Remote Question: Wireless or Wired Intervalometers for Camera Triggering?

One of night photography's essential tools—the intervalometer—has two main variants: wired and wireless. Which is better? When? Let's explore that.

In this post, I will refer to "classic" intervalometers. We'll cover the Bluetooth and WiFi ones in a future post. Let's quickly establish the tools covered in this post:

Wired Intervalometer

An external camera shutter control device that is hard-wired and plugs into your camera.

Vello Wired Shuterboss II

Wireless Intervalometer

An external camera shutter device that has a transmitter (the intervalometer) as wells as a receiver that plugs into your camera.

Vello Wireless Shutterboss II

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Now let's get down to the nitty-gritty and understand where they shine ... and where they do not.

Wired Pros

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Two AAA batteries last a long time!

• One set of batteries generally lasts a long time (over a year for me).
• Only one piece means fewer failure points.
• About half the price.
• Sometimes simpler software—fewer options means fewer variables to set and navigate.
• If the batteries run out, you can always use the sliding and locking Bulb button to manually open and close your shutter.

Wired Cons

• If you don't strap it down to your tripod leg or use a caddy, the weight of the intervalometer may damage the connection to your camera body.
• To get in front of the camera to light-write or light-paint, you have to set a delay and listen for the camera shutter, or if the subject is too far away, count in your head or use another timer (such as a watch or smartphone).
• Same scenario above—no feedback about the exposure ending except for listening for the shutter (if you're close enough) or running another timer.
• If you upgrade your camera body and the connection is different, you have to get another intervalometer—the cables are hard-wired and not interchangeable.

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Note the wired has only the top row of functions, while wireless has both top and bottom rows of functions. (click/tap for larger view)

Wireless Pros

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No stress on top of the camera!

• Having the intervalometer with you at all times allows you freedom to trigger and walk away while still seeing the total exposure time/total exposure count.
• You can trigger from the safety (and warmth or coolness) or your car or tent.
• The receiver traditionally sits atop your hot shoe, which means no stress on the connection to your camera body; even if not on your shoe, it's usually very lightweight.
• You can trigger with great precision when doing light writing, light painting or getting crazy with a Pixelstick, catapulting glow sticks or whatever your genius brain devises.
• The wireless version usually can be plugged directly into a camera without using a receiver—a nice option to have when you just want to stand by your camera.
• Because of the wireless design, you can get one intervalometer and many different cables—this can be useful if you upgrade your camera body, or want to loan it to a fellow night photographer.
• If the batteries run out, you can always use the sliding and locking Bulb button to manually open and close your shutter.

Wireless cons

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Switch-hitter: Swap cables when changing cameras!

• If you happen to walk too far away from your camera, the exposure program stops—OOPS! Why? Because the transmitter is constantly broadcasting shutter control information to the receiver.
• Two sets of batteries to maintain, which also may drain at different speeds, and may even be different types (e.g., alkaline, NiMh, etc.).
• Since the transmitter broadcasts information all the time, plus has to operate a radio, the batteries don't last as long as with a wired intervalometer.
• Some wireless intervalometers have two sets of menus, and the default is what I call "daytime mode"—when you want to get to the part of the menu for long and interval exposures, you have to remember (every time) to use the cross pad to get to it.

Wrapup

There are many tools to fit many situations—never one perfect tool. So choose wisely when gearing up for your night photography, including which intervalometer to purchase or to bring along.

On that note, I use only wired intervalometers. I prefer them for many of the pros listed above. And at half the price, a backup isn't a painful investment.

Want to learn more about intervalometers? Check out our blog post/screencast about mastering them.

See more about Matt's photography, art, workshops and writing at MattHillArt.com. Follow Matt on Twitter Instagram Facebook.

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Upcoming workshops from National Parks at Night

Mastering the Intervalometer for Night Photography and Long Exposures

If you've ever scratched your head, bamboozled by an intervalometer, then scratch no more! Well, at least watch this video first ...

You may not know I also have another job in the photo industry. I created a presentation about using an intervalometer to support a smaller technique class at the 2016 OPTIC Imaging Conference held by B&H Photo and Lindblad Expeditions. And it was so fun (and useful!) that I decided to make a video out of it so even more people could benefit.

For the TL;DR crowd:

Vello Intervalometers work from left to right. When configuring, make sure you check every one of them and keep in mind that they run in sequence:

1. Delay
2. Long
3. Interval
4. Number (Qty)

If something is awry, then chances are something was set in a screen you may not expect. Check out the video above for the full rundown and lots of examples.

See more about Matt's photography, art, workshops and writing at MattHillArt.com. Follow Matt on Twitter Instagram Facebook.

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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT

Finding Your Focal Length: Use Metadata To Divulge Your Tendencies

How do you see the world?

Is your view wide, expansive and open, or do you like getting right into the action? Do you often look up or down on your subjects? Are you a people person or do you prefer collaborating with the trees?

The better you understand who you are and how you communicate with the world, the stronger your photographic vision will become.

When I have clear night skies and lots of stars, like on this night at Crater Lake National Park, I try to shoot as wide as possible to include as many stars as I can—in this case with a 15mm.

I’m a Pisces, a dreamer, I love to see the unseen—it excites me. Night photography is a natural fit—I can start with an idea—experiment with time and create something that makes people react. I prefer bold compositions, I often combine the night sky against man-made objects, and something that has changed from my darkroom days is that I love the many colors of the night.

But the most important thing in recent years that has helped me hone my night vision has been finding and focusing on my focal length.

We all make folders on our computers with our favorite images. If you take a little time and really study why these images resonate with you, then you’ll keep fueling the fire.

This can be done easily in the Library module of Lightroom. First, if you haven’t already, create a collection of your favorite photographs. In my example (below) I have my 5-star night shots in a collection called “Best of the Night.”

With a few keystrokes, you can easily see the data of all the images in your collection. First, press the backslash key (or select View-Show Filter Bar) to unveil the Library Filter options at the top of the Grid View.

In that bar, click “Metadata” and you’ll be able to see the dates, cameras and lenses used for the photos in that collection. Click on the upper-right hand corner to open the Library Filter presets, and select “Camera Info”—now you can see camera, lenses and exact focal lengths. This is especially helpful with zoom lenses, because Lightroom will show you the exact focal length you were zoomed to when you shot the photo.

Often the first lens new photographers choose is an all-in-one, such as a 28-200mm or 16-300mm. These are great travel lenses, as they give you a wide variety of focal lengths to choose from without the worry of changing lenses or weighing your bag down with multiple lenses. But pay attention to any trends in regards to where you might be frequently stopping with these zoom lenses. If, for example, you are always shooting your 14-24mm lens at 21mm—that is your focal length! And perhaps you should invest in a 21mm prime lens.

One of my go-to daytime/travel lens combinations is the Nikon 28-200mm lens and a Nikon 35mm f/1.4 lens. This gives me zoom versatility as well as a fast, low-light lens in one of my favorite focal lengths.

Finding a fast prime lens is very important for night photographers who want to shoot the Milky Way or dark sky, or under little to no moon. The f/2.8 zooms are nice, but gaining at least 1 stop with an f/2 lens or 2 stops with an f/1.4 lens will let you use cleaner ISOs such as 3200 or 1600. On our recent workshop in Acadia, I was able to try out the Nikon 20mm f/1.8 lens, which is a very nice, compact and fast lens that I’ll be adding to my arsenal.

Once you find your focal length—own it. I used to be a 50mm guy but over the last two years I’ve found myself reaching for the 35mm more and more. When you become comfortable with how you see the world—challenge it. I often default to shooting super-wide at night, but I’m trying to look for more detail images that a 35mm, 50mm or even a 100mm will help me achieve.

I was scouting with my 28-200mm lens during the day in Crater Lake National Park and zoomed in to 100mm to frame this shot.

So take some time, really get to know your work, find your focal length, and most of all—keep on clicking!

For more information about the equipment mentioned in this post, see the Our Gear page and the following links:

Gabriel Biderman is a Brooklyn-based fine art and travel photographer, and author of Night Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots (Peachpit, 2014). During the daytime hours you'll often find Gabe at one of many photo events around the world working for B&H Photo’s road marketing team. See his portfolio and workshop lineup at www.ruinism.com.

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UPCOMING WORKSHOPS FROM NATIONAL PARKS AT NIGHT