Zoom - Remote control

waltind said:
I've buit this same DIY project and it has worked great. Jarred's instructioins (Listed elsewhere on the site) were easy to follow.

My question is this- does anyone who what the different frequencies are for the various zoom speeds? What I would like to do is to built a unit that has 6 buttons instead of a rocker switch. Then I would bush a button to zoom in/out and always get the same speed.
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Well from what I know, you would need a multimeter to verify which position gets your speed. I have a cheap 3,99$ multimeter so its not really precise but roughly I checked and it gave me this 0k-3k-6k 10k(neutral) 16k-19k-20k. Like I said it's a meter with a needle so not the digital one... hope it helps
 
TJIsACoolGuy said:
Hey Guys, I built a spring loaded one that returns to the original position about 5 months ago... I'll try to post pictures for you guys later... It was built for very cheap and works very well in my own humble opinion.
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Hi.....my first time to read postings here--great stuff you are doing; my dumb question of the day is: for my family consumer Canon Optura Xi, which has NO LANC input, is there any possibility of purchasing a remote zoom controller, like a wireless one, or one powered by the USB port ?.....the remote control by CANON has a really weak zoom control: 2 tiny buttons, stuck in one speed only.....

Sorry to sound like a rookie, but I am one!

Thanks for any insights!!
 
john reilly said:
Hi.....my first time to read postings here--great stuff you are doing; my dumb question of the day is: for my family consumer Canon Optura Xi, which has NO LANC input, is there any possibility of purchasing a remote zoom controller, like a wireless one, or one powered by the USB port ?.....the remote control by CANON has a really weak zoom control: 2 tiny buttons, stuck in one speed only.....

Sorry to sound like a rookie, but I am one!

Thanks for any insights!!
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Hi johnny,

BTW there's no dumb question cause if it was so, I'd be the dumbest. Anyway, there's no way that I know of to control the zoom of the camera thru the USB port. It's purpose is to transfert pics and to use it as a web cam. I started a search for you and got no results. LANC and remote controller functions are only available for higher-end prosumer products and most of sony's camcorders (LANC) of course since they all have a LANC plug.

sorry I didn't have any good news for you...


Jayson
 
Help guys, I have been following RocketScience's tutorial but I've hit a wall. That handyman spring Is not available in canada or in the Montreal area at least . I've been to every single Home Depot with 100km and couldn't find the infamous "handyman spring". You guys should have seen the face of all the stock clerks when I asked for it. They were clueless and so was I. So I bought different size coil springs and experimented and got little or no results. Have a clue. I won't give up but my wife as seen a bunch of coil fly across the living room for the last few days. Need some enlightment

Jayson
 
Hey,

Thanks for the info on remote zoom controllers--is there any product out there for use with a Canon Optura xi video cam which has NO LANC input. Yes, it came with a remote control, but the zoom buttons are flimsy, and stuck at one speed...

Thanks!

JDR
 
Jayson,

I'm amazed I got a reply from you...figured my question would be a laugher for anybody to seriously respond--I really appreciate your attempt to research....unless somebody comes out with a better wireless unit than the one that comes with our non-LANC cameras, I guess I have to go SONY, i.e., the new consumer HD unit which is down from $2000 at Christmastime to around $1500 now....except we just forked out around $1200 for the Canon Optura xi I mentioned previously...

Why don't you invent a wireless high-performance rocker-switcing, multi-speed unit compatible with with ALL the non-SONY brands.....you'd be my hero....but then, you already are for bothering to help me out....GREAT to hear from you!!

P.S. My wife was cracking up as you addressed me as: "Johnny"...too funny!

See Ya,

Johnny
 
john reilly said:
P.S. My wife was cracking up as you addressed me as: "Johnny"...too funny!


HI John,

sorry about that "Johnny thing",

My best friend's name is John as well and we've been calling him Johnny for the last decade so I guess it's a force of habit.

As for the rocker-switch controller , I just accomplished that last night. I tested the unit and it works great. Unfortunately I made a little mistake planning the size of the trimmer so I'll need to make another unit with different trimmers. As soon as I get my camera back from my wife today, I'll take pics and post them on the forum.

I like the idea of a wireless remote. I'm planning to build one eventually.

Unfortunately, the problem we face with most non-LANC or remote port camera is that the speed of the zoom. It would be impossible to have variable speed. Luckily, one of my friends is a Panasonic\JVC repairman and he backed up what I'm saying. And the reason is quite simple. Canon, SOny, JVC and friends will want you to spit out the extra cash to get a model that will have the features you're looking for.

I'm sure you didn't think about that feature before buying your camera, I know I didn't. It's only when I started on professional shoots for long consecutive hours that I realized I needed a remote control.

best of luck...

Jayson
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Wireless Remote

Wireless Remote

Jayson,

Thanks for your comments....I'll be looking for your upcoming wireless zoom remote control invention!!

I appreciate chatting with you...


All The Best,

Reilly
 
wow this thread still going..

I'm glad others are getting use out of the tutorial. I put a lot of work into making it .. work.. so I consider it time not wasted if other people are doing it.

For the spring, in the picture, there's a part number. I'd call hardware stores and ask around.

I also searched like crazy before making this.. could not find rocker pots, or sliding pots in the right range (tho my brother is an EE and could tell me what resistors to use, I didnt want to crowd the project box). You had to buy them in quanitities of 10,000. I wasnt planning on making that many.

I even considered buying the actual rocker switch on top of the DVX from a panasonic repair shop.. my guess is that would have made it a tad bit more expensive.

The values of the pot for the zoom settings are actually a range. i.e., a previous post said neutral is 10k. I think it's actually 8k-12k?? If I remember.. this was a couple yrs ago.

YES, I've been using this controller for 2 years now.. had to adjust 1 a little after 1.5 years, but easily done with needlenose pliers. Oh.. another tip, put just a little bit of lube ('Gunk' teflon? with a toothpick?) wherever the spring touches anything. otherwise you might get creaking noises.


It's a shame you can't find the spring.. I myself tried about 5 or 6 before finding this one. It works the best I have to say. Ace Hardware? Menards? Tru Value? Drive across the border?
 
rocketscience said:
handy man springs:

http://www.aaascreen.com/primeline/PLCatalog-SP.pdf

http://www.primeline.net/catalog/sp.pdf
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Thanks Rocket science,

I finally found the spring ( In Burlington) and got decents results with it. The coil I was using was too strong so it was impossible to shape it around the pot.

But now I'm working on something else. I built a rocker switch and I'm really pleased with the look. I just need to change the value of the potentimeter and with decents results I'll post it here....

thanks again for your contribution
 
cinealma said:
Has anybody built a unit to control focus/iris for the DVX100b?

Jag
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There's not a DIY product on the market yet, but Varizoom makes one that has both zoon, iris and focus control. It's quite nice, although it is a bit hard to hit an exact focus mark with the small knobs.

Tony
 
Hey guys i need some help. I got a 25 ohm Rheostat and a 3/32 plug, and a pushbutton for recording. When i wire it up, my dvx100 b will not zoom in at all. If i manually zoom and then connect, it will pull the zoom out to 0 regardless of how i adjust the rheostat. Any thoughts? I also just tried it on my DVC 30 and it does the same thing. What am I missing here?
 
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I just made the original controller tonight. I added an inline toggle switch and an indicator light before the momentary button to prevent me accidentally recording when I don't want to :P

Testing it on Monday. Hopefully it works. *Crosses my fingers*
 
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