Gethin Hill .net - Random Ramblings

Well i’ve decided to do a quick write-up for one of the new toys for my camera i recently bought. It’s the Phottix dSLR Timer Remote.

The Phottix Timer Remote

This remote control allows you to do time-lapse photography, and also allows you easier and more precise control with long exposures (bulb).  It also functions as a basic remote if you want to keep your hands off the camera while shooting from a tripod.

There is an official Canon Timer Remote, the TC-80N3, however it costs a lot more and the input plug would need to be modified to fit with my EOS 400d/Rebel XTi,  so i decided to try this 3rd party one out. I scored it from Ebay for about $55AU including postage. I’m pretty sure there are versions available for other non-Canon users too.

My initial impressions out of the box were that it was quite large, larger than i expected (see photo with it in hand further in post), however this really doesn’t bother me as it’s a comfortable size to hold, and not easy to lose.  It’s made out of plastic but seems to be quite well built and solid, but not overly heavy, even with batteries inside. Also, it wasn’t long before i realised there’s no way to turn off the device! A strange feature exclusion i thought, but ah well, not a major hassle by any means.

But enough about how it looks, how does it work and how does it perform i hear you asking..  Well keep reading..

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just a quick note about an upcoming game that i heard about a little while back.

It’s called Afrika and is a safari game where you are a photographer and are given various missions to go and capture specific shots throughout the wide open land of ‘Afrika’. It will take advantage of the PS3’s sixaxis motion controlled controller, where if you aren’t holding it steady, it will show in the photo results, just like in real life.  Better photo’s will earn better cash, allowing you to upgrade your camera equipment.

Sony’s camera division have worked closely with Rhino Studios (the makers of the game) to incorporate the Sony Alpha series of dSLR cameras into the game in detail, down to shutter sound and lens operation.

National Geographic have also been involved in the project, with editors of the magazine supervising the in-game animal antics such as behavior and animations, and also allowing use of their videos and photos for the in-game animal encyclopedia.

This is one game I’m definitely looking forward to checking out.. Should be great for those video gaming photographers stuck indoors when the weathers bad.. and who hasn’t wanted to go on an African safari!

it’s released on the 28th of this month (August) in Japan, not sure about when for the rest of the world. here’s a video with the trailers.

hi all,

been busy with workin to save money for my upcoming trip to Nepal in a little over a months time and so haven’t had much time to dedicate to photography.. however, in saying that, i have taken quite a few photo’s and have some to upload to the gallery, im sure, but i haven’t had time to sort through them yet!

also, got my first trojan/virus in quite some time.. somethin called Virtumonde or Vundo. It took a few days to figure out what it was as the only thing it was doing was not allowing me to access certain websites, mainly those requiring cookies such as ebay and facebook and most forums i use, and also not allowing me access to my own websites! crazy virus but its all sorted now.

So i’ll try get onto sorting through these photos so i can post some new stuff up in the gallery.  Also, i have recently aquired some new camera/photography accessories so i plan to start reviewing some of the equipment I own.. I know that i personally like to research things before spending hard earnt money on them, and for some pieces of equipment there’s very little information out there to be found so I figure i’ll do it and hopefully someone out there may find it useful one day.  So keep your eyes out for that..