A couple of days ago I was contacted by the creator of Nero triggers and asked to make a review of their acclaimed product for camera multi-trigger and they sent me a unit to test.
They assured me this was a production unit but the hot-shoe mount was not yet completely finished so they had to replace it with a hand made one which fits perfectly on my Canon cameras.
This is a multi-trigger system for sound, light and moving objects as well as time lapse and laser triggering.
This can work with any camera with the dedicated cable. I was able to test this with Canon 1D MarkIV, Canon 5D MarkII, Canon 5D MarkIII, Canon Powershot G12 and Olympus OM-D E5 all with great success.
About the device:
NERO is a versatile device for photographers to take special photographs by triggering their SLRs or external flashes.
The device has been designed based on microcontroller technology. It is equipped with built-in light, laser and sound sensors, also incorporates a timer for flexible control of timelapse photography.
The Nero MultiTrigger has 10 built-in functions listed below:
- Lightning Trigger
- Sound Trigger
- Sound Trigger with Lock
- Time Lapse (1-10 secs)
- Time Lapse (1-10 mins)
- Laser Trigger with Delay
- Laser Trigger with MultiShot
- Long Exposure
- Super Bulb
- Manual Trigger
So here are my thoughts about this great product that I've been testing day in day out on it's functionality.
The box come in well packed and delivered very fast by DHL express service.
Inside the box you will have a full booklet with the instructions on how to use the unit. You can also download it directly from the NERO page
here.
It came with a Canon cable that was under the unit box.
Here is in detail the connection for the 5D and 1D Canon series.
After power the unit it looks like this with a bunch of lights that represent the mode settings.
Here is set to Timelapse Trigger (mins). Each bar represents a mode of the 10 the unit have available.
On one of the sides you have the mode button (M) and the selector button for the active function (C) and a wheel to change the sensitivity of the mode you have chosen.
On the other side of the panel you have the On/Off switch, the Flash input to plug and trigger external flashes and the SLR input to trigger DSLR or other cameras.
On the front of the unit you have the light trigger sensor.
On the base of the unit you have the hot-shoe mount.
This unit came with a hand made hot-shoe but the manufacturer assured me that this was a temporary situation and that the shipping units are coming with a well built hot-shoe. Although this was not a problem to mount it on the camera I did found that was a disappointment to have such a hot-shoe mount for the price you pay for the unit.
Here are the cables I used to test it. Canon 1D & 5D, Canon Powershot 50D/60D and Olympus trigger (Left to Right).
The one shipped with the NERO unit is the one on the bottom and it worked perfectly with my Phottix trigger that takes separate cables to work.
Here is the Phottix unit reversed (Phottix TC-501) so you can order cables from other places in case you have different cameras.
Here is a size measure of the unit in my hand so you will get a feeling how small this unit is.
Another measure of the unit compared with 3 standard AA batteries although the unit takes 2 AAA batteries to operate.
The unit needs a Philips screwdriver so you can replace the batteries has they are inside the sealed plastic cover.
This can be an inconvenient when out in the field and batteries needed to be changed.
When unscrewed the 4 screws here is what you will see.
Let's take a closer look...
When I opened the unit for the first time I also noticed that it was covered with dust and some metal parts were already with rust. Do not know if this is because of the sample unit or if all the production units will come like this.
Take the batteries out and as you can see the unit is a little rusty and with no care for dust. I had to blow the unit out of dust who also led me think that these are made one by one in a hand made in a no sealed environment.
A closer look at the battery contacts and you can see the rust and dust particles all over.
After a few rocket blown the dust disappeared but the rust still remains, let's see how long it will take before the unit stop working. Only time will tell... hope they will take this in attention for the next built units.
After cleaning the unit it was time to close things up and make it to test.
The unit performed with excellent results for every camera I tested and under the situations it was build to.
I found out, and after playing with it for a while, that the bar system is a little complicated to memory leading you to almost frustration in the field in case you forget the instruction manual, also the fact that you cannot replace batteries on the fly is another inconvenient.
I also wish they could have implemented an external input so you can add and use your own inputs.
I contact NERO about this and they told me that they are preparing another unit with an LCD and an easy access to replaceable batteries without removing the cover.
Hope this will come soon than later has there is another unit on the market with some of this functions and with an LCD.
Features of the unit:
- Multi-Cable / Camera Capability is now STANDARD. No
need to buy another trigger if you have two cameras or when you upgrade
to a different model/brand
- It is possible to trigger Flash or DSLR with standart 2.5 and 3.5 mm interfaces (unique NERO feature)
- Extremely sensitive optical sensor to detect lightning events
- Day or night detection of fast lightning events
- Allow for Image Review after Every Shot
- Response (lag) time in milliseconds level
- 10 level sensitivity adjustment and display
- Optical isolated output to fully protect DSLR from any potential harms
- Hot shoe mount for most SLR/DSLR cameras
- Includes Duracell 2xAAA battery
- Microcontroller-based design
The price of the unit starts at US 117,00 and goes up depending on what functionality you would like on the unit.
You can also buy dedicated cables at their web page for Nikon and Canon models look them
here.
This is an excellent product for a specific kind of photography and it's one of the smallest I came across also the price is very good considering the number of things you can do with it.
Extremely recommended!!!
Check out the
photo gallery of what you can do with this baby.
Here are some example videos:
Lightning Trigger mode
Sound Trigger mode
Time Lapse mode
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