Why Camera Remotes are a Kitbag Essential

Camera? Check. Lens? Check. Remote release? This is why it deserves a place in your setup!

Let’s face it, on the surface of things camera remotes aren’t as exciting a purchase as that new lens or 45Mp shooting DSLR, but for almost all users, a modern remote deserves to be towards the top of their ‘to-buy’ list. In this article, we’ll explain how advanced units like the MIOPS Mobile Remote can help you to produce your best imagery yet, and why they truly leave the wired cable releases of old for dust.

We’ll begin by discussing arguably the most common reason that people buy a wireless camera remote rather than a cable release – freedom. Camera remotes not only allow you to trigger your camera’s shutter without touching it, minimizing the risk of blur-inducing shake in images (just like their wired cousins) but enable you to do so from a distance. For group shots of family and friends that you want to actually appear in, as well as for selfies, they’re essential.

However, that’s just a start to the benefits of being able to take photos wirelessly. For event, wedding and wildlife photographers, the ability to be able to leave a camera in a location and trigger it from distance at the perfect moment can be a priceless tool in the production of unique imagery. Whether you’re trying to grab shots of skittish animals that would flee if a human got too close, or want a second angle on that crucial moment at the touch of a button, wireless camera remotes are the perfect tool to help you realize the ultimate shot. While many CSCs and DSLR’s have WiFi built-in and have apps that sometimes claim to offer this basic triggering function, anyone who’s tried using them will know that their wireless connections can often lose stability beyond a meter or so, this is not a problem faced by the MIOPS Mobile Remote which has a huge stable range of up to 30m!

Exposure flexibility is another key reason that camera remotes are a kitbag essential. Many cameras only enable metered exposures of up to 30sec, with a ‘bulb’ setting for longer exposures that will only open the shutter for as long as the shutter button is held down. This method of triggering the camera is fairly impractical for the multiple minute exposures required by high strength ND filters, such as popular ten-stop ND’s often used for those ethereal landscape shots. Through the MIOPS smartphone application, you can not only set and trigger any shutter length you want remotely but also use the inbuilt Natural Density calculator to ensure perfect exposures when using ND filters. Classic Press and Hold, Press Release and Self-Timer options are also present for those who still prefer to use them on occasion.

Time-lapses are a brilliant way to show the passing of time or changes taking place in a scene, but not every camera has the functionality inbuilt to capture them. Many basic cabled releases also only allow you to capture one image at a time, meaning that to capture a set of images with which to produce them, you’re going to have to manually activate it again, and again, and again. Simplifying the whole process, the Mobile Remote’s smartphone app allows you to set how many frames you want to record, and the interval between them, before triggering the camera automatically for the perfect set of shots with the push of just one button. Not only that, but the application also allows for long-exposure time-lapses beyond the shutter speeds that cameras are normally capable of, and even more impressively HDR bracketed and bulb ramped captures. It’s never been so easy to produce that breathtaking time-lapse!

Uniquely, the MIOPS Mobile Remote can also be set to be triggered based on a number of environmental stimuli picked up by the mobile phone that it’s been wirelessly paired with. This is designed to help users capture those blink-and-miss-it moments just not possible through manually triggering the shutter. These include sound triggering for things like screaming, motion triggering for passing animals or athletes, and vibration triggering. Now not only can your camera remote be used to remotely activate your camera, but also to make those previously impossible captures fair game. You can even build scenarios within the app for your triggering so that if your device detects motion, a time-lapse is began! An additional shooting mode also allows you to have the remote trigger your camera upon a movement determined by GPS, ideal for the production of road lapses that show the route you drove to destinations or a walk you took to a location. Just select the distance you want to take an image at, say every 100m, and the Mobile Remote will ensure the camera is triggered every time you travel that far. This isn’t an accessory for just one basic function, but a creative tool which unlocks a whole load of new possibilities.

Now it’s all very well having a camera remote that boasts such an advanced set of features, but if it’s too complex to operate or too bulky, it’s probably going to get left at home. The Mobile Remote weighs only 136g and can fit in even the tightest of pockets at only 63mm at its longest dimension. With only one small cable to connect it to your camera and wireless connectivity to a smartphone, its setup takes mere seconds. Camera compatibility is almost universal with suitable cables available for all major camera brands (Sony, Nikon, Canon, Fuji etc.). With the advanced MIOPS app for android or apple smartphones, control of even the most complex settings is kept simple, intuitive and pleasingly visual. This is unlike even the best-wired releases where functionality is hidden away and requires fiddly menu navigation to control. Powered by a rechargeable battery, you won’t constantly be having to purchase AAA’s either! This all combines in a diminutive device, that has the potential to become one of the most important items in your bag while taking up less room than a spare battery.

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