Timer for turning camera on.

I am trying to get a picture of an otter in day light using a trip. I

am using a nikon f90 with the nikon trip. I'd like to be able to turn

the camera off at night and on in the day so that the habitat shows

in the background when the picture is taken. Does anyone know of a

timer that will turn my camera + flash(S) off and on.I preety sure if

I do it manualy it will disturb the otters to much.If anyone knows of

a UK dealer that would be even better.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Harry

Check out <A HREF =

http://www.lpadesign.com/products/wavsense/index.html> The

Wave Sensor</A> from LPA Designs.

check out this previous thread : <a href='http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00089T'>Photograpy with infrared beam..</a> and this website : <a href='http://www.woodselec.com'>www.woodselec.com</a>. Good Luck!

I don't know if this is what you might be interested in or not, but it does seem to be the most versatile camera trip available now.

 

http://www.phototrap.com/frames.html

 

Joe MacDonald spoke highly of it in this article:

http://www.hoothollow.com/DefaultAnswerJuneJuly.htm

I was waiting to see if someone knew of a device like that ... unfortunately, none of the otherwise good suggestions seem to solve your problem of turning the body+flash on/off on some sort of schedule.

 

My advice is then this: don't worry about it. The camera body itself can be powered for aeons on a single battery. If it wasn't for the chance of accidental triggering, I wouldn't even bother to turn off my EOS-5. [The F90 can't be signifigantly worse.]

 

The flash and, I presume, your concerns of battery life in the field? Your solution -- turning it on/off -- will only increase this time by a factor of 2 or so. I wouldn't expect this to be signifigant ... and if it is, you'll probably find it alot easier (and cheaper!) to just double-up the battery you connect to it.

 

Whatever you do, remember to test the final equipment configuration for at least as long as you expect it to be in the field before you "go live".

Some folk suggested the WaveSensor. It could be used in a variety of ways to make sure your camera only fires when the otter is in the correct spot, but that doesn't directly answer your question of having the camera fire when the otter is in the correct spot AND only during the day.

 

My guess is that you want only the opportunity to capture a few images as needed and not have to go to the camera to change film and batteries any more than you have to.

 

The WaveSensor has a lockout circuit that an external timer could enable/disable. This would require something custom, but it could be done. This would stop the WaveSensor from tripping the camera during the times you want it locked out.

 

If your goal is to save the cameras batteries then I'm not sure what to tell you -- unless you have an external power source there is no easy way to get in between the internal batteries and the camera's power switch, if you know what I mean. Nikon makes an external power adapter that you could modify with a timer circuit.

 

You say you are using the Nikon trip. Is this the Nikon radio? I have another solution for you. The PocketWizard MAX (available in England real soon now!). This scenario assumes you have visual contact with the area and you are using 1 (or 2) PocketWizard MAX Transmitters, 2 MAX Receivers, and that Nikon External Power adapter (Nikon MC-32 -- last I knew it was around $140 US) with some 12V power source.

 

The first MAX Rx is in the MC-32 power line with a relay (parts you can get at Radio Shack). It is set to hold the power on for 5 seconds. The second MAX Rx (or the Nikon Radio trip) is attached to the 10-pin motor drive port on the F90. The camera power switch is set on.

 

Trigger the first MAX set and the camera now gets power for 5 seconds. Trigger the second MAX set (or the Nikon trip) to fire the camera. This way the camera never uses power unless you want it to!

 

If you want me to elaborate (like what parts to get) I certainly can. E-mail me directly.

 

Take care!