For under $25, you can make your own infrared timelapse remote for Canon cameras

If you have an infrared-equipped Canon camera and some do-it-yourself electrical and software development skills, you can build a fully-functional infrared timelapse remote for around US$25. Ilya Titov took an Attiny Arcade Kit and turned it into a small, wireless remote trigger, complete with an OLED display.

The device relies on an Arduino, the Atmel Attiny85 chip. If you aren’t familiar with Arduino, it is basically an open-source electronics platform. The idea is to provide developers the ability to easily make interactive electronic tools using relatively simple physical products and open-source code.

In addition to being able to function like a standard infrared remote, Titov’s creation allows the user to set delay and interval while also providing timelapse functionality. In the below, you can see Titov changing different settings on the remote and triggering his camera.

If you want to make your own device, you can purchase the kit here and download the code here. If you’d prefer to go with a simple keychain remote trigger, Ilya Titov also made this clever, compact Canon-compatible infrared trigger.

You may recall that we covered an Arduino-powered photographic solution before. Photographer Steve Giralt used Arduino controllers for robotic arms during a food shot. It's impressive what can be accomplished with relatively simple and affordable hardware and software. If you're interested in seeing more Arduino-based solutions for photography, you can check out a cool high-speed photography setup built on the Arduino platform here.

(Seen via DIY Photography)