Sony DSC-S40 - Cyber-shot Digital Still Camera User manual

How to hardwire the Sony DSC-S40 Digital Camera
Copyright, PixController http://www.PixController.com, all rights reserved.
This document covers in detail how to modify the Sony DSC-S40 digital camera for remote shutter control from the
PixController Universal or LE camera control board. Please see http://www.pixcontroller.com or email
[e-mail] for more information.
Please note that if you make this modification to your Sony camera that you will void your
camera’s warranty. This modification can also result in damage to your digital camera if
you do not follow the instructions properly.
Tools/Parts Needed
1. 2.4 mm #0 Philips Screwdriver & Small Flat Blade Screwdriver.
2. Fine tipped soldering iron with heat control.
3. 30 Gauge wire. Wire Wrap type wire can be purchased from your local Radio Shack store. Find one of the 3
part numbers: 278-501, 278-502, 278-503. They come in a spool of 50 feet of wire for $2.99
4. Small tweezers.
5. Flat blade screw driver or knife.
6. Sony DSC-S40 flat flex cable from Nature-Qwest, LLC., or purchase the Universal or LE Sony S40 kit.
7. PixController Universal board with Sony S40-U PIC chip, or LE board with LE II PIC chip

Remove batteries and media card
Before starting your project be sure to remove the
2 AA internal batteries and the Media Card.
Remove the 2 AA batteries and Media Card
Remove the camera case screws
Remove all 3 screws from the camera case. Be sure to
place the screws in a safe place while modifying the
camera.
Remove screws 1,and 2 from the bottom of the camera case.
Note, screw 2 is under the memory card door.
Remove screw 3 from the right side of the case.

Remove the case
Carefully remove the back of the camera case from
the camera exposing the interior electronics, Figure
1.
Next, remove the front of the camera case, Figure 2.
This is a little harder to remove, but take your time
and unsnap all of the hinges. The front of the case
will be attached with a small ribbon cable, so take
care as not to handle this too hard or damage the
ribbon cable.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Prep the S40 Shutter Assembly Cable
You must use the S40 Shutter Assembly Cable in
order to modify this digital camera. The solder
contacts are too small even for the most skilled
technician to handle.
You must add 2 small gauge wires to the cable
before you start. Add the wires to the solder points
shown in Figure 3. In our example we added a Red
wire to the solder pad “P” for Power on/off, and Blue
to solder pad “S” for shutter.
Sony S40 Shutter Assembly cable from Nature Qwest, LLC.
Figure 3

Insert the Shutter Assembly Cable
The next step is to insert the S40 Shutter
Assembly cable into the shutter connector.
Locate the shutter connector shown in Figure
4. Using a small pair to tweezers with smooth
jaws carefully remove the cable from this
connector. Carefully grab the base of the
ribbon cable and take your time to remove
this cable.
Next insert the S40 Shutter cable, which will
be sandwiched in with the current cable.
Insert the cable in the orientation as shown in
Figure 5. Be sure to align the properly and
use your tweezers to push both cables into
the connector.
Once inserted add a small piece of electrical
tape to keep the cable in place as shown in
figure 6.
Figure 4
Figure 5

Figure 6
Attach the ground wire
Next attach the ground wire, which is a small gauge
wire, and in our example we added a black wire. This
wire is soldered to one of the UBS hood solder pads
on the back of the camera near the LCD display.
Figure 7 shows the exact location.
The modification is now complete. You can drill a
small hole in the Tripod connector and run the 3
wires, Power, Shutter, and Ground through this
location, or add any connector you wish. We leave
this design up to the user.
Figure 7
Route the cable through the tripod connector

Re-attach case and replace the screws
Once you are complete with this process place
the camera case back together and replace the
camera case screws.
Attaching the Sony S40 to the PixController LE
Board and Universal Board
1. Wiring your S40 camera to the PixController LE
board.
Connect the following wires to your LE board:
Shutter – Shutter on LE, J2-1
Ground – Ground on LE, J2-2
Power – Refresh on LE, J2-3
Last, remove the R17 resistor from the LE board,
see: http://www.pixcontroller.com/PixLE
/PixLE_ResistorRemoval.htm
2. Wiring your S40 camera to the PixController
Universal board.
Connect the following wires to your Universal
board:
Shutter – Shutter, J14-1, or Phone Cable Shutter
Wire
Ground – Ground, J14-7, or Phone Cable Ground
Wire
Power – Power, J14-3, or Phone Cable Power
Wire
PixController LE Camera Port Diagram
PixController Universal Camera Port Diagram

PixController Universal Phone Port
Completed Modification

Zoom Lens issue
Because of the zoom lens on the Sony S40 this
can be an issue to get a good seal between the
camera lens and the case as to not get flash
bleed during night photos.
Figure 8 shows a simple solution to this problem
by adding 3 of the Large Flash Masking
Washers sold on the www.pixcontorller.com web
site under the camera accessories. These 3
washers can be easily glued together using
Marine GOOP.
Figure 8
Copyright
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, PixController http://www.PixController.com, all rights reserved.
8/20/05