Canon EOS mag

Technique Remote accessories

ANN AND STEVE TOON

Remote switches Remote is a relative term. It usually means distant, or far away. However, Canon remote switches are connected to the camera by an electrical cable, which can be as short as 60cm. Here, remote simply means that you can fire the shutter without touching the camera. The release replicates the action of the camera shutter button. Partial pressure activates the camera’s exposure metering and autofocusing systems. Full pressure fires the shutter.

Canon Remote Switches RS-60E3 ad RS-80N3

Remote sockets

These two switches are similar, except for the plug – E3 (left) and N3 (right) and the length of cable (60cm and 80cm as indicated in the name). The release button on both units can be locked (push down and forward). This is useful if you want to use long exposure times in bulb mode or a long sequence of continuous exposures.

Extension cords The distance between a remote switch and the camera can be increased by fitting an extension cord. Canon supplies a 10 metre Extension Cord ET- 1000N3 for the RS-80N3 release. Two cords can be used together to give a 20 metre extension. If you have the RS-60E3 release, you will have to be more creative. Extension cords for stereo headphones are inexpensive, but usually come with 3.5mm plugs and sockets. The mini jack plug and socket for the Canon release is 2.5mm. However, an adapter which converts the 2.5m plug to a 3.5mm plug is available from electronic stores such as Maplin, along with an adaptor to convert the 3.5mm plug to a 2.5mm plug. By using more than one extension cord we have fired a shutter over 15 metres from the camera. Camera compatibility RS-60E3 EOS 60D, 300D, 350D, 400D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 1000D, 1100D RS-80N3/ET-1000N3 EOS 1D, 1D Mark II, 1D Mark II N, 1D Mark III, 1D Mark IV, 1Ds, 1Ds Mark II, 1Ds Mark III, 5D, 5D Mark II, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D.

EOS digital cameras are fitted with one of two remote sockets – E3 (left) or N3 (right). E3 is a 2.5mm mini jack plug which pushes in and pulls out of the camera’s remote socket. N3 is a unique Canon plug. When pushed in to the camera socket it locks in place with a click. You have to pull the base of the plug to release it. In theory, the N3 plug has the more secure fitting, but we have never had any problems with the E3 plug. Below This EOS 7D with EF 300mm f2.8L USM lens and EF Extender 1.4x on a tripod is a good example of when a remote switch is recommended. Touching the shutter button on the camera is likely to introduce movement into the setup. The camera is aimed at alligators in Corkscrew Swamp, Florida, USA. EOS 5D Mark II, EF 24-105mm f4L IS USM lens at 60mm, 1/50 second at f5.6, ISO 200.

Many years ago you could buy an air cable release – squeezing a rubber bulb compresses air inside a thin plastic tube, tripping the camera shutter. Today, remote accessories do a similar job, but with a touch more sophistication. Remote access

CHRIS MATTISON

Above One way to get close to wildlife is by setting up a camera and placing bait in front of it. However, you can’t stay with the camera as you are likely to frighten your subject away. The answer is to use a remote accessory so that you can fire the camera from a distance. The following pages look at the different options available.

How do you take a photograph? If you press the camera shutter button with your finger you are in good company – but it is by no means to only way to shoot. There is a whole range of remote switches and wireless controllers which let you fire the shutter from a distance. All have slightly different uses. Some units keep you close to the camera, but allow you to shoot without touching it. This can help reduce camera shake. At the other extreme are motorised platforms which allow you to move the camera from a distance while still seeing the camera’s view. There is even a set-up which will take the photograph for you as the subject ‘breaks’ an invisible beam. And you might be familiar with the remote which takes pictures at fixed intervals. The next few pages introduce you to these remarkable remote accessories, showing that you do not need to be behind the camera to take interesting and inspiring images.

Alternative choices

Mechanical vs. electronic Until the early 1980s, Canon SLR cameras used a cable release for firing the shutter remotely. It was a mechanical device, constructed with a length of wire in a flexible casing. One end screwed into the cable release socket of the camera. When a plunger at the other end was depressed, the wire extended into the camera to activate the mechanical shutter release. In 1983 Canon introduced the T50 and with it the remote control socket. This socket accepted a range of remote accessories which fired the shutter electrically. The remote socket continues in the EOS series, offering many more options than the cable release.

If you have two EOS cameras, each with a different remote socket fitting, there is an alternative to buying two Canon remote releases. The Hähnel Remote Shutter Release with Extension (left) provides one remote unit with two adapters. Simply fit the adapter to suit the camera you are using. As a bonus, the pack includes a 2 metre extension, taking the complete length to 2.8 metres. The Hama Remote Release (right) offers a similar solution, except that here you buy the N3 and E3 adaptors separately and an extension cable is an optional extra. The difference is that there are other remote accessories in the Hama system which can use the same adapters.

34 Reproduced from EOS magazine October-December 2011

Reproduced from EOS magazine October-December 2011 35