ARDUINO LIGHTNING CAMERA TRIGGER for EOS cameras

thingiverse

I wanted to capture lightning photos without keeping the shutter open for extended periods, and I stumbled upon a project that seemed to fit my needs. The project works with Nikon cameras and can be adapted for Canon with a minor modification. However, there was no case available, so I designed one myself using an Arduino Nano and a 9V battery. It's essential to connect the 9V battery to pin 30, marked as VIN on the board, as connecting it to any other pin will result in damage to the board. If you're planning to use this with Canon cameras, replace the octocoupler with PC817 due to lower resistance requirements. To my design, I added two 3mm LEDs - one serves as a power indicator, while the second lights up when the trigger detects lightning. These LEDs utilize 330ohm resistors. The power switch is a simple rocker switch measuring approximately 18mm x 11mm, give or take 1mm. The lid slides on and off, and on the base, there's an optional hole for inserting a helicoil in case you plan to use this on a separate tripod; however, attaching a shoe mount would likely be more suitable (you can find several options on Thingiverse). On the linked project page, there are three circuits, but I chose the last one, which employs a 10k potentiometer for adjusting sensitivity. The link to the original project is located here: https://www.the-diy-life.com/arduino-lightning-camera-trigger