maybe? :-D
