Inside the ML-L3 remote

I opened up the Nikon ML-L3 wireless camera remote to see if it was possible to rig it up as a wired remote. I'll warn you right up front that there's a chance you'll destroy your ML-L3 if you aren't careful and as rare as they are maybe you should think twice before doing something like this.

The first thing I found is that there are no visible screws or other means of opening the remote. Instead, to get inside you need to gently peel off the thick plastic decal overlaying the top.

I peeled the bottom half up, found two small screws, removed them and then assumed that that was it and tried to pull it apart. Turns out there's a third screw at the top and the printed circuit board (PCB) breaks pretty easy. Don't do that. Peel the whole decal off, gently, and set it off to the side where it won't get dirty. If you break the circuit board like I did you'll have more soldering to do.

On the other side of the circuit board are some electronic parts, including the translucent white IR LED at the tip. There's one integrated circuit, which takes care of generating all of the IR signals sent to the camera.

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