7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Great tool for Digital Rebel
Date of Review: Mar 20, 2007
The Bottom Line: If you have a Digital Rebel, this should be an automatic purchase to go with it.
Though I'm hardly a great photographer, one thing I've always loved ever since beginning to use an SLR is taking long-exposure shots. I love setting up the tripod and taking pictures of lightning streaking through the sky during thunderstorms, or getting shots of star trails on a clear night sky. When I used the film Rebel 2000, I had a remote control that was wired. You plugged it into the side of the camera and controlled basic shooting with the button on the remote. This was mostly workable, since for this kind of long exposure I didn't have to be far away from the camera. The cord was awfully short, however, so it was only good for the staying-right-by-the-camera shots. There was no way to use that wired remote for taking group shots if I was also in the group.
So when I bought the Digital Rebel a couple years ago, I bought this wireless remote right away. I am really glad I did. It works just as it should. Since it's wireless, I can now fire the camera for a group shot while I'm standing in the group. I don't know exactly how far away from the camera you can be and still have the remote work, but I've not had any problems with just average distance for group pictures. The design of this remote is very nice. It clips right onto the neckstrap. This saves me a lot of worry about losing it. I was concerned initially that it might pop off and drop somewhere if I just bumped it without meaning to. In over two years, this hasn't happened. It's very solid.
I should also mention that in the years I've owned it, I've not yet had to replace the battery. Long battery life is a big consideration for me, as I tend to be in pretty remote places without access to stores.
What are the problems with this wireless remote? Frankly, the price. You'll probably pay over $20 for what is a tiny piece of plastic that does only one thing (even though it does that one thing very nicely). It just seems like a lot of money for a small thing, and small thing that might just as easily be included with the purchase of the camera body. It's a fantastically useful tool that most people would use if they had it, but I'm afraid the price and the need to buy it separately may keep a lot of people from ever experiencing it.
