[Don Hoey]

With guests departed and a Steam rally attended it was time to return to the cable release project. Completed today but I ran out of paint, hence only the milled sections are black.

The Mk2 overcomes a number of deficiencies in the Mk1. Operating the lower shutter button on the vertical grip gives total access to all controls.

The base is made from two pieces of 6 x 50mm steel, silver soldered, with sections milled out to reduce weight. Recessing the camera mounting screw allows the tripod mounting to be closer to the camera centre line. A capsule had to be made to contain a spring loaded shutter actuating plunger that would return to a standing position when not activated. The only really soft spring I could find was from an old ballpen, and the spring length determined the length of the capsule. Apart from the screws and soft tip all the materials are scrap. The plunger soft tip is a kitchen drawer buffer. The end of the capsule is turned to 10mm to fit the retaining block. This allows the Nikon AR-2 release to be used if a timed exposure is required, as that has a built in lock. The vertical retaining block is shaped, as is the baseplate to allow comfortable normal hand holding of the camera with the assembly attatched.

Total weight is 350 grams. I could reduce that futher by milling out more from the base. The D2X with this attached is still 300grams lighter than my F2/MD2.

If I find a shorter soft spring I may remake the capsule to reduce the overhang, but other than that I am quite happy and will probably cancel the MC30.

Don