Extending the Canon OCSC2 with a keyboard cable

The Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord #2 (OCSC2) is a great way to get E-TTL flashes away from the camera shoe, and can make for much more dramatic or flattering images. The problem is that the cord is only 2 feet long; enough for a flash bracket, but not long enough to get the flash truly off camera. I needed a cheap and easy way to extend it.

I do feel that I need to throw one caveat out. This worked for me, it may not for you. If you’re not willing to risk the cable, your camera, or flash, please don’t try this.

One solution is the Canon ST-E2 wireless transmitter. But, at over $200 this was a little overkill for what I wanted.

What I had done previously was to stack 3 OCSC2 cables together. While this got the length up to 6 feet, it was hacky. More importantly, I worried that it was putting extra stress on the connections.

So, I went out in search for a way to extend the cable in a way that was clean, and almost as importantly, cheap.

The Canon cable is a 5 lead with a ground, so we need a cable that is a close to that as possible. A trip to Lowes brought back a 7 lead wire intended for thermostats. Ultimately, this was the wrong cabling. The flash would fire, but it was at full strength every time. Back to the drawing board…

Leaning back in my chair with my keyboard in my lap it hit me. A keyboard cable has six wires, and they’re usually coiled like the OCSC2. A run to Office Depot and I came back with two 6 foot mini-din keyboard extension cables. They’re not coiled, but will serve the purpose. I was set to go again for $19.98 plus tax.

The first step is to get our tools and parts together. We need: wire cutter, wire strippers, x-acto knife, electrical tape, Canon OCSC2, and a keyboard extension cable.

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