| Joined: | Mon Apr 2nd, 2012 |
| Location: | South Lakeland, UK |
| Posts: | 4066 |
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I am wanting to make some long exposures of Oakdale in the region of 45 minutes to an hour to get star trails and to expose the boat in the dim available light. I am moving away from the idea of making multiple short (30 second) exposures for an hour or more, then combining them with software like StarstaX because of all the work of handling so many exposures and then the process of combining them and patching up the gaps etc. I am leaning towards one long exposure, which the D800 now affords me. I realise there are some issues with hot pixels and some noise but on balance I think I prefer the single long exposure.
The problem that brings is that I don't want to stand next to the camera for 45 minutes to an hour, I want to retire to a safe distance so I can enjoy a coffee or mug of soup in the comparative warmth of the car. It gets pretty cold sitting or standing out in the open next to the camera, especially on a freezing, windy night. Frankly the experience puts me off. With multiple short exposures I can discard the first two or three exposures and the last three as I depart from the camera and return in the darkness wearing my red head torch but with a single long exposure any light contamination, even from a dim red headtorch, at the start and end of the exposure ruins the entire exposure. I have no choice but to use a torch, especially on the shore because there are numerous small channels, potentially with quicksand, which I can fall into at night on my own. If I could start and end the exposure from a safe distance, either with a hard wire remote or better, a proper radio remote control on the 2.4Ghz band with at least 80 to 100 Metres reliable range, ideally up to a mile because some places I go I can't maintain line of sight on the camera from my refuge, so I need a margin of safety.
As one might expect I have been exploring eBay for a possible candidate but the real choice seems limited, Link to Remote . There are several, basically the same which seem to emulate the Nikon MC36 functions but with radio. They seem to be too cheap, (you can't spend a little and expect a lot) I had a basic radio remote which I used for a while for a goal cam but it didn't have the advertised range nor the reliability I need, it didn't always fire the shutter even with good line of sight.
I have heard of Pocket Wizard, apparently a good quality, reliable product... I have visited their Website but there is scant information, nothing meaningful about range or functions that I can see, just pretty pictures and marketing blurb.
My need is simple, a good quality, reliable device to remotely open my D800 shutter for an hour or more, from at least 100 Metres, preferably significantly more, to allow for loss of line of sight. Price is a consideration obviously but robust reliability and functionality are vital.
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Robert.