Review Vello wireless shutterboss
Sometimes a product needs a long review, and sometimes it doesn’t.
To be 100% honest I never owned a remote trigger before, well actually that is not true I do own the very simple one from Canon with a wire, but never really used it, I always used the timer remote if I needed it, so when I saw this remote at first I was a bit in doubt… will I really use it? well the answer is yes. (by the way, this remote is also available for other cameras)
Shooting images is great, however can sometimes also be frustrating or simply put a “drag”.
Let’s say you have a beautiful skyline you want to shoot, but you want to make sure there is no vibration in your images, when you press the shutter you will always have some form of movement, you could of course use the timer but than you have to wait for 3-10 seconds and sometimes you just want instant results or more. In a few sample cases I will describe what I do with the remote (or can do).
The remote combination itself is nicely designed.
The unit that’s mounted on the camera is nice and small and the remote you use yourself is nicely fitting my hand, the display is clear and also can be used in the dark thanks to a backlight option. The main unit is powered by 2 AAA batteries, the unit on the camera uses a CR2 battery, these cannot be bought in every location so make sure to get a few of those when traveling. I did not run out of mine but I’m always paranoid when it comes to batteries to be honest.
The group/selfportrait
Every year with christmas (or news year eve) we make a family photo next to our christmas tree.
Up until now this was not as easy as it sounds, try to get 5-6 people to look right and in the camera, all these years I have been doing it with the timer, meaning I set the timer, had to run to get into the picture, wait for the flash, run back and see the image (dealing with a son who wants to go play but has to stay), not satisfied 100%, so set the timer again, run (break my neck, run back to the camera etc.) well you get the idea. With the wireless remote it’s now very simple. I prefocus the camera on manual (lock the focus on the lens), take the remote with me and just press the button a few times and what did take us 15-20 minutes to get 100% right is now done in a minute, and somehow everybody looks much happier in the final shots 😀
Sports
Maybe you don’t think about sports when reviewing a wireless remote but for me this opens a lot of options (and not only for sports), because the unit is wireless it’s possible to place my camera for example in the goal post (well …… somewhere where I’m sure it’s safe that is) and trigger the camera from a “safe” distance. Use an extreme wide angle and you can get some cool shots.
Cool shots
Going further with the sports example, how about placing the camera inside a drum kit, under the stairs (no don’t think bad things boys), in the car etc. etc. because you can now fire the camera wireless a lot of creative ideas are now possible, again couple it with a wide angle and small aperture to make sure the focus is where you want it (everywhere) and you can get some really cool shots. I’m sure I’m gonna play with that in the coming months a lot more.
Time laps
I never really did this because it was way too much work, setup the laptop (and make sure it kept working) and program the time. With the wireless remote control this is a breeze. Just program the intervals and the remote will trigger the camera, nothing more to it, just make sure the battery is full. Edit the images in your favorite program and you can create some great time laps videos.
Beyond bulb
If 30 seconds is not enough, you could go for the bulb mode, but why not just let the remote control it and be very precise?
Multi exposure
Of course the remote also lets you take multi exposures with one shot, you could combine this with the HDR option in your camera and get some really nice HDRs while remote triggering your camera.
As you can see there are a lot of options that are opening up with the wireless remote, and I just probably scratched the surface. The last few weeks I’ve been trying some simple setups with the remote and got really enthusiastic, that’s why I posted the review actually before the results 🙂 I just wanted to share this as soon as possible. I hear you ask…. “well it will be expensive right?” well actually that’s where the fun kicks in, no…. I’ve looked at some of the fancy remotes in the past and simply put was not willing to pay those amounts of money for it, and the “cheaper” ones were nothing more than remotes.
B&H sells the Vello Wireless ShutterBoss Timer Remote (Canon 3-Pin Connection) for $99.50 which in my opinion is a bargain for what you get, but Vello has a lot more cool “gadgets” and tools. More from Vello at this link
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Thanks for the review!! BH sells it for 69$ now.. I already have the basic wired remote, but always wanted a wireless for many of the reasons you explained. My only concern with wireless remote is that you won’t ever be able to use a flash. Taking a group picture in a low light room by example would be tricky.. ok guys.. “don’t move for 25seconds” 🙂
Great review.
I don’t think it needs to be in the hotshoe, because it used the cable port, but I could be wrong.
Correct. The unit doesn’t need to be in the flash shoe, its usually placed in there in promo pics because it looks stable and cool! You can mount it on your tripod or even leave it dangling on the side (not recommended). In short, as long as the cable with the right connector is in the right slot, you’re fine.
I have the Pixel version for a 10-pin Nikon. The receiver is tiny, and I use one of those elastic hair ties through the strap lug on my D800. Just feed the tie through the lug and loop it, then stick the receiver in that.
Another thing I tried was to put a cold shoe adapter on the receiver, then stick velcro to the back of the adapter. This let me put the receiver on the grip of my tripod head, which is more secure, but gets in the way of using the trigger grip.
Both of these options leave the hot shoe available. I use this setup with radio triggers (my current profile pic was shot this way).
Vello is most likely a rebranded Pixel remote, which looks exactly the same. And its build quality is very sub-par, compared to Phottix Aion. Worst thing about both Pixel and Phottix ones is that you have to pack them carefully, or they’ll occasionally turn themselves on in a bag, and you’ll be out of either CR2 (in case of Pixel) or a couple of AAA batteries (Phottix).
Could be, never looked at those
Thanks for the tip.