Otis Memorial Pentaxian Registered: March, 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Posts: 42,007
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 24, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $29.99
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Full featured, intervalometer, backlit LCD | | Cons: | Poor documentation, lightweight build | |
Everybody who has been frustrated by remote shutter release options for your Pentax camera raise your hands. You with the red shirt, tell me why:
"Because both wireless and wired releases from Pentax have no better functionality than a manual cable release and because both are overpriced for what you get and because the wireless release cannot accept fresh batteries and ..."
Well there you have it. In short, I was looking for a remote release option that would support:- Remote shutter actuation (half-press would be nice)
- "B" exposure times of both set and arbitrary length.
- Support for very long exposures (several minutes to hours)
- Delayed exposure would be good
- Shutter release at interval would be good too
- A lit display would be icing on the cake
When I went shopping I was dismayed to find that both the Pentax wired (CS-205) and wireless (Remote WP and RC-F) remotes were difficult to find in stock and overpriced for what you get. Fortunately the search feature at Adorama was working properly and this remote was in the list of third-party options.
Pros:- Reasonably long cable (52") with a standard-type fitting allowing for purchase of a generic extension if needed
- Nice legible LCD display
- Audible timer (may be muted)
- Buttons are large and generally easy to work
- Release button has two stages (supports half-press)
- LCD may be back-lit if needed
- Highly configurable
- Generous time spans (literally many days)
- Generous maximum interval (399 counted or infinite until something runs out of power or card space
- Very flexible...can mix/match delay/time/interval in any combination
- Wide range of Pentax/Samsung camera compatibility. Also supports many Canon models and Pentax-equivalent Samsung. I have not tested, but it appears that if the camera supports the CS-205, it will support this unit as well. Edit: I have tested this remote on the Pentax K-3 and all features are supported.
Cons:- Terrible user instructions and documentation
- Construction while decent quality is on the lightweight side
- I still have not figured out how to keep the LCD lit for more than just a few seconds
- The shutter release with lock slider is hard (impossible?) to do with one hand
In Use:
Once you figure out how to do the settings (no thanks to the documentation here), it is a snap to use and works as advertised. 
Here are a few points regarding settings and behavior:- Although Bower does not have download from their site, mine did come with a manual. The manual sucks.
- The unit supports both half and full press from the main release button
- Intervalometer functions are pretty standard:
- Delay: Time before start of first interval.
- Long: Shutter press duration (set to zero for instantaneous)
- Interval: The length of the interval between shutter presses
- N: The number of intervals to perform
- Simple timed exposures in B-mode are straightforward with number of intervals set to "1" and "Long" set to the desired exposure time
- Intervalometer shutter is full-press except as explained below
- Behavior is predictable, but with an undocumented feature. For intervals longer than 3 seconds, half-press is done for the final 3 seconds. This feature is very cool in that it will wake up the camera and activate AF and AE if either are enabled.
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