Disassembly of DP1m - TOP PLATE

REMOVAL OF TOP PLATE

Now only two small screws remain, that hold the top plate into position. These are under the hotshoe plate, all the way forward, against the front of the camera. Now your small screwdriver needs some reach.

This is a L-R stereoview showing the two screws deep inside the camera, that hold the top plate.

Then we need to disconnect a data cable and a two-wire plug marked “mic” that goes to the microphone.

Data cable hinged connector binding.

"MIC" wire connector removal.  Loosen up with small screwdriver, then grab with small needle-nose pliers.

Finally: top plate out.  But we seem still a thousand miles from our goal.

With the top plate circuit board out, we can now meter various points to find a connection to the shutter circuit. Initial metering efforts reveal three points that react to shutter button depression, as follows:

I clamped onto the side of board to connect to ground

Bottom of the top plate circuit board.  Readings are in Ohms

Evidently contact no. 2 signals the half-press, and no. 1 the full press (shutter release).  But I'm concerned that the values are not zero resistance.  I must now research if shorting e.g. contact no. 1 to ground would actually release the shutter, or trash the camera!

I may disassemble the top plate further, if it is found that these contact will not provide me the necessary functionality. However, I am not hopeful about connecting to the switch directly. Surrounding the shutter switch on the top of this circuit board (picture shows the bottom of the circuit board) is a circular conducting “race” that is swept by an electrical contact attached to the dial which surrounds the shutter button. Thus it will not be possible to attach a wire to the switch directly, unless we had it come out of the camera through the shutter button itself (an exceedingly unattractive solution).