Customer Reviews

Opteka RC-6 Wireless Remote Control for Olympus EVOLT E-520, E-510, E-500, E-420, E-410, E-330, E-300, E-30, E-3 & E-1 Digital SLR Camera ~

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

The Opteka remote control unit is conveniently small. The 4 buttons at the top were dedicated to Olympus (I have an E510), but there are buttons for other major brands. The unit works with the built-in sensor in your camera. While it is meant to be used from in front of the camera, I was able to trigger the shutter from behind while indoors ( I haven't tried it outside yet, or at distances over 5ft.).

The W and T functions are turned on when your camera is in BULB mode (dial to max shutter time) so you can manually open and close the shutter. I can't figure out what the + and - buttons do (they exist on Olympus' remote too) but there is no explanation for them in the Olympus manual. The RC-7 comes with minimal information. The remote works fine and offers control for 4 other brands of camera. At $12.95, it's about half the price of the Olympus remote.

Follow up: I've been using the remote for about a month now and have found it useful for quick hands-off shutter release (instead of using a shtter delay). I have upgraded my original review from 3 to 4 stars (though the edit won't let me change the stars).

Follow up (years later): I have kept this remote in my kit for over three years now. While the battery has run out twice it still works like new. I now use it for my two Nikon cameras with complete satisfaction. I was surprised to see that some copies of the remote did not work because mine has been a work horse. I would give this unit five stars now.

My headline pretty much summarizes this product. Costing less than half either the Olympus wireless remote control or Olympus wired shutter release, this little remote control is small and lightweight enough to carry in your camera bag at all times. It worked flawlessly with my Olympus Evolt E-510 right out of the box. The camera's infrared sensor must, of course, be turned on for it to work and the remote control must be pointed at the sensor. Not having to rush to get in front of the camera before the self-timer trips the shutter is a luxury for those who want to photograph themselves alone or in a group. Great product at a great price but mine quit working after about 18 months, so I replaced it with the more expensive Olympus brand.

12/20/08 - Update

I posted this review for the RC-7. It now seems to be associated with the RC-6, which only works for Olympus cameras.

I suspect that it's the same chip with fewer buttons attached to it. If that's the case, this should work as described below for the Olympus E-510 that I reviewed it with.

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I have only used the RC-7 with an Olympus E-510. It also has separate sets of buttons for Minolta, Nikon, Pentax, and two varieties of Canons.
The E-510's own manual only documents the usefulness of three buttons of their brand of remote; Normally only shutter release (S). In manual BULB mode, the W and T buttons will open and close the shutter manually. The - and + buttons are not documented in the E-510's manual. So it's not shocking that on the RC-7 the + and - don't do anything; working as Olympus designed. Olympus apparently only enables these buttons on other models of cameras.

I've used the RC-7 to snap pictures of the moon without shaking the camera on the tripod. Worked great.

Some reviews have complained that the remote doesn't work. Mine appeared to be brand new, but didn't have any plastic tab isolating the battery. It worked right out of the box. Well, that's after I figured out that I had to go through the E-510's drive-mode menu to enable the E-510's ability to react to a remote (top left of camera, left silver button closest to user, near flash button). With this button, you can set the camera to snap a pic immediately after clicking the remote's shutter release button, or to wait two seconds and then snap the pic. RTFM.

If you're in doubt as to whether the RC-7 is sending a signal, then put your camera into live view mode (where you can see the image on the LCD). Then point the remote towards the lens and press and hold any button on the remote. The human eye can't see the signal, but when it is translated onto the LCD screen, there is a noticeable pulsing light from the remote when it's working. If you can't see it, try again in a dark room. Alternatively, try viewing the signal with another digital camera or camcorder - they all should be able to see/reveal it. (You won't see this through any camera's optical viewfinder.)

The RC-7 is a better value than the Olympus version, and it can control other camera brands that you may already have, or buy in the future. Or maybe you have another Olympus model that actually has a use for the + and - buttons.

I got mine from 47th St Photo. I bought three. The batteries were dead. 47th paid for new batteries and they work great with my Olympus Evolt 500. I've used it outside in low sun angles and indoors. It is very useful and handy. It will also allow you to page through the pictures in your camera while you have the video cord hooked up to your TV.

Although there are a lot of buttons on the remote, it is a simple remote to figure out. It works at a good distance (at least 20 feet) from multiple angles. It makes family pictures as well as shots where you need to keep your hands off the camera for shakiness.

small, works very well with my e-500. a friend got one after seeing mine.
very inexpencive, i payed more for after market wired remote for my minolta.

The remote was dead on arrival. I bought new batteries. No sign of life. Tried different cameras. It was completely dead. I wrote to 47th St. asking for another one or a return. A little while later I received an e-mail asking me to call, so I did, by which time the short return policy window had expired. I decided not to fight it, as all the work/cost of trying to change their mind, paying for postage and mailing it back were not worth it (I don't think I would have been very successful anyway). I don't recommend the remote, but, most of all, I don't recommend the vendor. I think it is worth spending the extra few dollars and getting something (still cheap!) from someone else.

I purchased the remote for my Olympus E-510. It has buttons on it for a number of different makes and models of cameras, but the only part I was concerned with was the buttons on top.

There are 5 Olympus buttons on the remote. Two are digital zoom buttons for point and shoot cameras, two are for controlling something similiar to the aperature (but not it...I'm kinda new at the DSLR lingo), and the last is the capture button.

The most important thing to note about the record button is that its only one stage. This being the case, you have to make sure the camera is already focused and set up before you use the remote to actually take the picture. I have found it's use to be best when either taking self portraits, or when using slow shutter speeds where you can't be moving the camera at all when you click capture.

All in all, for only $12.95 this was an excellent purchase.

Remote works as described and for a lot less than the Olympus brand. I would recomend this remote to anyone.

The product didn't work upon arrival and the vendor I purchased it from through Amazon completely blew me off (another story all together). After some diagnostics on my part I discovered that the design of the battery compartment was so poor that consistent contact with the button cell battery wasn't achievable making the device inoperable. After some modifications of my own I've managed to get it to work but not reliably. I would have been better off spending a little more money for a better product. I learned my lesson and now stay away from Opteka products.