Mystery tool included with VHS camera?
 

I bought a broken VHS camera off eBay, and it came with an odd device.

I think this might be some kind of probe or calibration tool. It's about a foot or so long, and the syringe-like button can be depressed to push out a solid metal pin...probably to probe something with.

I have absolutely no idea what this guy is for. "Made in Japan" printed on it, possibly made by Panasonic?

Thanks for any help.

Ha, that Mon ami is a manual camera trigger.

Not seen one of those for a good long time. It's from an old film camera.

A Bowden cable that trips the shutter.

Thanks! I don't think I'd have ever figured it out on my own. Would've drove me crazy for a while trying to figure it out.

Did you buy that from Roswell NM by chance? :laugh:

I still have one in my film camera bag. Not used it in at least 20 years now. The release, not the camera. I'm still using those lenses*, and pull out that camera for nostalgia every few years. Clean it, inspect it, use it, then back in the bag. (*Canon FD lenses now fit the Nikon Z6 II via adapter, and the bokeh is dreamy. I really like those for tripod shots with DOF. So my least used lenses in recent decades are now some of my most used lenses.)

I actually got it in a lot from mgold2017 on eBay. It was buried at the bottom of the hard case.

FD lenses, bloody hell. I probably have some kicking about.

I still have a darkroom, I'm a Mamiya guy. I'm in to portraiture. I've not messed about with 35mm for decades, I should have a rummage in the loft.

Not just any random FD lens, of course, and not even necessarily Canon branded. For years, Canon ignored the FD, but in recent years it seems every brand wants to mount other-brand lenses. So there's some really nifty adapters out there, from cheap manual-only, to more expensive electronic contact crossover (some even allow autofocus on AF lenses). I bought the FD>Z adapter because it was $12 on eBay, and I'm glad I did. The specific lens I like most is a wide angle Sigma FD. Super crisp, even on a modern high MP camera! And that bokeh.

So if you have camera gear you don't want, now may be a good time to unload it. Not even necessarily for sale, but simply because this stuff was completely unwanted even just 5 years ago. You literally could not give away some of this stuff, and it'd languish on eBay until the seller just quit trying to sell it. But photographers new and old suddenly re-discovered some older format lenses. And I was one of them. I just happened to already own some, but most others do not.

I pulled out a film canister (with winding reel) recently, and asked some folks if they knew what it was. None did. I really don't miss the darkroom, who knows what damage I did to my lungs breathing all that crap in for so long.

Good for longer exposure times with the camera set on a tripod. The flexible cable allowed the operator to open and close the shutter without jolting the camera, avoiding image blur.

Common US term is a "shutter cable release" or "cable release." Allows depressing/activating the shutter on a camera with minimal shake of the camera body, especially for "bulb" exposures. Commonly used with still cameras and some film movie cameras. Not common for camcorders.

Most used a plunger and a cable similar as your image to extend the pin that activates the shutter, and some used an actual squeeze bulb and hose to use air pressure to extend the pin.

There were several types of attachment to the camera; the tapered thread as in your sample, was probably the most common. Modern cameras have moved to using IR remote controls, electrical leads and connectors, and/or WiFi/Blue Tooth controls.