Hi there, question for the DSLR imagers out there...
Keen to get back into imaging after a 3-year break. All scopes are ready to rock but this stupid thing has somehow died whilst sitting on the shelf. It looks like it's working but the camera doesn't do anything when it's plugged in. I imagine the extremely thin copper wires such cheap devices use have broken.
I've now had two of these cheapo $20 timers fail on me. Wondering if there's a more expensive option that'll last longer than a year, or do I just chalk it up to a consumable that has to be replaced every so often? Buy a half dozen and just churn through them as required?
Chris, check the battery on the unit.
Sometimes they fail because of low battery (watch battery).
I only use a Canon one and have never had a problem.
A good generic brand would also work well.
RB
Batteries are brand spanking. You can set everything and it counts down perfectly, light works, all looks fine, but the camera doesn't respond. Will try it with my wife's camera when she gets back from her shoot, but I'd anticipate the $20 timer being the issue and not the $1200 camera...
What's a "good" generic brand? Neewer? The ones I've tried don't even have a brand name. The Nikon-branded one costs double these but looks utterly idential (except for the Nikon branding).
Chalk it up to luck of the draw i guess. My unbranded ebay cheapies are all 6+yrs old and work fine. You could pop yours open and see if any components are obviously fried or leaked or corroded from humidity when shelved. Ie look for something to clean/replace and cross fingers, not like you can do further harm at this point if resigned to binning it.
Chris, I use a Hahnel wireless remote trigger. The transmitter is handheld (with a screen, not dissimilar to your pic) but transmits via RF to the receiver, which secures onto the flash mount point on the camera and connects into the trigger port.
Not as inexpensive as the generic el cheapo, but not quite as much (or as flash) as the pluto...but locally available in all major camera shops.
Hi I might be a bit late here, but as RB I also have two Canon ones and they never fail me.
When I do lightning exposures they will shoot all night some 400 time exposure, and just keep on going, and I rarely change the battery.
Admittedly they were not cheap, but are quality units, I have had them for at least ten years
I used the Pixel tw-283 for Nikon works really well. Downside is seems ordering cables for different cameras is not easy. I switched to Sony and the Aussie eBay store I purchased from wants me to buy a whole new unit just to get the 3.5mm to s2 (micro USB) Sony cable.
