Lightning camera triggers are niche pieces of equipment. Any storm chaser photog will tell you they make the difference between the stunning shot and an empty image.
When it senses an imminent strike or other split-second event, it triggers the shutter release. Then, you’ll capture the perfect picture.
Lighting shots are based on infrared technology. However, most work for other kinds of events too. Those include raindrop strikes, breaking glass, and more, with out-of-the-box or add-on attachments.
These triggers can be free-standing or connected to the camera via a cable with the pin structure required for that make and model. You can also mount them on the hot shoe flash.
Some also have smartphone apps for system control. They might also have a combination of two or three methods. The closer from trigger sensor is to the camera, the faster your message to the shutter can be transferred.
Finding a unit with flexible settings for other purposes expands your possible uses. Once you begin working with this tool, you’ll find other types of imaging possibilities, like astrophotography with shooting stars, wildlife on a path or in a nest, or time-lapses.
Here is our list of the best shutter release triggers for lightning storms and other weather and human high-speed events.
5 Best Shutter Release Add-ons for Lightning Storms
Best Overall: Pluto Trigger
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- Trigger Mechanism: Cable, Bluetooth, infrared, hot shoe
- Distance Camera to Trigger: Infrared 23 ft., Bluetooth 66 ft.
- Speed of Trigger: Adjustable
- Timelapse: Adjustable
- Battery Life: 20 hrs.
- Programmable: Yes
The Pluto high-speed camera trigger tops our list for its versatility and array of settings. A cable attaches the trigger to the camera, and those match specifically to your camera body’s connection structure (Canon for Canon, Nikon for Nikon, etc.). It also works remotely via an infrared connection and physical shutter release.
Battery life is extensive with this unit, rechargeable in an hour and a half with a run time of 20 hours when connected via Bluetooth and up to 40 hours with Bluetooth turned off. It operates in a range of temperature conditions, from minus 20 degrees to plus 70 Fahrenheit, though some users admit they’ve stretched that upper limit without ruining their trigger.
As with any trigger, the closer you connect it to the camera, the more instantaneous your lapse between event and shutter release will be. Some users feel this is still not fast enough for their style of imagining. However, it is not clear if they invested enough learning curve time to understand how their equipment functions.
Others admit that it does take time to understand how best to set up camera settings like exposure time, ISO, and aperture to coordinate for the high-speed shot you want. Cable pin structure is specific to the make and model of your camera, an advantage, if you have multiple cameras since all you may need, is a different cable for each.
If you want to play with unique images triggered by light, sound, motion, distance, or effect, this is the shutter release trigger that will help you experiment with new types of shooting.
Best for Learning Technique: MIOPS Smart Trigger
- Trigger Mechanism: Cable, Bluetooth, infrared, hot shoe, smartphone
- Distance Camera to Trigger: Depends on trigger mechanism
- Speed of Trigger: Varies
- Timelapse: Yes
- Battery Life: Varies
- Programmable: Yes
If you’re learning the ropes in high-speed photography and want a system that helps you improve your skills, this MIOPS is a great option. Its detailed instructions outline the camera settings you’ll need depending on what kind of image you’re taking. An optional addition lets you trigger for liquids too.
Programming options offer so many variations, you might be tempted to try them all in the first few days of owning it. From time-lapses for night images of star movement to lightning strikes to infrared captures of birds visiting the feeder, you have so many things to play with, it’s hard to decide where you want to begin.
While versatility is a big selling point, the true benefit is the training MIOPS offers in its instructions, from its app (available for both Android and iOS), and on its website. Learning how to take each kind of image in terms of camera and trigger settings is the key to being successful.
Updates to firmware in the unit and software in the app are both performed on a regular basis behind the scenes, giving you options you can grow into as well.
Users say this trigger requires time to learn. The importance of using the correct camera settings can’t be stressed enough. Once you understand the basics, though, it is a tool you’ll keep handy for many kinds of shooting situations.
Best for Fast Speed: Ubertronix Strike Finder 2
- Trigger Mechanism: Infrared, hot shoe, optional cables
- Distance Camera to Trigger: N/A
- Speed of Trigger: I millisecond
- Timelapse: No
- Battery Life: Varies
- Programmable: No
If lightning strikes are the one and only thing you want to shoot, this Ubertronix is made for it. Speed of impending flash recognition is the key selling point. Attach this on your camera and let it do the work for you without intensive monitoring.
You could consider this one a stripped-down shutter release trigger if it wasn’t so effective at its single purpose, lightning. Unlike other trigger units with a sensor that is multipurpose, this optical sensor has a design to be hyper-light-sensitive. It is effective in daylight as well as low light settings.
Because this trigger release connects via the camera’s hot shoe, you can set it and walk away with minimal monitoring of the storm. Keeping the storm in the camera’s frame is the only worry you’ll have. It runs on a 9-volt battery and appears to have long battery life.
Getting the right light sensitivity dialed in is the challenge users mention most. Once that is set, the system works well, even in rainy or otherwise non-optimal conditions. While it is not a time-lapse system, you can adjust the speed of response to lightning strikes, giving you opportunities to create stunning images of one strike or more.
Best Infrared Specialty: MK Controls Lightning Bug
- Trigger Mechanism: Infrared, hot shoe
- Distance Camera to Trigger: N/A
- Speed of Trigger: Varies
- Timelapse: No
- Battery Life: Varies
- Programmable: Yes
With a special infrared optical sensor, this MK system is designed for the science of lightning. Microseconds before our eyes can see the flash, an infrared light is transmitted in the strike’s path. The actual strike follows that to the ground or cloud, and the MK is ready to trigger the shutter to capture it.
The MK runs on a 9-volt battery and attaches to the camera hot shoe, though it can also be used free-standing via a cable. Sony cameras require a separate hot shoe adaptor. It is built to withstand a downpour no matter how you set it up (if your camera and lens are weather-sealed).
This shutter release is designed to be completely programmable by the user. Twenty-six settings for light sensitivity allow you to adjust how bright a strike will create a trigger. You can also set the number of exposures from one to ten, so you can select the one that best expresses the image.
Because light sensitivity coupled with camera settings create the finished product, users note there is a learning curve with this product and practicing is important. Having a fresh battery to run it also appears to be important. Consumers rave about the flexibility of this trigger release and say it produces the best lightning images because you can customize it to such a fine level of detail.
Best Budget: Hahnel Capture Pro
- Trigger Mechanism: Cable, infrared, hot shoe
- Distance Camera to Trigger: Up to 328 ft.
- Speed of Trigger: Varies
- Timelapse: Yes
- Battery Life: Varies
- Programmable: Yes
Spending a little less on a lightning trigger does mean you get fewer features, but with this Hafnel, you might not care about the difference. While this system does a good job on lightning strikes, it shines in its infrared capabilities. If capturing images of wildlife wandering into the frame or freeze action in mid-step interests you, you’ll want this unit.
Most reviews will focus on the infrared features since these seem to be the selling point of the unit. Usual connections are via the hot shoe, with a standard 2.5mm cable or a camera-specific cable providing the rest. Cables do not come with the unit and you must purchase them separately.
This shutter release will work for light sensors, though it appears to work better in low light conditions. You will need to supply a laser for infrared beam-break settings, though an inexpensive one will do. Programming for appropriate delays between trigger and image capture is a critical step in the learning curve.
Instructions are less than ideal, according to customers. Settings on your camera guide the image quality. You’ll need to do some experimenting until you learn what works best for your gear combination. For the price and flexible scenarios of use, this is a good shutter release trigger for outdoor work of many kinds.
Shutter Release Add-ons FAQ
The shutter release of your camera is the difference between making the shot and coming up empty, but not all of them are as capable as you hope.
Therefore, investing in a shutter release add-on is something professional photographers do, or those interested in specific types of shots that require this lighting fast reflex or stability.
We’ve answered a few commonly asked questions about these accessories to show you why they matter, what you need from them, and how to get it, so read on to expand your knowledge.
What Does A Shutter Release Do?
The shutter release button sometimes referred to as the shutter button or shutter release, is the mechanism that releases the shutter of the camera and pulls it open so that it can capture a picture.
These are usually operated by a push button in the usual space where one would press to take a photon.
The shutter of a camera opens for a determined amount of time, and depending on how long it’s opened, it will result in an entirely different image.
The shutter speed may be automatic or manual, and it varies from camera to camera, as well as the preference of the photographer.
There are various attachments like remote controls and automatic sensors that can be attached to cameras that assist with shutter release as well.
There are two types of shutters found in cameras, being mechanical and automatic, however, the automatic kind is more common today.
The longer a shutter is open, the longer the exposure, and vice versa for short shutter releases, and you can play around with this timing to create a unique picture every time.
Do I Need A Remote Shutter Release?
There are many reasons why a photographer might want to use a remote shutter release, and they can be employed by anyone, regardless of skill level or subject matter.
The main purpose of a remote shutter release is to minimize interference from the photographer on the camera, and this occurs in a few different settings.
Firstly, when photographing something under magnification or with a slower shutter speed, you can reduce any shaking from your hands with a remote.
Secondly, these release remotes allow you to press the button without putting your hands anywhere near the camera itself, so there’s no way you can interfere with it.
For photographers who want to take photos of themselves, having a remote is the easiest way to do this.
This saves you from having to set up a timer and then race to get in front of the lens, so a remote control shutter release can allow you to do this on your own time when you’re ready.
How Is Shutter Speed Measured?
The shutter speed of a camera is determined by how long the shutter is open while taking a photo, and this is usually measured in fractions of a second.
A shutter speed of ¼ means one-quarter of a full second, and 1/150 means one one hundred and fiftieth of a second, so you’ll need to learn how to read them.
Today’s DSLRs can range up to 1/4000th of a second in speeds, and professional cameras go above and beyond this to around 1/8000th of a second.
The longest speed possible on this camera is around 30 seconds, and this is usually achieved with shutter release accessories and add-ons like remotes.
The shutter speed determines two main things in a photo: the brightness and the effect.
You can make an image appear as if it’s frozen or blurred just by adjusting the shutter speed, and get a brighter image by allowing the shutter to open for longer and let more light in. it’s one of the most important settings that a photographer will adjust on a camera by far.
How Does Remote Shutter Work?
Every camera comes with a built-in shutter button that releases the shutter of the camera. However, a remote shutter is attached to the camera, either wirelessly or with a cable, and commands the device to perform the shutter release function without having to press anything on the camera.
The wireless shutter release is commonly referred to as an untethered release and it uses a wireless receiver to communicate with the camera.
This is done through a smartphone app or with technology like Bluetooth, infrared, or radio waves, and is preferred if you want no limitations on when and where you can use it.
A wired remote shutter release is called a tethered release and it’s connected with a physical cable and wire from the remote to the camera.
Pressing the button on this device will trigger the shutter release on the camera, and it’s a reliable way to release the shutter, but you are limited to how far the cable can reach.
Perfecting Your Shutter’s Release
The shutter is a crucial part of a camera and if it’s not being released at the precise moment you need it to, or there’s something else getting in its way, you’ll know about it.
The next step for any budding photographer is to start investing in tools and accessories like these shutter release add-ons to help them perfect the shot, and there are some great ones out there to choose from.
Our top picks for shutter release add-ons include those with automatic and programmable features and plenty of extras you can choose from.
These accessories were made to shoot everything from taking pictures of the local wildlife to storm chasing and trying to get the exact moment when the lightning strikes.
There are some tools that every good photographer should have in their arsenal and a quality shutter release accessory is one of them.
This simple addition will give you a quick lesson in shooting and show you the importance of shutter release timing, which is something every photographer should be able to master.
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