Building your Camera trap box

So before you start, you have to consider what Pelicase and camera you have. if your using Nikons Entry level bodies. aka D3000, D5000 series then most likely your camera will fit with no issues as they are often the same size and I use the D5300 and its perfect. the reason I say this is that in my camera box I like to have enough room on the sides of my camera so I can access the memory card slot holder and I want the camera sensor cable to be full enclosed on the inside. if you have the option to look at a pelican case in person I would recommend taking your camera with you, with the cable installed, lens full extended, tripod plate and mount installed, memory card slot open and the flash transmitter on. In your idle situation your box will be able to enclose all this with a few centimetres to spare for wiggle room.

Stand and Mount installation

Now the next step is to install the stand and Arca swiss plate holder. This stage comes in hand in hand as the secure the stand/Ram mount I screwed the stand through the box and into a piece of wood; I then also mounted the Arca swiss to this piece of wood. Before fixing the stand to the box apply a generous amount of sealant/Sikaflex to the stand base and the screws. just another point of weakness now as you drilled through.

Lens/filter hole

now and only now can I determine where the hole for the lens will go, I chose to mount my camera on the plate, slide it forward and draw around my lens to determine where the middle was. my lens has a 52mm lens filter but as I don't always have the front of my lens flush to the front of the box I went for a 62mm filter to put on the front so that I don't get any obstructions in the corners of my image. I was lucky enough to have a 60mm hole saw already so I drilled my hole and used a Stanley knife to trim away till I could get my 62mm lens filter to screw on. if you want to do this part properly as well I would recommend getting some sealant. I used Sikaflex and its a great waterproof sealant and adhesive. I got a small amount out of the tube and used a paint brush to apply a layer to my lens filter thread and to the hole on the box and then screwed it on so I had a sealed hole with the lens filter; also an advantage of using a lens filter is that if one day this filter cracks or gets a scratch you can smash it and remove the glass and then screw a new filter straight onto the broken filter.

Lens hood

now you can leave it there if you wanted, but then you might run into an issue the first time it rains or there is a slight drizzle. your lens filter is uncovered and rain drops will collect on your filter. in my case I fitted a 5cm hood made out of a spare piece of guttering. to securely mount this I cut teeth into an end of the guttering and then holes into the pelicase that correspond with the teeth so they slot in. Again I used a good amount of Sikaflex to fix and waterproof the box.

Finishing touches

Now its just finishing touches. If you have gone for the wired version your going to need a hole for the wire to get out the box with. If you have chosen the Pelican case I recommended then this stage is simple; on the main part of the box there is a ridge that when the box is shut is pushed into the rubber seal. this is the perfect piece to cut into for your wire, As when the wire is in the hole you make and the box is sealed it will be pushed into the rubber seal and now watertight. Make sure you cut the hole smaller then the cable; needs to be a tight fit so no water can squeeze through.

I also using the pick and pluck foam made slots to hold the lens cap and camera body cap so they wont fall out and keeps everything together in the box.

A big bag of silica gel, for whatever reason moisture will inevitably make it into your box. silica gel will do its best to absorb as much moisture and stop any damage to your equipment or hopefully stop your lens fogging up inside.

next post will be much shorter as its the case I use for my flashes. much simpler and requires less equipment.