Arnoud Quanjer Wildlife Photography

A remote release, also called cable release, is an attachment that connects to your camera allowing you to trip the shutter while being isolated from the camera - to reduce camera shake or to operate the camera from a distance. A remote release is especially useful for long exposures with the camera mounted on a tripod. In the analogue era most remote releases, or cable release as they were called back then, used to consist of a flexible tube, usually made from a spiral of metal covered in rubber, or plastic, through which a steel cable ran. A press-button at one end would work as a piston to press the release at the camera end. In the current digital age all remote releases work electronically rather than mechanically.

All major camera manufacturers offer remote releases, and most manufacturers offer three flavors:

• Remote release 
  This remote release connects to the camera through a cable which plugs into the camera. It basically offers one button which you can use to focus and take a picture just like you would by using the shutter release button on your camera. Some offer the option of locking the remote release button for long exposures. 
   
• Remote release with timer options
  This remote release connects to the camera through a cable which plugs into the camera. These types of remote releases usually offer four primary functions: self timer, interval timer, long exposure and an exposure count setting. These kinds of remote releases can for instance be used for time-lapse photography. 
   
• Wireless remote release
  With these devices a receiver is connected to the camera and a transmitter is used for focussing and taking pictures. These kinds of remotes offer the same basic functions as the remote release which is connected to the camera. To my knowledge wireless remotes don't offer timer and other advanced options.

I use both a remote release and a remote release with times options. The remote release which I use is a Canon Remote Switch RS-80N3 and the release with timer functions is a Yongnuo TC-80N3b. 

Remote release

Canon's most basic remote release is the Remote Switch RS-80N3. This is a very basic device which connects to the remote release connector (N3 port) of compatible Canon EOS Digital SLR cameras. Compatible cameras include the Canon EOS 1D, 1Ds, 1DS MARK II, 1DS Mark III, 1D Mark II, 1D Mark III, 1D Mark IV, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, D30 and D60. Missing an N3 port, the Rebel series (4xxD and 5xxD) models are not compatible. There is one button on the RS-80N3. Like the camera's shutter release, the RS-80N3 supports a half-press or full press - which releases the shutter. In addition, the remote release button slides forward while pressed in - this will lock the shutter open in B (Bulb) mode. I use this remote mainly to take star trail images as they require exposures of up to 90 minutes. Check the star trail article for more information.  

Although the RS-80N3 is a very basic device it is still pretty expensive at around USD/EUR 50. There are many cheap, usually Chinese, imitations and some of them work just as good as the RS-80N3 at a fraction of the price.   

Remote release with timer functions

Canon's remote release with timer functions is the Remote Switch TC-80N3. This sophisticated remote release offers the following functionality:

• Self timer
  Just like the self timer on your camera. Except where most Canon bodies offer either a 2 second delay or a 10 second delay, the TC-80N3 allows you to set any delay (in 1 second increments) up to 99 hours, 99 minutes and 99 seconds. 
   
• Interval timer
  The interval timer can be set to any time period up to 100 hours as well. If you set it to 10 minutes, for example, one exposure will be taken every 10 minutes until either you've filled up your CF/SD card or the exposure count limit has been reached. 
   
• Long exposures
  Using the long exposure option you can take timed exposures of up to 100 hours in length. 
   
• Exposure count
  Using this setting you can specify the number of exposures that will be taken, up to a total 99. You can combine this setting with the auto-bracketing capability of the compatible cameras.

Each of these capabilities is pretty useful in and of themselves. The real strength of the TC-80N3 though lies though in its ability combine these settings to create for instance star trails, time lapse images or HDR images. The options are almost endless and only limited by your own creativity. The TC-80N3 can of course also be used as a basic remote release just like the RS-80N3. The TC-80N3 basically does everything that you want it to do, but it has one major flaw and that is its price. Expect to pay around USD/EUR 125 for it. In my opinion this is way too expensive for a piece of equipment which basically does nothing else than keeping the shutter open for a specified amount of time. The electronics needed to perform the functions it offers can't be rocket science and don't justify its price.  

Yongnuo TC-80N3b  

I want to try my hand at time-lapse photography so I needed to get a remote release with timer functions. As I think the Canon TC-80N3 is too expensive I decided to try a cheap Chinese imitation of the Canon TC-80N3 and after some research on Internet I decided to buy the Yongnuo TC-80N3b. The functions of the Yongnuo TC-80N3b are identical to those of the Canon TC-80N3 and reviews on Internet forums were very positive. As it only costs USD 35 including international shipping from Hong Kong I decided to take the risk that it was a piece of junk and I bought it. It was delivered within a week of ordering it at dealextreme.com. Considering the fact that it is USD 100 cheaper than the Canon TC-80N3 I expected the overall build quality to be inferior to the Canon Canon TC-80N3. I was pleasantly surprised, the build quality is very good and maybe as good as that of the Canon TC-80N3. There are two small things in which it, in my opinion, is inferior to the Canon TC-80N3. The first thing is the N3 connector. The connector is plastic and doesn't look to be as solid as the connector on the Canon remote. The proper Canon plug locks into the socket in the camera body with a sliding metal collar and the Yongnuo version just presses in. That's probably fine but it's not as secure as the genuine article. The second thing is the backlight of the screen. The viewing angle of the screen when it is lit is very narrow and it can very quickly become difficult to see anything on the screen. When the screen is not lit the viewing angle is fine. 

The Yongnuo remote comes with a manual in Chinese and English. Usually the use of the English language in manuals that come with Chinese products is very creative but in this case they seem to have found someone to write the manual that actually speaks English. The manual is very good and is strangely similar to the Canon manual ;).    

I've only used the Yongnuo TC-80N3b for a couple of weeks now but up till now it has worked flawlessly.