The other day I thought it would be cool to turn all my old cameras into remote cameras that I could place in certain spots when I cover events–locations where it would be much easier to click a remote button as opposed to walking across the room and disrupting the flow of an event.  So I went down the rabbit hole of a way to trigger remote cameras at the same time I take a picture from my main camera.  Mirrorless and some late gen DSLRs allow one to take a photo from your phone via WiFi and see the preview/post image, but I needed a solution that remote sports and wedding photographers have used for ages–immediate radio triggering.  After all these years the technology hasn’t changed much, and so the only reliable way really is still Pocket Wizards.

Way back in the day I bought a pair of Pocket Wizards that I only used to trigger studio lights and other off camera speedlights for cameras that didn’t support Nikon’s wireless CLS system.  The PWs could trigger lights from crazy distances, and also trigger remote cameras with the right settings and cables.  If I recall it was really expensive to outfit just one remote camera, not including the price of the camera.  Ballpark, (and pardon me my brain is a bit fuzzy recalling the prices of this now ancient tech) it would have been something like this: several hundreds if not a thousand dollars for a used sports DSLR, $200 for the PW and I think $80 for the proprietary cable.  Basically expensive back in the early to mid years of the DSLR reign.  Fast forward to now and man these things are cheap now.  I’ve been turning my old cameras into remotes for the price of about $30-40 each.

What you see above is one of my old Nikon D300’s with a PW FlexTT5.  The TT5 is actually made for a speedlight, turning it into a TTL radio triggered flash, but it has two memory switches.  By plugging it into a computer and using the PW app, you can change settings like having Setting 1 be a simple remote trigger.  That and a $10-20 cable gives this D300 AF ability.  And by virtue of it being a DSLR, you can have it or the meter set to never go to sleep and you have a remote camera that you can set anywhere and not worry too much about.  It’s sturdy if someone knocks it over, and really cheap on the used market if you need a replacement.  Older gear is many times much better and more useful than we think.

When I’m at events oftentimes people like to converse with me about cameras.  Note I said cameras and not photography, which is fine, it’s just short hand for this visual thing we all enjoy.  But in the nonstop march of consumerism I’ve found many people just buy the latest and greatest and forget about the potential of all this “ancient” tech that I love so much.  Turning these cameras into remotes has so many advantages over dropping used car prices on a new kit.  The other day while replaying Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3, I thought about how the games are made so much easier and more manageable if you summon a friend or NPC to help you in a boss fight.  It’s the same with photography.  While a simple entry level DSLR and kit lens might not be what all the trendy kids online use, once you start thinking of that same setup as a “free” support character that is responsible for giving you the possibility of a lucky unique angle, then all of a sudden its value is much more to the photographer as opposed to what KEH will give you.

I won’t bore you with too many details of all these different camera combos.  But it took some time to figure out which cables and which cameras agreed, what modes, etc.  Some nerd stuff I’ve learned:

The older Pocket Wizard Plus IIs need a stereo to mono adapter to get it to work with older Nikon cameras.  They won’t autofocus without one.  Nikon uses two different cables. So does Canon.  Canon lower tier/Pentax/Fuji all use a simple 3.5 to 2.5mm cable.

There is a way to turn this battery guzzling mirrorless E-M5 into a usable remote camera. Basically you have to turn off the back LCD and EVF and live with the slight wake up time.  Since it has an advantage of being “small” I could put it on a stage/floor camera and no one pays any mind.

And behold, what started off as one, escalated quickly to this madness:

I can trigger all these cameras AT THE SAME TIME as when I take a picture on my main camera.

(and it only takes a minor exif time change to sync them all in post)

Some different future things I can use these for:

-Model shoots, a few cameras can be used for BTS shots or side angles that will probably always look better than the main direct on shot

-situations where I would like a raw file from a side camera for testing purposes but don’t want to shoot it with my main cameras. I can think of the Sigmas for this purpose for sure. 

-the camera doesn’t have to be on a stationary tripod, a light one can go on a monopod and held high for a better perspective of dances, festivals, etc.  These cameras have always had IR line of sight remote triggers, but those never really worked that well for me in bright light, plus you have to always be facing the receiver window.  With PW’s you don’t need line of sight and again it’s as responsive as you can get.

…

Before we get to the samples of what I’ve actually gotten in the last month or so, here’s what I’ve learned.  These remotes and their small stands look cool and small sitting at home, but these things take up so much room in the inventory slot in the car and in your bag and hands walking to a gig.  And I’m only talking about 3 remote setups.  What used to be maybe a one trip thing might be two now with these things.  Also the setup time again, if you separate the cameras and all their fragile cables.

Finding a spot for remote cameras is somewhat hard.  Because safety of the guests and property are paramount.  At almost every gig I work at, no one watches their feet or the photographer’s gear, even if it is right next a big light stand with gear underneath it and human standing right there.  That’s just how it is.  If a spot is good for photos, it will also attract other people that will inevitably block your camera, and also knock it over for good measure.  It could rain, so bring a plastic bag to put over the remote camera.  And lastly the remote cameras are again, more like support characters in a boss fight.  They might not last the whole time, might not even trigger, so you can’t rely on them solely.  The fun is coming home and checking your fishing nets to see if you got anything decent.  I will probably delete 95% of the images on a remote camera, but all it takes is just one image to make it worth the hassle.  At many events I go to I can’t help but see that there are photo/video teams working together.  On and off the scene.  Of course things are much easier that way.  You can be the best one on one basketball player, but in the end it’s a team sport.  These remotes are now a simple and cheap way to bring droids into the battle.

Examples:

(White box is me) Best case use of a remote and ultrawide/fisheye is the straight on front of house or back of the performers angle for symmetry.  Luckily at this event the top of the stage made for a convenient spot for a remote camera that people can see and not trip over, kick, etc.

This lion dance was delayed, so my initial placement of the cameras was messed up so I didn’t really get anything except a few shots of me working, which is actually another plus I forgot to mention.  Having remote cameras set up as BTS cameras is nice too.  It would give people an idea of where I stand and how I position myself to get some of these shots.

The white box denotes me and my first position.  Having a remote camera takes care of normal head to toe plus environment types of shots so I can focus on getting some hero and portrait types of shots in such a small performance window.

This one is always hard, a crowded old Chinese restaurant.  Not too many places where I can put the camera and not be in something’s way.  The first frame I thought that would be a good spot, until a loud speaker was put right in front.  I had one in the corner, but that was no good either.  Oh well.  Again, these show that they are good for BTS shots, to show just what type of settings one has to deal with in order to deliver some decent photos in such a short window.

In good light, the D300 in RAW mode is a beast of a remote camera.  Still so viable in 2024.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Depending on the condition, it would only take $125-150 to have a remote D300.  And that possibly includes the trigger, cable, stand and ball head tripod mount.  It has a generous buffer and can shoot compressed RAW which you can honestly use to get more chances, since you’ll be deleting most shots anyway.

The Pocket Wizards use radio triggering and can go quite far if I recall.  Something like over 1500 feet plus.  So it was easy to trigger the first shot from the back of the crowd on my main camera and the stage left remote camera A as well.

With this setup, you can trip the PW when it is on the hot shoe of the camera, or just trip it with a separate PW in your hand as well.  This can come in handy for truly multiple camera setups with different exposure settings as well.

I oftentimes prefer stage right for photos, but it ultimately depends on the general energy or flow of an event.

So the last shot was captured by one of my remote cameras.  Again, if a spot is good, it’s probably going to be used by someone or a group of people.

That’s it for a first month of testing remote cameras to help me at random gigs and events.  I now have the ability to trigger every brand of camera I think.  That’s a lot “summons” I now have to call on if needed!  There were many events that were not practical or feasible or worth the setup time, but it’s cool to now have this tactic.  Again, I’m not looking for art to come from any of these unmanned cameras, but its nice to at least get different camera angles without all the running around and saving some HP on these weary bones.