I bought a Konica Hexar after reading Richard Caruana's review in photo.net. My biggest problem was the lack of a cable release socket. I won't use it often, but, when I want a cable, I really want a cable.

I looked at the camera carefully before buying, my local shop allowed me to shoot a roll of film in a demonstration model at an abbey ruin at the rear of the shop. I studied the shutter release. I thought - cable release - no problem !

For those who haven't seen a Hexar before, the shutter release is in the centre of a ring which sets the aperture. In common with many cameras, light pressure on the shutter button causes the camera to lock focus and metering which can be held whilst the camera is moved. A slightly firmer push fires the shutter. Therefore, an ideal cable release system will allow a "light push" to be made, and the cable is then moved a significant distance before the shutter fires.

Early Designs

My first thoughts were to devise a set of three sliding cylinders, with differing end profiles. The profiles and stop points would limit travel of each cylinder. A collection of cams would allow a conventional cable to be pressed a short distance, say 5mm, to activate the auto-focus and metering, and a further 10mm or so, to fire the shutter.

A quick appraisal of this design revealed two major flaws: (a) it was very complicated to make and (b) it completely obscured the aperture ring, and restricted access to operating buttons. As my main hobby is model making - I own a lathe & milling machine - the first problem was reduced to one of time. The second was a bit more important.

So, I thought some more...

Biro Springs

I was playing in my workshop with an old spring from a ball-point pen. It occurred to me that the pressure to compress the spring was less than that required to fire the Hexar shutter.

So, I got the Hexar out and prodded the shutter button with the spring. Push the spring a little and the camera acquired focus. Keep pushing a long way and just near full compression the shutter fires. Time to throw away the sketches of three cylinders sliding inside each other.

I quickly made a spring assembly. This consisted of two plastic stepped disks joined by a short piece of biro spring. I used acetal (Delrin is the most common tradename), though almost anything which won't scratch the shutter release button will do. Acetal is slightly "springy", so will grip the hard cable release rod. I'm not sure how acetal behaves in high humidity, some plastics do absorb water and change shape. Humidity is fairly constant in the UK.

There is a hole in each disk. One is about 1.3mm, the other 1.5mm. The 1.5mm hole fits the end of my standard cable release. The 1.3mm hole is so I can ease the assembly off the cable release.

Biro Spring and Stopper from Bic pen. "But this guy has a lathe" you all cry. True, but you can make all this without one. Clear bodied ball point pens often have coloured stoppers pushed into the end of the body. These look about the right size. Cut them down a bit with either a file, or some wet & dry paper. The stopper might need the hole opening up a little with a drill until the biro spring will fit inside. All that is required is to drill the 1.5mm hole in one end and its finished.

Pushing the shutter with this assembly gave the same behaviour as the original biro spring, though much more controlled. The next step was to devise a mount to hold the cable and spring to the body of the camera.

The body clamp

Spurred on by the success of the spring, I quickly bent up some stainless steel to form a 'U' shaped clamp. I drilled a hole and tapped a thread. A few strokes of a file took away the rough edges. The ends of the U were wrapped in PVC electrical insulating tape to protect the camera body from scratching.

Mark 1 bent stainless steel clamp mounted on camera

When fitted to the top of the camera, it worked. Not ideal though, it had the following defects:

• Risks scratching camera body - I know cameras are to be used, but I like to look after my tools and don't deliberately deface them.
• Restricts access to some of the control buttons - a serious problem. Though, better than the cylinders would have been.
• Looks ugly - the Hexar is an elegant camera, this contraption looks awful.

So, I mailed Richard Caruana describing progress so far. He suggested some sort of bracket from the base of the camera. I had been thinking of something similar. A delay of a month or so ensued whilst I thought about it.

The tripod bracket

I rather liked the simplicity of the biro spring, and was keen to achieve a similarly simple bracket. So, big lumps of milling, turning and the like were to be saved for the model railways. I also wanted to keep the weight down - one of my reasons for owning a Hexar was to cut the weight and size from my SLR system.

I experimented with some 3mm aluminium sheet. A piece 18mm x 165mm was cut, and then cut down to form a 'T'.

90° bends were made in the aluminium at the points A and B. The frame is also deliberately slightly twisted, so the hole for the cable release is exactly above the shutter button. I bend thick aluminium as follows: a shallow wide file cut is made on the inside edge. The aluminium is annealed slightly using a hot air gun (a gas flame will do, but take care not to melt the aluminium, it goes very suddenly). Once it is hot, I let it cool naturally, then make the bend holding the work in a vice and pushing with a straight piece of wood. If aluminium of this thickness is bent without softening it tends to tear.

The holes marked were drilled with a powerdrill - hold the work in a proper vice, fingers come in matched sets at birth and spares are not easily obtained!

Countersink the smaller hole. I have a countersink bit, though drilling partially through with a ~8mm drill will achieve the same effect. I tapped the small hole 5BA, which looked the closest tap I had to the strange tapered thread on the end of a cable release. M3 is similar and ought to work as well. The aluminium is softer than the cable release housing, so fairly tollerant of an approximate fit.

The folded bracket was cleaned up with a series of files, to round all edges, followed by a quick work over with a fine abrasive block (wet and dry paper will do just as well).

(Left) Aluminium clamp bolt, delrin spring assembly, mark 1 mounting bracket. (Right) mark 2 mounting bracket

Finally, I stuck a small piece of black vinyl fabric to the upper edge of the lower component. This protects the Hexar body from scratching. I used "Evo Stick" contact adhesive. Almost any glue which will adhere to aluminium will do - roughen the surface of the aluminium with a sharp tool to improve the glue's chances.

After assembling to the cable release, fitting the spring component, the cable release is ready for use. However, it only works with a tripod, and one with a long clamping bolt.

Alternative Clamping Bolt

To use the cable release whilst hand-holding the camera, or if a tripod has a short screw, a new clamping bolt is required. This must attach the cable release bracket to the camera body, and provide a tapped hole for a tripod to attach.

I must admit that the aluminium version of this component is a "beta release" and deficient in some respect. I will be making another soon, which will have a much larger outside diameter and won't have the step in its aluminium body, giving a more stable mount on a tripod below. However, the basic construction method will be the same. Those with experience of lathes will be able to make it from the drawings, those without, read on.

If you are lucky, you will have a suitable tripod bolt in your bag of useless old bits, or will be able to find one somewhere, but if you can't find anything, don't give up, making one isn't difficult.

Firstly, visit your scrap box, or hardware shop for a nut and bolt. The bolt should be about 10mm long, if necessary get a longer one and cut it down to size. These must be the same thread as a tripod screw, which is 1/4inch Whitworth thread - take your tripod with you and ask for ones that fit ! Next cut three pieces of 1/4 inch plywood to form 2 inch squares.

Drill the centre of the pieces of plywood as follows:

1. Drill right through. The diameter should be the same as the distance across the flats of the nut - about 10mm.
2. Drill right through. Diameter should be large - about 12mm or 1/2 inch.
3. Drill half-through. Diameter same as (1). Then drill the remainder of the hole 1/4 inch.

Plan of plywood components, nut and bolt

Now the sneaky bit. Peter Clark introduced this trick to me - how to cut a perfect hole in wood to hold a nut or bolt head. As Peter has won an award at the annual British Model Engineer show most years since the 1960's, he knows what he is talking about. Start with the nut. Place it over the hole in piece (1) and tap it gently into the hole with a hammer. Knock it in all the way, taking care to keep it level.

Put the bolt head into part (3) using the same trick. There should be about 8mm of thread emerging from the plywood.

Now glue all three pieces of wood together using your favourite wood glue. Hold them in a clamp or vice whilst they set - use a cylinder or pile of oversize nuts and washers over the emerging bolt stud.

Once dry, you now have a very rough tripod clamping bolt. Mark a circle on the wood and cut out the circle, using a jig-saw, fret saw or file, or even glass-paper. Sand the edges and faces to clean everything up. Finish the whole piece off with some varnish to protect it.

Unvarnished plywood clamping bolt

Conclusions

It works. It doesn't restrict access to the controls. It is light. It allows easy "half-push" on the shutter button. It works in conjunction with a "locking" cable, allowing a 'half push' to be held indefinitely. The wooden clamp bolt has a rather nice feel to it, and should even satisfy Philip Greenspun's liking for wooden tripods.

Cable release in action. (Left) At rest. (Centre) Half push for focus/metering. (Right) Full push for shutter firing.

I'd have preferred it if Konica had provided the cable release in the first place. However, making my own was fun. It works, and I'll use it occasionally. I hope someone else might be inspired to have a go as well.

Bracket in use on Hexar

Pictures of the cable release system on my Hexar. The "bendy stalk" tripod is a handy pocket gadget, but no substitute for a big stable proper one.

About the Author

Nigel Cliffe is a human factors consultant, an amateur model maker, occasional photographer, MGF  owner and fell walker.

• 
  Sony 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 G SSM vs Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6 SP USD Review
• 
  Macro Flower Photography: A Tutorial in Focus Stacking
• 
  Sony Alpha A37 preview
• 
  Sony NEX-F3 Preview
• 
  Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic Review
• 
  Concert and Live Music Photography: Clubs, Bars, and Small Venues
• 
  Olympus Tough TG-1 iHS Preview
• 
  Canon 5D MkIII First Impressions Review
• 
  Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM Lens Review

Add a comment

Notify me of comments