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DSLR cameras capture incredible photos, and they can store thousands of images on a micro SD card no bigger than a fingernail. Modern smartphone cameras can take and save high-quality images as well, but users can’t select the appropriate lens for a situation and control the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO setting directly. Features like these give skilled DSLR users the ability to set up a shot to their exact specifications. These cameras are also compatible with a wide variety of accessories like intervalometers, which release the camera’s shutter at controlled intervals.

If you’ve ever seen a video with stars moving across the night sky, or a seed germinating and growing into a young plant, then you have seen an intervalometer in action. This style of photography is called time-lapse. Still images taken from a DSLR and intervalometer can be imported into video editing programs to make stunning time-lapse videos.

On many cameras, a versatile 2.5 mm stereo jack forms the intervalometer interface, with plug sections corresponding to ground (base), auto-focus (middle/ring), and shutter release (tip). To remotely trigger the device, the photographer connects the camera’s ground to the shutter release. These cameras provide the perfect platform for hacking with an Arduino or similar dev board. We successfully tested our Arduino Nano intervalometer on a Canon T2i DSLR, but we’re confident that this device would pair easily with many other DSLRs.”

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