Customer Reviews

Canon Remote Switch RS60 E3

5 star:		(174)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you plan on taking any photos requiring longer exposure times (particularly "bulb-mode" photographs in which the shutter remains open until you close it), you need this accessory for your camera.

Though the cord is shorter than would be desired, a quick trip to any electronics store should provide a simple solution in an extension: a 3/32" stereo extension cord, or a 1/8" cord with adapters to 3/32". As these can be had for well under $10, you can easily extend the reach of the shutter release beyond what Canon provided.

While Canon products at times have a price markup for items that bare the label (like Harley Davidson products) there are a few gems that are good deals at the price point. The Canon backpack and the 50mm 1.8 lens are examples of good deals. This switch also belongs in the 'worth the price' category.

The switch connects into the side of the Rebel XT. The female receptor on the camera is underneath a rubber cover. The cover folds back awkwardly/protrudes when the switch is connected. This is mildly annoying, but not a big deal.

The switch is simple yet effective: half push for focus, full push to take the picture, or push the switch forward to lock the shutter open (for night shots, lightning, etc.). When pressed forward, the shutter remains open until you pull the switch back into place. You don't have to hold the switch open as it locks once it is slid forward.

The switch can activate the shutter either in the single shot mode or the time delay mode. Single shot or time delay are set on the camera, not on the switch.

In single shot the shutter is activated as soon as the button is fully pressed. In time delay, fully pressing the button starts the 10-second countdown prior to the picture being snapped (time to run in front of the camera for family or self-portraits).

For macro shots, night shots, or shots in which minimal or no camera shake is permissible this inexpensive device is quite useful.

Finally, it has little notches built in to the side of its body to help hold the cable securely against the body when the cable is wrapped up for storage. It also has a slot to plug in the male attachment (the part that plugs into the camera) built into the body for convenience in storage and to protect the connector when not in use.

I'm glad I bought it.

What would I do without my remote switch? I would cry real tears. I bought it for nighttime photography and long exposures without camera shake but I use it for almost everything. Even portraiture benefits from this nifty little tool as subjects can be fooled into relaxing their faces while one is not behind the lens. I would have given it five stars but the cord is slightly shorter than I would like.

I'll start off by saying that this item IS compatible with the Rebel XTi (I've seen conflicting information floating around).

I just recently purchased my XTi and noticed that even when using a tripod that my pictures would come out slightly blurred a lot of the time - I'm assuming this is from the vibration when pressing and releasing the shutter button. This made long-exposes such as night photography difficult for me and often left me disappointed with the results.

Fortunately I found this great item! It plugs into the side of the camera by the USB connector and features basic controls (half click, full click, and the ability to click and lock the button).

One of the first things you'll notice is the short cord - something almost every single review has mentioned but I really didn't think it would be THAT short - this is both a Pro and a Con.. A "Pro" because it doesnt leave lots of slack that can become tangled or drop loosely to the ground but also a "Con" because you still need to remain relatively close to the camera for this to function.. If you're dealing with Macro (up-close) photography with live animals it would be nice to set the camera up and sit 5-10 feet away and remotely trigger the camera without being close enough to scare them away. Another time a long cord would be nice would be for self-photography and to place a camera in a place which is otherwise not reasonable for you to get to (such as a high location, on a roof, in a tree, etc..)
Apparently you can get a little "Do it yourself" with this item and splice a longer cable onto it if you feel the need. They also sell a wireless remote which is probably even better for these needs but you have to keep a direct connection between the camera and the remote).

Back to this remote switch though:

By half-pressing the remote, the camera will autofocus (much as it does when half-pressing the shutter button on the actual camera) and fully pressing it will release the shutter and snap a picture.

The part that becomes quite nice is the "Lock" function. This lets you lock the button down (done by full-clicking and sliding the button to the side) for as long as you want while the shutter remains open - this means you can lock it for 5 minutes for pinhole photography or night shots - something you would otherwise need to keep your finger on the shutter release button for (which will almost always cause some vibration/shaky pictures).
You do this by setting the exposure time to "Bulb" mode (from what I can tell, its only available in [M] mode on the XTi).

A very excellent remote switch that is more than worth the $20-30 selling price (just don't tell canon!) - If I could make one change it would be to have the camera use a replaceable cable so that you could easily unplug the 2 foot one and replace it with a 5 or 10 foot one since it appears to just be a standard audio cable.

All-in-all, a must-buy which is also very affordable!

Besides that the cable is somewhat short, this remote works extremely well. I also bought the Canon Wireless Remote Control RC1 which doesn't work well at all and only when it's held close to the camera and in a specific angle.....I do recommend this over the wireless one...

I had the wireless remote, but I had to get my hand in front of the camera so the IR connects the IR receiver in the camera, and gives the camera the command to release the shutter... (NOT Convenient)... but with this, I was freed to take shots from any place, and not shaking the camera when it was on the tripod.
TIP: there is an option in the Canon 350D (A.K.A. Rebel X) that locks the shutter once you click the first time, so when you click again to take the shot, there will be ZERO shake (Because the Shutter does shake the camera when you take a macro shot)

This cord is not a remote control device as you might assume from its name. Rather, this is the same device that professionals would call a shutter release cable. It is meant to release the shutter button for long exposure shots to avoid shaking the camera when you touch it. You can also "lock" the shutter open for REALLY long shots (anything longer than 2 minutes). When you reach the desired exposure time, simply slide the button out of lock mode and the shutter will close.

Unless you have four foot long arms and a fish-eye lens, you won't be able to use this cord to do self portraits. You will have to make do with the self timer. Unfortunately, according to my local rep, Canon does not make a more useful cordless remote that works with my Rebel 2000.

This is a very simple remote control. It provides just the bare minimum capability that one would want in a remote control. Used with my Rebel XTi, it supports the 1/2 depressed auto-focus and exposure and the fully depressed shutter release.

It also has a nice, simple slide plate that will lock the button in the fully depressed position to hold the shutter open for the "long duration" exposures.

The product is made entirely of plastic (which feels a bit flimsy; but is surprisingly rugged in my experience) and has an oval cross section (which takes a little getting used to). Being made of plastic, this product is very lightweight (which is a plus in my opinion).

My only complaint, echoed by several other reviewers, is that the connecting cable is very short. In fact, in my estimation, it is even too short for when you actually want to be close to the camera (which is the case for me doing a fair amount of close-up macro-photography). It is so short that I have a hard time making sure I don't bump the camera.

But the good news is that, as at leat one other reviewer noted, you can easily get an extension from any electrical supply house or from Radio Shack. The plug is an 8/32" stereo plug and, if you get your extension from Radio Shack, you'll need to gat a couple of 8/32"-to-1/4" stereo adapters and use the 1/4" stereo extension cords (the one I got is 14 feet long). Total cost was about $5 so it's no big expense.

My only complaint with my solution is that the adapters stick out quite a bit from the body of the camera and they can cause torque on the camera if you're not careful to ensure that there isn't any tension pulling on the adapter.

I am most happy with this product. For me, it is a much better solution than the wireless solutions which (1) require you to be almost directly in front of the camear and (2) which, in my experience, tend to frequently but inadvertantly get the infrared signal showing up in the photograph.

It is a shame that Canon doesn't make the cable on the product about another foot to two feet longer. I think that show poor engineering judgement on Canon's part.

But the problem is easily enough remidied so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this product to anyone looknig for an inexpensive, simple, and flexible solution to remote triggering of their Canon cameras.

The RS60E3 is a pretty egregious case of overpriced camera equipment. For what it is (a plastic housing and switch with a 2ft cable), asking $22 seems fairly ridiculous. Consider that Canon's own excellent 50mm f/1.8 lens sells for just two and a half time as much. Or that Opteka wireless remote is half the price. The cable management slots designed to keep the cable in place don't work particularly well and the symmetrical design of means that I try to press the wrong side of the switch half the time. But the same day that I bought it, I managed to get some fantastic shots using it and my Rebel XT. It's not just to prevent shaking the camera for long shots on a tripod. In bulb mode, the switch lets you take exposures of arbitrary length without moving the camera. This is essential for those wonderful pitch-black night shots. Those would simply be impossible without this. So, it's pricey for what you get... until you get that great shot.

I take a lot of pictures that requires the camera to be mounted on a tripod. Using this remote shutter release seemed like the obvious choice. However after receiving the switch, I noticed the switch mechanism seemed a bit cheap. Well, I was right. After a few months of daily use, the switch quit working. Even before it quit, the switch started acting finicky and wouldn't take the shot right away. I still needed to take photos so I bought a second one. Just like the first, it stopped working in a few months too, ARRGHHHH!!! After the second one failed, I bought the wireless remote control RC1. I wish I bought that the first time. It works so much better and without any wires to get in the way. The only downside is you can't take a photo from behind the camera with the wireless. I guess you can't have everything. I strongly recommend you skip buying this poorly made switch on buy the wireless switch instead. You will be much happier.