Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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!

I like it because its cheap, and the shutter button works without batteries. The timer needs power to run on. I have not used it on the timer function but just the shutter button alone has made my images sharper.
The plug that attaches to the camera body is in a strange angle pointing forward. That's the only thing I don't like about this gadget.
Yea, they could have made it smaller and of better material, but cost-wise, its a good deal.

I wanted to get into doing some time-lapse shooting and couldn't find it in me to shell out for the Canon unit so I tried this one.

Well made, easy to use, highly recommended!

This Timer Remote Control works excellent. I have used many times without any problem. Turning off the Remote Control is not easy as turning off a switch. You need to remove batteries. Other than that, I love this item. This is half the price of the brand name Remote Control.

I am very happy with this product. The only drawback is there is no way to turn the power off.

I have used this hard and it is still working like new after a year. Great price compared to Canon's

After losing my first remote shutter release, I purchased a cheap $15 one that I saw on Amazon. It sucked. So I splurged and got this one because it looks like it does it all.

Well, it does not do EVERYTHING, but it does a lot. And it has a reliable mechanism that fires reliably. It also can control timed shots (one shot every x seconds, for instance).

The manufacturing is a bit cheap, but still better than the $15 one I had before. The "Opteka" logo silkscreened at the top looks REALLY cheezy. I removed it using some Eclipse solution. Rubbing alcohol would also work.

This is worth the money if you don;t plan on losing it. It's a pretty nice remote switch.

save your hard earned $$$ and spend it on glass - this thing does the job well.