AIR BULB RELEASES! Need critical feedback!

Holly · Mar 13, 2009

Hi All,

What is the best and MOST RELIABLE air bulb cable release you have ever used?

I am going to buy one, am a very poor art student and can only afford to buy once and buy well, so please do tell your opinions on cable releases, to hopefully save me money and hassles in life

I need the kind with the pump for my work, and it must fit my RZ Pro 2. Have used a Hama 30' air bulb release and loved it but found it slightly reluctant to fire at crucial moments (self portaits usually.)

jolefler · Mar 13, 2009

Do RZ lenses have a built in self timer?

You may not need to buy anything. Sharpest pictures come from the mirror locked up before the shutter triggers. Look for a "V" (I think) on the same mechanism for "M" and "X" sync.

Jo

Holly · Mar 13, 2009

Ah yes, mirror lockup is good, but see what I intend to do is to be in the picture I'm taking, using the air cable release (which is hidden in shot) to fire the shutter while keeping my hands free and up to 10 metres away from the camera, so a cable is always necessary. Unless I misunderstand you?

archphoto · Mar 13, 2009

The cheapest way to do this: ask a friend to take the shot !
Probably the best and safest way too.

Peter

nemo999 · Mar 13, 2009

Any air release will fit the RZ (which does not have a self-timer, which in any case would not be totally vibration-free).

In the UK there seem to be a lot of second-hand air releases around which were sold by the big dealer chain Jessops - I have several, they tend to cost £5 or less on e-bay.

I think you will find any other air release behaves the same way as the Hama one you have tried, i.e. it will need a fairly positive squeeze to make it work and if you are pressing it with your foot while sitting down, this may not be enough.

Holly · Mar 13, 2009

hmm, i have the photographers' affliction of control-freakism though lol!
plus a lot of the time, in my photographs I tend to be scantily clad and it's a fairly
personal moment anyway.

archphoto · Mar 13, 2009

That RZ is all electronic: can't you hook up an electrical release ? > plug for RZ>cable>switch ?

archphoto · Mar 13, 2009

I can do that with my D !

Q.G. · Mar 13, 2009

For about the same you would have to pay for an air bulb release, you can get one of those Chinese radio remotes.
You may have to either look for one with the right plug, put a new plug on the thingy (very easy), or cobble together an adapter cable.

These radio remotes work very well! Much better than those air releases.

removed account4 · Mar 13, 2009

look for a degroff release
they cost a bit more
but it will be the last release you
ever buy.

calumet still sells them ...

Lopaka · Mar 13, 2009

archphoto said:
That RZ is all electronic: can't you hook up an electrical release ? > plug for RZ>cable>switch ?

The RZ has a place for traditional mechanical releases.
It also has a plug for electro type releases (proprietary) the only one currently listed is only 3 feet. It appears that an air release is the least expensive. Mamiya lists an infrared remote at about $200.

Bob

Q.G. · Mar 13, 2009

Lopaka said:
It also has a plug for electro type releases (proprietary) the only one currently listed is only 3 feet. It appears that an air release is the least expensive. Mamiya lists an infrared remote at about $200.

All you need to know is what two pins need to be shorted to trip the camera.
With that knowedge, you can make up all sorts of releases, as cheap or expensive as you like.

The radio remotes i mentioned go for next to nothing, including batteries and shipping. And they have a much greater range than that expensive IR remote.

The choice, as they say, is yours.

nemo999 · Mar 13, 2009

Q.G. said:
The radio remotes i mentioned go for next to nothing, including batteries and shipping. And they have a much greater range than that expensive IR remote.

Do you have a reference for this? I looked for remotes out of curiosity and the only remote shutter releases (as opposed to flash triggers) I could find work only with 1 or a small number of digital SLRs.

jolefler · Mar 13, 2009

What I meant is...

set up the shot, set the self timer, trip the shutter, go get in the shot. My
in-lens self timers give you 10-20 seconds. The mirror lock-up is just an opptional plus.

Jo

Lopaka · Mar 13, 2009

jolefler said:
set up the shot, set the self timer, trip the shutter, go get in the shot. My
in-lens self timers give you 10-20 seconds. The mirror lock-up is just an opptional plus.

Jo

OK, but I own 6 RZ lenses - none of them has a self-timer.

Bob

Holly · Mar 14, 2009

Jolefler, as far as i know, the RZ has no self timer...bummer.
i'm thinking that one day in the future when perhaps digital technology makes it
possible for remotes to be cheaper and less hard to get, i will go for one of those.
but in the meantime i am going to have to be stingy and economical with an
air release.
i'll definately check out Calumet. have never heard of degroff, but here in Aus its not
hard not to know about such things, the photo supply market is tiny compared to the US.

Leigh Youdale · Mar 15, 2009

Holly,
I have an unknown brand of air release with a 5 metre tube (I see you've used one twice that length) and it works quite well. I'm thinking that part of the problem with the "sluggish" performance you mention is simply due to airflow resistance in the longer tube and/or the extra compression of the greater air volume in such a long tube. Maybe you could make a shorter tube to test if this is having an effect?

It's an unusual bit of equipment these days and there are a couple of places I'd look. First, there's a couple of Camera Collectors Fairs coming up. Sydney on Sunday March 29th, and Canberra on May 3rd. I can give you details if you want, or buy a copy #137 of Photographic Trader at a good newsagents where these events are advertised. Second, I'd recommend buying the magazine anyway as you can place a "Want-To-Buy" ad in it and it is widely read by collectors so you might get lucky there.

Leigh

Q.G. · Mar 15, 2009

If the decision is for such an air release anyway (for half of what you have to pay in shops for these thingies, you can - as mentioned - get a radio remote that works much better), one thing to keep in mind with these air releases is that they leak.

You will be able to give a sharp squeeze and generate enough pressure to trigger the camera (though sometimes not - squeeze too slow, and the pressure releases as quick as you squeeze the bulb), but it is impossible to keep the pressure up.

So not the thing to use with Hasselblads (they need the release held depressed for the duration of the exposure), or any other camera at "B".

michael9793 · Mar 15, 2009

When I don't have my cable release on my Pentax 67II I use the self timer, mirror lockup. this works great. and it is already on the camera. But if you want a air release you can get one on e-bay for almost nothing. It is a very simple devise in that it is a bulb tubing and s solenoid that the air pushes against.

nemo999 · Mar 15, 2009

michael9793 said:
When I don't have my cable release on my Pentax 67II I use the self timer, mirror lockup. this works great. and it is already on the camera. But if you want a air release you can get one on e-bay for almost nothing. It is a very simple devise in that it is a bulb tubing and s solenoid that the air pushes against.

For "solenoid" read "plunger". A solenoid has a moving core (armature) and a coil - when the coil is energized with electricity, the armature moves. Solenoids are commonly used to switch a heavy current by means of a light one - but you won't find one on an air release!

Francis in VT · Mar 15, 2009

Holly; If you look for one on ebay as michael9793 suggests look for one with the
name 'ROWI'. They were far superior to the ones from Japan. They came in 3 different sizes, 9 ft, 24 ft and 84 ft. The strength or push increased along with the length.

Holly · Mar 19, 2009

FrancisVT - that sounds too good to be true: the strength increases with the length of the tube?

Leigh - great to know there's camera fairs going on, i had no idea! will definately get along to the canberra one, that's
where i live conveniently enough. and yes you are probably right about the pressure slowing with the longer
cable length. i just can't see any way around that unless as you say i try using a shorter cable. its just great to have
the flexibility of 10m.

QG - can you tell me exactly what you mean with the radio remote ? i have seen an elinchrom system for remotely
firing flashes at far distances, but i'm not sure if that's what you're talking about?

jolefler · Mar 19, 2009

Wow! I'm so surprized the RZ wouldn't have a self-timer! It's so handy for a multitude of uses one would think they'd be in every system camera.

BobNewYork · Mar 19, 2009

Holly - check out Ebay. There are several on there - around USD30 or so - some of 'em less. I'm not sure what plug the RZ takes but you can look at the photos on the site. They're shipped direct from China. But as O.G. says all you need to do id find out which two pins on the camera to short and you could adapt any of them. It's a radio receiver which plugs into the camera and a separate transmitter with a release button.

Bob H

Holly · Mar 19, 2009

well i'm sure there's some logical reason why RZs don't have selftimer, but it does suck that they don't!
i haven't done large amoounts of research on them lately, maybe even newer Pro II's with digi backs
have that function? i can only dream.

AIR BULB RELEASES! Need critical feedback!

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