Pawnmower 0 #1 June 25, 2008 Thanks in advance for any help here. I have a Konica Minolta Dimage A2 and I'm wiring it for a remote tongue switch. The factory remote has three wires. Yellow, White and Red. I have a tongue switch that ends with a 2.5 mm plug. I read I could splice anything, so I wasn't concerned with getting a proper end. Perhaps this is my error. The tongue switch has two wires, Red and White. I have wired red/red, white/white and left the yellow of the remote off. It will not work. I have since tried putting the yellow with the other pairs and tried that, to no avail. HELP! Anyone know what to do here??? (I know, I know, get another camera). Thoughts? Thanks, b Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #2 June 25, 2008 I found a website (via a few choice searches using google) that seems to breakdown the pin configuration for the Minolta RC-1000S switch... http://www.devilgas.com/photo/dig_remote/minolta_remote.asp It appears that one of the wires is a pre image wire (pin 1), another is a common (pin 2) and the last wire is used to fire. If I skimmed through the page correctly it seems that pin 1, 2, and 3 all need to be connected to release the shutter. the website goes into more detail but I was merely skimming... I hope this helps...Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pawnmower 0 #3 June 25, 2008 Thank you... I'm finding that if I go red/red & white/white, and then touch the yellow to either pair, it will fire the shutter... so I believe you need all three as well. When I pair the yellow up to either bundle, it snaps and holds the photo. Are there any switches that anyone knows of that comes with three wires for this configuration? thanks again for all the help! b Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #4 June 25, 2008 QuoteAre there any switches that anyone knows of that comes with three wires for this configuration? thanks again for all the help! bI would imagine that the reason you don't find a three wire configuration on a mouth switch is that the difference between the prefire (auto focus) and the shutter release stage is hard to feel with a tounge or with your teeth. having said that... I know of at least one freefall photographer, whom I believe was Terry Schumacher and I'm sure there are others... that jumps with a switch in his hand to activate his Still camera... so in can be done...Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PharmerPhil 0 #5 June 25, 2008 QuoteAre there any switches that anyone knows of that comes with three wires for this configuration? Just to be clear, you do know that you don't NEED a 3-wire switch right? The Canons and Nikons have three wires too, but there is usually a configuration (like you found?) where two wires are hard-wired together, and the last wire is connected to them (via a 2-wire switch) to complete the circuit. i.e., two wires go to one pole of the switch, and the third wire goes to the other pole. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pattersd 0 #6 June 25, 2008 you might try red and white/red & wyellow/white, since completing the circuit to yellow seems to fire the shutter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 0 #7 June 25, 2008 On my Canon camera there were 3 wires to the remote. I made a post on here somewhere before where I described what each colors was, etc... but I don't remember them at the moment and honestly color doesn't matter, there is one very simple way to figure out how to wire your switch. If your camera has a stereo plug receptacle then it is receiving two signals, and your remote wire has 3 conductors. If it's anything like mine (and I'm guessing it would be) the 3 wires are ground, focus, and shutter. The reason for all 3 is so you can use a remote that has the ability to press the button halfway down to focus but not fire shutter... obviously this does not apply to us. The "easy way to figure out which wire is which" that I mentioned above is as follows. Take your wire with the stereo plug on one end and the 3 bare conductors on the other. Insert the plug to the camera, turn it on and aim it at something it will be able to focus on and take a picture of. Touch any two wires together. There are only 3 things that can happen (3 possible combinations of 2 wires): 1) Nothing happens: you touched shutter + fire 2) The shutter fires: you touched shutter + ground 3) The camera focuses, but shutter does not fire: you touched focus + ground Once you figure out which wire is which, the easiest way to wire your SPST switch (IMO) is to short your shutter and focus conductors together. So now you only have two conductors: ground, and focus+shutter. Then every time you close your SPST switch the camera will focus AND fire. Now some people instead like too short ground+focus so the camera is continually focusing... but that never seemed desirable for me (although it could be in certain unique circumstances and shots)... also this may not work on all cameras, and wastes battery if it does work.www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 0 #8 June 25, 2008 QuoteNow some people instead like too short ground+focus so the camera is continually focusing... but that never seemed desirable for me (although it could be in certain unique circumstances and shots)... also this may not work on all cameras, and wastes battery if it does work. The nikons here are all wired like that (since the same guy made all the remotes), they meter and focus continually when on, so they're always ready to shoot, it of course eats up some battery but I can still go for weekends without having to charge. Especially a D70s can go for a looooong time so it really doesn't matter (with these cameras anyway). ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vidiot 0 #9 June 25, 2008 Brent, I am succesfully using Minoltas for several years now, starting with an analog Dynax 5, so no reason to get a new camera. Connect the focus and fire contacts mentioned in the other mail to create a two-wire setup. If you want to be über correct, decouple with (Schottky-)diodes. I never bothered to do that. If you can get your hands on a 3-pin plug with 2mm distance between the contacts (not 1/10"!) as used on PCBs, you don't need to take the expensive original remote apart. HTH, Klaus My Logbook Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pawnmower 0 #10 June 26, 2008 New meaning to Vidiot coming... I am going to confess my stupidity here for any future vidiots that find this thread... but I'm sure I'm going to get a slew of ... YOu idiot! I called the company and they said they haven't made 2 wire switches for over 2 years. When you cut the wire open to splice, you easily find a RED wire and a WHITE wire. These wires are wrapped in a bunch of bare wires. I have spliced many wires before and figured this was part of the insulation/protection in the wire... To no avail. This is the third bare wire. You have to GENTLY, peel all of these individual wires off and twist them together and you have your third wire. RED/RED, WHITE/WHITE, BARE/YELLOW> Captain obvious chows the pond! Adios and thanks a million! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
