In praise of a $15 wireless remote for the 30D (and 20D and 40D)

I've been looking for a wireless remote for my 30D. Canon offers the LC-5, but

being neither rich nor, well, rich, I couldn't justify the selling price tag of

$370 for the remote.

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Then I came across references to some third-party wireless remotes on a

different photo forum, and after much reading and cross-checking, decided on an

Aputure Wireless Remote C3 from an eBay vendor, Link-Delight, in Hong Kong. The

remote itself cost $15, and airmail shipping to the US was another $12 (it looks

like Adorama sells the identical remote for around $85). The remote arrived

last Friday, and over the weekend I tested it out to see how well it worked.

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Both the transmitter and the receiver are very compact. Both of them

side-by-side would fit on a business card. The receiver plugs into the remote

port on the side of the camera, and both the receiver and the transmitter have

four dip switches so that you have a choice of 16 radio frequency channels to

choose from. In theory, this also means you can control multiple cameras with a

single transmitter, by setting them all on the same channel. I only bought one

myself, so obviously I haven't tested this feature.

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The receiver uses two AAA batteries, and the transmitter uses one 12-volt 23A

battery, which Amazon.com sells for $3 a pop. The working range is claimed to

be up to 40 meters (~120 feet), which is shorter than the Canon LC-5's 100

meters (~300 feet), but hey, this unit also costs 1/25th of the Canon remote.

I've tested it up to about 20 meters (~60 feet), but haven't had the occasion to

test the maximum range, yet.

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So over the weekend I set up my 30D with the Sigma 70-300mm DG APO telephoto

lens, and aimed the lens at my backyard bird feeder and waited for some finches

to come by. The tripod was placed about three feet from the bird feeder, and at

the maximum zoom of 300mm, I could only get about 1/2 of the body in the frame.

The camera was mounted on a tripod for all shots.

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Here's the setup:

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<p align="center"><img

src="http://www.ptvavm.com/reviews/2008-04-06_30D-birds/2008-04-06_TZ5_00360.jpg">

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The next five shots show various head-shots of a few finches. The images are

all 1000x750 pixels, so depending on how your web browser is set up and your

desktop screen resolution, it may automatically resize the images down to fit to

the screen.

 

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<a

href="http://www.ptvavm.com/reviews/2008-04-06_30D-birds/2008-04-06_30D_20760.jpg">ISO

200, f/11, 1/160 sec, 300mm (480mm equivalent)</a href>

 

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<a

href="http://www.ptvavm.com/reviews/2008-04-06_30D-birds/2008-04-06_30D_20760_100percent-crop.jpg">100%

crop of the image above</a href>

 

<p>

<a

href="http://www.ptvavm.com/reviews/2008-04-06_30D-birds/2008-04-06_30D_20757.jpg">ISO

200, f/11, 1/200 sec, 300mm</a href>

 

<p>

<a

href="http://www.ptvavm.com/reviews/2008-04-06_30D-birds/2008-04-06_30D_20783.jpg">ISO

200, f/11, 1/160 sec, 300mm</a href>

 

<p>

<a

href="http://www.ptvavm.com/reviews/2008-04-06_30D-birds/2008-04-06_30D_20793.jpg">ISO

200, f/11, 1/125 sec, 300mm</a href>

 

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The cheap wireless remote has really opened up some neat possibilities for the

neighborhood "wildlife" shooting. Not bad at all for $15!

I've been pretty happy with a few things I got from link-delight as well... Cokin-style P holder w/ 77mm adaptor, vertical grip for my XT backup camera, those cactus flash triggers, and CF cards.

 

Some people might slam aftermarket HK ripoffs.. But i've had quite a bit of luck with the stuff so far, and it's left a whole lot of money in my bank account for important things... like lenses and flashes.

Thanks for the report. I've been considering one of these for a while, but had not idea which

one to pick. The forum here only has a few posts which name specific products. I'm gonna

go buy one of these.

I'm sure that last finch is thinking "Huh, he can only afford a cheap wireless remote!"

 

(nice solution, nice lens, nice images)

Interesting post Hyun. The idea of being able to fire my 400D and 300X simultaneously is appealing. Maybe a silly question, but is there any hint of lag when firing it?

Just noticed you're using a 30D. I wonder if its the same remote for a 400D.

>>I'm sure that last finch is thinking "Huh, he can only afford a cheap wireless remote!"

 

No, I'm pretty sure he was thinking, "that black camera needs a dash of color--I think I will poop on it." Fortunately, he flew away before acting on this thought. :-)

HI Anthony,

 

Lucky you (and me, as I have a 300D and soon-to-arrive 450D), Canon sells RC-1 remote that works with the 400D for only about $20-25. The range is only about 16 feet (~5 meters), though.

"is there any hint of lag when firing it?"

 

Not that I noticed (other than the usual focusing delay). Both the transmitter and the receiver have a led light that turns green when you half-press the button and the focus lock is achieved. Then it turns red when you fire the trigger.

Ahh yes, of course an RC-1 - I used to have one years ago when I had an EOS 10s. I didnt know it was compatible with a 400D. Wish I hadn't given it away now!

 

I have a vague memory I needed to be in *front* of the camera when using it though - or did I dream that?!

Can you use the device to change any of the camera settings?

Anthony,

 

If I recall correctly, the RC-1 is an infrared device, so yes, I think you need to be able to see the infrared receptor on the camera. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

The Aputure wireless remote is a radio device, so you can fire it from any angle, as long as you have a clear line of sight to the receiver. It works through a glass window, too.

 

Ben,

 

No, the Aputure remote is only for duplicating half-press and full pressing of the shutter.

I bought the wired and wireless one on ebay and they work good.

 

They get quirky once in a while.

 

I wish I had bought the wireless one that had the wrist strap.

Didn't realize until after that it was optional.

 

I can use my wireless one from anywhere in the house with the antenna down on the transmitter...

 

-Mario

I bought the same item last year thinking it would not work, but for $15, no big loss. The biggest problem I had, was picking the item from the post-office. The local Post office in my neighborhood closed for renovations, so overseas shipping items were kept at another post office. Unfortunately, nobody knew which one. Any way, the item works great I used it a number of times with no problems, so far.

Anthony & Hyun, yes you needed to be infront of the camera for the IR trigger to fire, as it had to hit....something on the front, forget what exactly