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The Shutter Expander is a simple design that allows you to hook up four cameras (or 8 by using two boards) to a single remote shutter control, like an intervalometer, while still retaining complete isolation between all cameras and the shutter control circuitry. This small design runs on its own 3V power supply, and allows for control of wired shutter and focus lines.
Description
Often, in many shoots, it is necessary to sync multiple cameras together on the same shot cycle. When using different intervalometers to do this, it is nearly impossible to actually sync all cameras to trigger at the exact same moment. Even if all intervalometers are started at the exact same time, clock drift in the individual devices will ultimately lead to differences in trigger time. The Shutter Expander works to resolve this issue by eliminating the need for multiple intervalometers. Of course, it is always possible to simply splice multiple camera cables together, but this creates the issue wherein an electrical issue in one camera can result in damage to all cameras, and this method is not sufficient for cameras of different makes. The Shutter Expander resolves this issue by electrically isolating all cameras from each other.
General Design Philosophy
- SMD components for compact layout
- Can be triggered by most common intervalometers, or a simple switch
- Ability to link 2+ devices together to increase expansion capabilities
- Built in 3V (3x AAA) power supply for complete isolation
Through-Hole Design
All of the SMD components used on here have through-hole counterparts. If you wish to create a through-hole version, or to breadboard a version, you should simply be able to replace the parts in the schematic with their through-hole counterparts.
Schematic
(click to see full-size version)
Layout
Eagle Files
Eagle Schematic, Board File, and Bill of Materials are available here: tse-1.0.zip
Author
C. A. Church
Copyright
The Shutter Expander is copyright © 2011 Dynamic Perception, LLC. All files, design, schematics, bill of materials, and all content on this page are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. For more information about the rights and any associated responsibilities this bestows upon you, see the Copyrights page.