DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

How to make a DIY foot pedal remote shutter release

Jan 31, 2019 by Andy Noggle 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

I have been looking into shooting other sports outside of the motorsport world and I have been particularly interested in soccer, basketball, and baseball. After doing some research, I found that some sports shooters covering these type of events use different remote trigger setups such as foot pedals and cable release buttons. When I setup remotes, I usually have the PocketWizard with me, and one mounted to the remote camera and I press the test button on the PocketWizard to fire the remote camera. But these guys take it a step further and use something like what I am about to show you to have complete control over your remote cameras while still having two hands on your main camera.

Here are the steps I took to build my foot pedal remote shutter release, I also included links to the products I used.

Items Needed:

  • 2x PocketWizard PlusX or Plus III
  • 1x Sustain Pedal
  • 1x Shutter Release Cable with Pre-Release Switch (For NIkon I have been using this one for years, it works great!)
  • 1x 3.5mm to 6.3mm (1/8 to 1/4) Stereo Audio Jack Adapter

Once you have the parts together, assembly and testing is pretty easy.

Connect the Sustain Pedal to the 3.5mm to 6.3mm Adapter

Connect the Adapter to the first PocketWizard. You can use an extension cable like this one if you need more reach, but the pedal comes with a good length of cable.

Connect the Shutter Release Cable to the second PocketWizard

Finished Product

Connect the shutter release cable to the camera, and test it out! (Excuse the cell phone video)

In testing I did notice that when pressing the foot pedal, it instantly fires the camera, but when releasing the pedal, it does take a second or so to stop firing. This is probably for the best, so you don’t miss the shot when first firing the camera.

This setup is extremely useful for shooting from the sideline such as soccer, basketball, or baseball. Also, if you swap in a Female to Female adapter you can connect it directly to your camera without the PocketWizard. This is useful for shooting DIY projects or time lapse flat-lays as it lets you use both hands. It lets you start or stop the video or fire the shutter without reaching up to the camera between each step.

I hope you enjoyed this DIY Project! I will try to post more as they come along.

About the Author

Andy Noggle is a professional commercial and automotive photographer, and the owner of NoggsPhotography.  He is a member of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and a Volunteer Photographer at the Monona Community Festival. You can follow Andy’s work on his Instagram and Facebook, and read his articles on his blog. This article was also published here and shared with permission.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

how to start and stop video recording using a remote shutter releaseHow To Use A Remote Shutter Release to Start and Stop Video Recording on Your Nikon Camera Godox officially launches the V860III with modelling light, V1 battery, quick release foot and more Default ThumbnailDIY Oral Autofocus & Shutter Release Default ThumbnailCalling All Agents: Kilometers Long Remote Camera Shutter Trigger

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Andy Noggle, DIY foot pedal shutter remote, diy photography gear, DIY project

« Blackmagic has released 8 solid hours of video training for DaVinci Resolve
Bowens is back from the dead, and they’ve brought a 500Ws Lithium Ion powered TTL strobe with them »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Sony teases upcoming ZV-E1 full-frame vlogging camera coming on March 29
  • The Xencelabs Pen Display 24 is silent, glare-free retouching tablet
  • Fall in love with astrophotography with these 10 space objects
  • Hipstamatic app relaunches as a social network, but only for iOS
  • Instagram now has ads even in search results. Sigh

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy