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Author
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Rob Barron
Loves the place
Registered: September 2006
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 6013
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Review Date: Tue October 30, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £15.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Range, Price, Usefulness
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Cons:
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None
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I had considered a wireless remote shutter release for my Canon 40D and 20D but the Canon one doesn't come cheap and I wasn't sure I would use it enough to justify the cost.
But then I happened across this Phottix wireless remote on Ebay and the price was so low that I felt it was worth a risk. I paid for it and waited, a week later it arrived.
Straight out of the box, plug it in, stick the battery (supplied) in and.... it worked perfectly first time.
You have a small receiver that plugs into the remote cable release socket on the camera - this version is for the Canon xxD and xD series but they do it for Nikon and I think others too. (SEE UPDATE BELOW FOR OTHER MODELS) The remote has a pull up aerial but I soon found that was not necessary. Even with the aerial pushed into the remote control unit, I couldn't find anywhere to fire from where it didn't fire: I even went into next door's flat and it fired perfectly from there too!
The box claims it will fire from 100m, about 330 feet, away and I have no reason to doubt it from what I have done so far. The switch works exactly the same as the button on the camera, semi-press for AF and then full press to fire. It also has B mode to do long exposures. In short, it is a remote version of the shutter release button on the camera, pure and simple.
It feels surprisingly well made for its price and it has 16 selectable channels if you get any problems with one or if you have two or more (for different cameras) and want to set them to different channels or are out with the camera club and others are using them too.
The use is obvious and would be very good when doing garden wildlife shots as an example. Set the camera up, move away and let the bird table attract its feathered friends. Snap away without having to be there 
I can't find anything to fault with this unit and would recommend it to anyone wanting a cheap but effective method of firing your Canon or Nikon DSLR remotely.
Cheers,
Rob
UPDATE: I have done a bit more research and found the following models, all available on Ebay:
Canon xxD uses model: Phottix C3
Canon xxxD uses: C1
Sony A100 uses: S1
Minolta 7D uses: S1
Nikon D200/D2Xs/S5 uses: N1
Nikon D70s/D80 uses: N2
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Dave
Pixalo Crew
Registered: July 2005
Posts: 16481
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Steve400
Forum Regular
Registered: September 2005
Location: N.Ireland
Posts: 1187
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Review Date: Tue January 1, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £15.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Small size, price, range
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Cons:
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None
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I had never needed one of these untill recently when i started taking more nightscapes and slow shutterspeed photography. I now count it as a must have in the bag!
I had looked at the canon wireless remote (using it on a Canon 20d) but when i was pointed to this by a member on pixalo i couldnt resist the price as there was little to lose if something went wrong.
The range is superb, i have not tested it to 100m but im quite sure it would meet the claim if not beat it!
The single/continuous/B Mode shooting and halfpressing for AF meets all expectatiions i had from a product of this type.
I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good affordable wireless remote!
Steve 
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_MB_
Forum Regular
Registered: March 2007
Location: Northumberland, UK
Posts: 847
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Review Date: Mon January 7, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £15.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Range, sensitivity, price
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Cons:
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Sometimes goes to sleep?
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My experience is much like reviewers above.
Very responsive, focuses when half pressed and has tremendous range. Fires through thick stone walls. For cheap and cheerful, I must say the build is not half bad - reasonably chunky plastic, a decent cord for the receiver. I'd not step on it but it looks like it'd survive the odd knock.
My only criticism is my copy seems to go dormant if not activated in some way after a few minutes. I just occasionally half press the button and that keeps it going but it can be tiresome. -1 points for that.
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;)
;)
;)
