USB type for older Olympus cameras?

Hey all,

I'm trying to connect a remote shutter release to my E-PL6 and have it all fit inside the PT-EP10 underwater housing. The standard USB to 2.5mm cable that came with the remote trigger doesn't fit within the small space in the interior of the UW housing, so I was looking for an angled connector.

I thought that the type is mini USB 'b', and purchased an angled mini USB 'b' adapter, but it can't be inserted into the E-PL6. Does anyone know what kind of USB is used for older cameras like the E-PL6, E-M5 etc.?

I own many compatible cables, but they all have 'straight' male ends and I am looking for one with an angled or more compact male end.

faunagraphy wrote:

Hey all,

I'm trying to connect a remote shutter release to my E-PL6 and have it all fit inside the PT-EP10 underwater housing. The standard USB to 2.5mm cable that came with the remote trigger doesn't fit within the small space in the interior of the UW housing, so I was looking for an angled connector.

I thought that the type is mini USB 'b', and purchased an angled mini USB 'b' adapter, but it can't be inserted into the E-PL6. Does anyone know what kind of USB is used for older cameras like the E-PL6, E-M5 etc.?

I own many compatible cables, but they all have 'straight' male ends and I am looking for one with an angled or more compact male end.

It isn't a standard USB cable.  It is/was specific to many Olympus cameras and it had 12 pins.  The cable includes pins for USB, shutter release, analog video out, analog mono sound out, and on non-micro 4/3rds cameras, power delivery to charge the batteries).  The Olympus shutter release cable is the RM-UC1.

Here is a web site that shows the pin-out cables for various shutter release cables:

• http://www.doc-diy.net/photo/remote_pinout/

Note, the E-m1 mark II/III, E-m5 mark III, E-m1x, and OM-1 now use a 3 pin 2.5mm cable with the same pinout as many Canon cameras.

Many of the shutter releases that work with multiple bodies use something like a 2.5mm or 3.5mm audio cable for connecting to the camera.  You can buy cables that plug into these shutter releases, and connect to the older Olympus cameras.

Peter 1745 wrote:

faunagraphy wrote:

Hey all,

I'm trying to connect a remote shutter release to my E-PL6 and have it all fit inside the PT-EP10 underwater housing. The standard USB to 2.5mm cable that came with the remote trigger doesn't fit within the small space in the interior of the UW housing, so I was looking for an angled connector.

I thought that the type is mini USB 'b', and purchased an angled mini USB 'b' adapter, but it can't be inserted into the E-PL6. Does anyone know what kind of USB is used for older cameras like the E-PL6, E-M5 etc.?

I own many compatible cables, but they all have 'straight' male ends and I am looking for one with an angled or more compact male end.

"JJC cable J", which is readily available on the internet, has the Olympus proprietary connector on one end and a 2.5mm jack on the other. It is wired up so that it works with remote shutters.

I've never seen a right angled proprietary Olympus connector and have never been able to source a straight Olympus connector in a raw, unwired state. The only way to get the straight connector is as part of a prewired cable.

If you need the connector to be smaller, then you will have to cut down a straight connector. For use inside a UW housing a large part of the connectors rubber form is probably redundant anyway.

Thank you all! So it is as I feared - a proprietary cable. That means that I will need to strip down one of the existing cables and make my own. Luckily I've collected many of them (OEM and third-party) over the years.

My intent is to get some wide angle above/underwater shots of water birds, aquatic rodents etc. who I cannot approach while holding the camera, even if I were to use an inconvenient $1000 water hide (which I'm not going to). Hopefully after making this cable, the RC signal will be strong enough to pass through the UW housing. I'll share updates here as I work through it.

Peter 1745 wrote:

I've never seen a right angled proprietary Olympus connector and have never been able to source a straight Olympus connector in a raw, unwired state. The only way to get the straight connector is as part of a prewired cable.

A few years back, I found a source of naked, Olympus-like 12-pin connectors. Unfortunately, they were poor copies of the original: I was unimpressed with the contact plating and springiness. So like others before me, I have been cannibalizing the connector shells from (Olympus) data transfer cables and (Hama) remote shutter releases. I use a microscope and a precision xyz third arm to tack-solder 0,14mm^2 wires to the fairly small connector tangs. I then pot the wired shells in MS Polymer adhesive which does not stress or corrode the wires.

faunagraphy wrote:

Thank you all! So it is as I feared - a proprietary cable. That means that I will need to strip down one of the existing cables and make my own. Luckily I've collected many of them (OEM and third-party) over the years.

My intent is to get some wide angle above/underwater shots of water birds, aquatic rodents etc. who I cannot approach while holding the camera, even if I were to use an inconvenient $1000 water hide (which I'm not going to). Hopefully after making this cable, the RC signal will be strong enough to pass through the UW housing. I'll share updates here as I work through it.

As I mentioned in your similar post on the mu43.com forum, another thought is to use the OIShare app on an android/apple smart phone to use the remote shutter function (or the live view with remote control). It depends on how well wifi radio waves go through water and your UW housing, but it might be simple to try if it works.

Note, the really old cameras did not support Wifi, and a few cameras do not support a shutter release.  Unfortunately, the E-PL6 looks like it does not support OIShare or wifi.  The follow-on camera (E-PL7) did support it.

Michael Meissner wrote:

faunagraphy wrote:

Thank you all! So it is as I feared - a proprietary cable. That means that I will need to strip down one of the existing cables and make my own. Luckily I've collected many of them (OEM and third-party) over the years.

My intent is to get some wide angle above/underwater shots of water birds, aquatic rodents etc. who I cannot approach while holding the camera, even if I were to use an inconvenient $1000 water hide (which I'm not going to). Hopefully after making this cable, the RC signal will be strong enough to pass through the UW housing. I'll share updates here as I work through it.

As I mentioned in your similar post on the mu43.com forum, another thought is to use the OIShare app on an android/apple smart phone to use the remote shutter function (or the live view with remote control). It depends on how well wifi radio waves go through water and your UW housing, but it might be simple to try if it works.

Note, the really old cameras did not support Wifi, and a few cameras do not support a shutter release. Unfortunately, the E-PL6 looks like it does not support OIShare or wifi. The follow-on camera (E-PL7) did support it.

Thanks! That was my first thought (the UW housing would be partially exposed to air for the above/under shot so signals should pass through) but unfortunately the E-PL6 does not have Wifi / Bluetooth so I cannot use it with the OI Share app.

Worst case scenario (throwing money at the problem) I could buy a smaller camera like the GM1 or GM5 - mismatched housing controls won't be a problem since I'll be firing it remotely anyway ... but I'll try to make my own compact connector instead.

faunagraphy wrote:

Thanks! That was my first thought (the UW housing would be partially exposed to air for the above/under shot so signals should pass through) but unfortunately the E-PL6 does not have Wifi / Bluetooth so I cannot use it with the OI Share app.

Worst case scenario (throwing money at the problem) I could buy a smaller camera like the GM1 or GM5 - mismatched housing controls won't be a problem since I'll be firing it remotely anyway ... but I'll try to make my own compact connector instead.

Well another wild thought if you are into hobby electronics to make a device that controls a servo that presses the shutter button.

The first two videos uses a wired button.

The third video goes to the next level and adds radio control.

The fourth site is 'remoteall' which is an (expensive) commercial product that controls a servo to press the shutter via infra-red (presumably you could use a fiberglass cable as a light pipe):

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbE5kV2i57w
• https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/jkiiski/electronic-shutter-control-for-pinhole-camera-57dc13
• https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/wireless-controlled-shutter-button-for-dslr-using-arduino-and-nrf24l01
• http://bymac.org/new/photography/17-remote-all-remote-control-any-camera.html

Michael Meissner wrote:

faunagraphy wrote:

Thanks! That was my first thought (the UW housing would be partially exposed to air for the above/under shot so signals should pass through) but unfortunately the E-PL6 does not have Wifi / Bluetooth so I cannot use it with the OI Share app.

Worst case scenario (throwing money at the problem) I could buy a smaller camera like the GM1 or GM5 - mismatched housing controls won't be a problem since I'll be firing it remotely anyway ... but I'll try to make my own compact connector instead.

Well another wild thought if you are into hobby electronics to make a device that controls a servo that presses the shutter button.

The first two videos uses a wired button.

The third video goes to the next level and adds radio control.

The fourth site is 'remoteall' which is an (expensive) commercial product that controls a servo to press the shutter via infra-red (presumably you could use a fiberglass cable as a light pipe):

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbE5kV2i57w
• https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/jkiiski/electronic-shutter-control-for-pinhole-camera-57dc13
• https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/wireless-controlled-shutter-button-for-dslr-using-arduino-and-nrf24l01
• http://bymac.org/new/photography/17-remote-all-remote-control-any-camera.html

Hi again, Michael. These are incredibly useful resources. I am very grateful - thank you! I will watch these over the weekend and try making the shutter release - I have a few servos and Arduinos lying around.

faunagraphy wrote:

Hi again, Michael. These are incredibly useful resources. I am very grateful - thank you! I will watch these over the weekend and try making the shutter release - I have a few servos and Arduinos lying around.

Another thought if you can pass a normal cable and not just an electronic port through the UW case is to get a shutter release for a film camera with a long cable.  Using some things like hook & loop (i.e. Velcro [tm]) fabric, and some scrap wood or modeling clay you might be able to fashion an attachment for a normal shutter release that sits on top of the shutter button.  I did this for an E-P2 back in the past.

• Manual shutter release for E-P2 #1
• Manual shutter release for E-P2 #2
• Steampunk-ified E-P2 with shutter release
• Kalt Air Shutter release (20') at B & H