AIR BULB RELEASES! Need critical feedback!

[John Koehrer]

You could always use one of the old self timers that screwed into the cable release threads.

 

[Francis in VT]

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

Probably could have been explained clearer.
The tube is in sections. You don't have to use the complete 84' of the largest Rowi unit but with the larger size you also get a larger bulb which translates to more air. Writing from experience, I had two customers years ago, the first one had a Exakta and the other had a roll film Polaroid. Both cameras required a lot of pressure to fire the shutter. We started off with the smallest unit and then the middle unit. The middle unit (24')
would fire the shutter intermittingly. we then tried the largest Rowi unit (84') which did it every time.

 

[Q.G.]

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?

A bit of advertising, but not too much:
These thingies.

They come in a few different versions, and are sold on eBay by many sellers.
Mind that you get a cheap one: a lot of sellers have found these things, and are flogging them for multiples of what you can get them for when you shop around a tiny bit.

Don't let the "Canon" thing distract you. They are sold with all sorts of plugs, but you probably will have to change that for one that fits your camera anyway. So any will do.
They have a two-step release, half depressed to activate the autofocus , full depressed to release the camera. You can wire a replacement plug to use either (or both) contact.

There is a slightly more sophisticated version too, which has an additional delay. A self timer, if you like.
But that's not something you'll need.

These thingies work very well.
I bought a couple for approx. US$ 15 each, including shipping. No pocket wizard or Elinchrom sky port (or whatever these thingies may be called) can match that.

 

[Holly]

QG, i'm starting to love the idea of this radio remote, but i just wanna check: the camera i wanna use
it with (maybe) (all going well) is a Mamiya RZ pro 2. and you reckon that with a bit of tweaking of
the actual PLUG on these things, that i can adapt it to fit my cable release socket on the lens, and the thing will
fire the shutter? for 15 bucks US? that would be freakin amazing.

 

[Holly]

QG, i'm starting to love the idea of this radio remote, but i just wanna check: the camera i wanna use
it with (maybe) (all going well) is a Mamiya RZ pro 2. and you reckon that with a bit of tweaking of
the actual PLUG on these things, that i can adapt it to fit my cable release socket, and the thing will
fire the shutter? for 15 bucks US? that would be freakin amazing.

 

[Holly]

oopsie sorry, double posted with edit due to extreme fatigue! long day at art school.

 

[Q.G.]

Holly,

It depends.

It depends on whether or not you can find a plug that fits the RZ, and whether ot not you find out what contacts are used to trigger the camera. (And on how good you are using a soldering iron).

It also depends on whether or not you can find an eBay seller offering these thingies for US$ 15 or thereabouts.

But yes!

 

[Ian David]

Hi Holly

I have a Japanese Hama air bulb cable release (about 20 feet long) and find that it works very well. It has served me well for several years anyway. I think the secret with air bulbs is not to be brutal with them - just a nice even increasing pressure. (If the air bulb you have used in the past is art school equipment, it has probably been used and abused for a long time.)

It has the advantage over a self-timer that you can choose exactly when the exposure happens. The Chinese remotes look handy (if you can sort out a connection with your RZ), but the fewer things I own which require batteries the better, I reckon.

Ian

 

[resummerfield]

......look for one with the name 'ROWI'. They were far superior to the ones from Japan.......

For what its worth, about 20 years ago I bought a ROWI, made in Germany, and it is still working perfectly.

 

[John Koehrer]

QG, i'm starting to love the idea of this radio remote, but i just wanna check: the camera i wanna use
it with (maybe) (all going well) is a Mamiya RZ pro 2. and you reckon that with a bit of tweaking of
the actual PLUG on these things, that i can adapt it to fit my cable release socket, and the thing will
fire the shutter? for 15 bucks US? that would be freakin amazing.

No it's not going to fit the cable release socket, The RZ uses an electronic switch for a cable release. It's on the body. What's been suggested is that you get a Mamiya release and the wireless remote and solder the Mamiya plug to the remote.
If you had a remote release with a solenoid it could go to the standard cable release receptacle.

 

[Holly]

Aha, ok, I am no soldering expert, sadly I think I would just end up electrocuting myself
if I tried that.
The Hama air release is the one I had borrowed, IanDavid, and it's great but the owner of
it even complained of its sluggishness and that was after owning it for maybe a year or less?
so it wasn't a thrashed art school release, i steer clear of those if i can. and the Hama had
been looked after very well, the owner is a pro and not likely to ruin his own stuff.
so the jury is out on Hama.
What 's the availability of Rowi's? hard to find?