Canon A640 ?'s

[Efliernz]

Thanks Hovernut

I went to the "turning of the first sod" celabration for a new school today. I have offered to give them a series of progressive shots as a portfolio builder/experience builder for me and as a contact builder too.
Excellent timing with local contactors, developers, designers and newspapers there. I had an instant offer for a business profile promotion from the paper and lots of ideas/contacts for work...

this is going to work... :glasses2:

How do i make it fit in with my full-time job... yes, i know the answer...

[Tonystott]

Just a couple of observations from our hacking of the A640 at the weekend, so I can operate it with the RC switch.

In order to release the safety strap loop, the top screw inside the AV/USB/DC ports compartment needs undoing. The camera top came off easily once we worked out the need to undo this additional screw 

On the A640, there is a small copper(y) part which fits around the shutter button between the circuit board and the camera top. We believe its purpose is to provide a tactile feel (and return tension) to the zoom lever. This fell out during disassembly (and gave is a shock as it was unexpected). Could this be the spring people hacking the A620 have mentioned? When correctly fitted, two small “horns” of this part come up on either side of the mounting lug at the front of the camera. Sorry we didn’t photograph this part. I suspect that the zoom lever will still work without this part, but not feel as positive.

We note that some of the photos show the circuit board totally removed from the top of the camera. This would seem to involve cutting the small wires to the speaker. We chose to work carefully from the underside of the circuit board so the speaker remained attached, as removing it and resoldering later would have been a real pain!

I chose to bring the two wires out of the top of the camera through the gap in the white plastic, between the safety strap loop and the shutter bezel, as the most direct path from the shutter switch, and we put a dab of silicone onto the wires to firmly locate them well clear of everything else.

Couldn’t agree more about this job being fiddly… we felt that using a magnifying glass was pretty-well mandatory (but then again we are both over 60 so our eyesight is probably shot )

It was a great relief when everything worked properly on reassembly…

[Efliernz]

I just received the camers. I haven't got my shutter sorted yet but I couldn't resist a 7 min video under the Trex600 around the park. Very nice... I think I will enjoy this :)

[bladebreaker]

Just got the camera and did the mod. It's nice when it works the first time! That never happens! Thanks for the tutorial GJestico.

Tip

[Cryofix]

question:

Is there a specific way to solder the wires, and on a traditional servo lead there is a black red and white, assuming black is ground and white is signal are these the 2 wires I attach and does it matter if one is attached to the far connector or the closer connector?

Also I have a small white part that came out it looks like a little plastic slide, does anyone know where this goes back in?

Thanks

[Cryofix]

never mind on the little white thing, it turned out to be the power LED cover.

[Tonystott]

question:

Is there a specific way to solder the wires, and on a traditional servo lead there is a black red and white, assuming black is ground and white is signal are these the 2 wires I attach and does it matter if one is attached to the far connector or the closer connector?

Also I have a small white part that came out it looks like a little plastic slide, does anyone know where this goes back in?

Thanks
Top right of this pic is detail on the contacts to use

[Cryofix]

Great Tony thanks!

so orange to shutter and black to common?