Opteka Timer Remote Control for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, & 50D Digital SLR Cameras

by Opteka

Product Details

• ASIN: B0012H0LQI
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 10, 2008

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It held up "OK" and gets the job done., January 9, 2010

By 

Mr. Amusing "steven_the_amusing" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Opteka Timer Remote Control for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, & 50D Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I've owned and used the Opteka Timer Remote with the N3 connector for almost two years now. I use it mostly for setting up and shooting star trails. See photography.TheAmusing.com or StarTrailAcademy.com for examples.

And it has served me well. I recently purchased two other remotes - one to give away to a friend, and a second one as both a backup for the Opteka and to use on my second camera body. I have had a chance to use a friends remote as well. I've used the Opteka, the Canon TC80N3 Timer Remote Control the TR-A Timer Remote Control and the Jenis J-C50D-L-W RF Wireless Controller.

The Opteka appears in all ways similar to the Nikon branded remote - indeed the Nikon branded remote looks and works identically based on my helping a Nikonian navigate his remote.

The weaker aspects of the Opteka are:

1. The battery cover is not on very firmly. If you press the shutter release button with any appreciable force the battery cover will come off of the back. I duct taped mine on. It's not pretty, but it's much less annoying.
2. While it is convenient to carry, the Opteka is definitely longer than it needs to be and so takes up extra space in the camera bag. The TR-A Timer Remote Control is more compact but I found the N3 connector on the TR-A to be "poor" with a jiggly, unsatisfying connection.
3. The N3 connector on the Opteka mates well with my cameras, but it can be dislodged by strong wind.
4. There is no off switch. While my original batteries lasted more than a year before they started getting flaky one cold evening, I don't have a special carrying spot for this thing so it's pretty easy to accidentally turn on the light or start the exposure sequence. (Imagine how exciting it might be for someone to hear a beeping sound coming out of your bag while on board an airplane!)
5. Setting the device up to take long exposure shots as rapidly as possible is a little odd. You must set the INTerval to be at least 1 second longer than the LONG (exposure length). If you are shooting long exposures you'll probably find that you need at least 2 seconds - and possibly 3 between each exposure.
6. After some abuse, the cable on mine is separating from the strain relief at the top of the timer.
7. The display light doesn't remain on long enough for me.

The pluses of this device over most of the others:
1. An indicator LED flashes when exposing. The LED is not overwhelmingly bright, either.
2. There is a beeper that indicates when the next exposure is about to start. The beeper is not loud or obnoxious and can be disabled. In addition, when using the shutter button on the remote, the beeper sounds at one second intervals which can be handy for manually counting out e.g. a 45 second exposure.
3. You can set the exposure count (N) to 399 where all of the other devices I've used have a limit of 99. The Opteka's "unlimited" setting is indicated with "--" which is much more intuitive than the other remotes which must be set to "00".

So in summary, I recommend this device and would only consider other options if you want: a smaller device (TR-A), or a device that works wirelessly (Jenis). I would definitely buy two of these rather than one Canon TC80N3 remote which costs more than double.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for tripod photography, May 2, 2008

By 

Warren Liick (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Opteka Timer Remote Control for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, & 50D Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I picked this up as it was much cheaper than the Canon brand name one, and was pleased with what I got. It takes about 5 minutes with the manual to master this timer remote. If the dial on the side is worth the extra $50, get the Canon, but this works just as well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best single purchase for a night photographer!, March 6, 2010

By 

weatherfan "Reid" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Opteka Timer Remote Control for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, & 50D Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

This handy little device is a night photographers dream for many reasons.

The flexibility in shot delay ensures that you never have residual shake from touching the camera.

The intervalometer & shot counter enable you to wonderful time lapse series as well as GREATLY improves flexibility with shooting startrails images for stacking in photoshop (since the standard max exposure length in continuous shooting mode is 30 seconds in most dSLRs). This allows you to take as many shots as you like, for how ever long you want.

Furthermore just having a bulb timer is very nice if you are out chatting with others while your shot is going since you no longer have to pay attention to your watch/phone/or on camera counter. I was overexposing images because I was distracted.

As far as build quality, it seems pretty solid. I expect it to last for a few years.

I definitely recommend this product!