I was struck by a comment on a Reddit by a Mamiya 645 Pro owner about not having a cable release. The Mamiya 645 Pro has no cable release capability without adding a small adapter. While the adapter is small and trivial but it can be expensive or difficult to find. I know when I first learned of this I found it frustrating. I bought the adapter but have believed one could make one oneself very easily. So this Reddit user inspired me to confirm my suspicions.
The Mamiya 645 shutters are electronic and so don’t require a mechanical element to release. On the adapter there are four sockets and I believed only two are necessary. A simple switch is all that should be required. First I used an ohmmeter to test the contacts and found that contacts 1 and 3 are activated by the cable release. I made a simple prototype with some patch wires and a small pushbutton switch to test my assumption. Below is a photo of the adapter where I annotate the functional pins.
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| Mamiya 645 Pro Cable Release Adapter |
Here is the connection to the camera...
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| Camera Connections |
Here is the pushbutton...
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| Pushbutton |
The push button is a momentary contact normally open switch. All that has to happen is the contacts are closed and the shutter is released. Below is a crude video showing the shutter open and close on the button press.
So that is all it takes, some suitable contacts to plug into the camera, a couple of wires, and a push button. The cable release itself is not actually required. The wires can be as long as you need.
I have a few comments though. The whole thing needs to be made more robust as my proof of concept is very flimsy nothing was even soldered together! The contacts that plug into the camera need to be secured. The Mamiya version as a little lever that locks it in place. In any case there needs to be a housing for the contacts and wires to attach to that makes it rugged. This could be 3D printed or molded from epoxy putty. The pushbutton needs a similar arrangement of a housing.
Once you understand how this is done it is possible to imaging other arrangements such as wireless controls.
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