I recently noticed that some of my photos taken with a telephoto lens are blurry! What’s with that!? After doing a little Yosemite Sam hot temper dance, here’s what I discovered:
As I was browsing through the numerous photos I took of the moon the other day, I remembered, the first bunch were taken by me pressing the shutter button on the camera while I was still playing around with my exposure settings.
All of these were blurry…
I couldn’t understand why at first. I had selected a pretty quick shutter speed at 1/125 for the moon (because it moves super fast). Plus, I don’t Superman punch the shutter button to take the shot, I thought I was pretty gentle in my shutter button pressing. So why the heck was it blurry?
Then I remembered, once I had found the settings I liked, I started using my wireless camera remote to take the shot.
All of these were sharp!
So, I decided to try a little experiment.
With a 400mm focal length, if I touch the camera in any way, whether it’s to adjust the settings, gently move the tripod ball head, or press the shutter, the camera shakes for 10 seconds afterwards.
10 whole seconds! That’s a long time!
This is why my first batch of photos were blurry. Lesson learned!
Helpful Hint: When using a long focal length (like 400mm) use the wireless camera remote to get sharp shots.
This is just one of my camera remotes.
In total, I have three!
Why the heck do you need three, might you ask? Let me share my experience so far:
REMOTE #1
The wired remote
This is just a simple press or press and slide to lock the button down and continually take photos.
I use this little guy when I’m taking time lapses or long exposure shots up to 30 seconds.
Helpful Hint: One thing to note when using this camera remote is to change the shooting mode to continuous shooting in the camera settings when taking time lapses. Simply pushing and sliding the button to lock it down won’t work to take multiple shots if it’s in single shooting mode.
It took me a couple of tries to figure this out. Hopefully it can save you some frustration when you’re trying to get a time-lapse of that perfect sunset!
REMOTE #2
The intervalometer remote
Who comes up with these names by the way? Anywho, this is my go-to when taking long exposure shots that are more than 30 seconds.
It’s also wonderful for when I’ve calculated how long of a time-lapse I want to capture because I can set this camera remote and forget it!
For example, if I’m capturing the Milky Way travelling across the sky for 2 hours so that I can get an 8 second time-lapse, I can just preset the remote to:
- capture the number of shots I want,
- at the shutter speed I want,
- with an exact delay that I want to give the camera enough time to process the data.
Then I go nap in my car.
Very handy tool for keeping a somewhat regular sleep pattern while photographing the stars.
Helpful Hint: Don’t forget to bring two AAA batteries for this guy! There’s no on/off switch, so I just take the batteries out once I’m finished. I’ve forgotten the batteries at home before though… after an hours drive out to shoot the stars… I was not a happy bear. Until I saw the awesome photos show up on my LCD screen, then I was okay!
REMOTE #3
The wireless remote
I’ll just do a quick recap on this one.
This wireless camera remote is great for capturing shots when I want to avoid camera shake all-together.
It comes in especially handy when I’m using a long focal length, like even 135mm.
Sometimes I think even holding the wired remotes, then pressing the shutter on the remote and gently releasing the remote to let it hang down causes camera shake.
Especially when I’m using a long shutter speed.
So to be safe, once I have my settings in place, and I’m not taking a time-lapse, I just use my wireless one.
Helpful Hint: The wireless remote only works when holding it in front of the camera. Standing behind the camera and pressing the button on the wireless remote won’t do a darn thing. So I just stand behind the camera so I can see my LCD screen and then hold the remote out in front and then press the button.
Also, make sure the rounded edge is facing the camera. If you look at the image of the remote above, you can see there’s a little arrow.
But you certainly can’t see this little arrow in the dark, so just remember, rounded edge to camera!
I do wish the wireless remote had a bit of a farther reach though. I think I can stand about 15′ away before losing the connection with this little infrared remote.
Not bad if I want to capture a memory with my husband and myself in the near foreground, but we can’t roam too far.
Maybe down the road I’ll have 4 camera remotes so that I can capture us out in the distance! Kidding, kidding… or am I?
Just Sam
Ok…you take the mystery and complexity out of photography, bear! You have inspired me to pick up my camera and take it off “Auto” mode and hop to it. I really like how you give “instructions” with the camera settings for your photos. I’m going to follow along. Great job!
Claire
Wow, hearing that this inspires you just makes my day Sam! Awesome, I’m so happy that you’ll be joining me on this photography journey! Thanks so much for your kind words!
I was looking into a Bluetooth remote as my second (wired came with camera kit) and was hoping you had some thoughts on that one.
Hey Michelle! I’ve been eyeing up the Spark from Alpine Labs lately. I really like that it has a 100 foot bluetooth range and that I’d be able to do long exposures, time lapses and HDR bracketing in the app. The interface seems user friendly too. I’d like to see a few more reviews on it before making the decision though. Which bluetooth remote were you looking at?
I was looking at a JJC but switched to the Pixel 2.4GHz wireless. It’s the right price range for me right now. 😉 I couldn’t find the one you mentioned on Amazon in a quick search.
The other day I used Camera Connect on my iPad and took pictures of hummingbirds at the feeder while sitting on the couch! I just wish it would have refocused on the bird instead of the feeder. Also there was strange delay going on, which is why I was looking into wireless remotes. Haven’t found any yet that say anything about the half-press for focus capability.
I think the Spark is a little too new on the market. I haven’t seen it in Amazon either, but I do like the look of the Pixel 2.4GHz. I hadn’t considered this one yet so thank you for sharing! It would be better on my pockets as well.
That sounds lovely, those little guys are sure speedy! Yes, I find my CameraConnect lags too sometimes, which is why I tried the infrared remote, but it only works when you’re standing in front of the camera. Back on the farm, I tried setting up the camera right next to the feeder once and sat about 15 feet in front with my arm outstretched ready to go with the infrared remote. Somehow the hummingbirds still decided to come, and I was able to catch a couple photos, but it’s really not practical for quick snaps. 😂
It looks like with the Pixel, we can activate the focus by half-pressing the button. I wonder how well it would refocus though so you wouldn’t have the same issue with focussing on the feeder instead of the hummingbird. If you do decide to give this one a try, I would love to hear your thoughts!
I thought of one more thing that might help. On my Canon, I can change the focus mode to ‘AI Servo.’ This way, I can keep that moving subject as sharp as possible. Hopefully this helps with focussing on the quick little hummingbird!
Hmmm, the reply button isn’t working for me on the desktop computer either.
Thank you Bear for the wonderful blog! I think I’ve read most of it today and will definitely have to re-read next week when I’m on vacation messing with my new camera.
I had it set for AI Servo, but the hummers were perched on the feeder, not moving. I see there’s no way to share my photo with you here, so I signed up for Instagram and figured out how to upload 3 of them there. I’ll play with that more, I’m sure. I found you and clicked the follow button so hopefully you can find me.
Thanks,
Michelle
My dear Michelle, you have absolutely made my day. Thank you so much for stopping by!
I’m sorry the reply button isn’t working. Which devices are you having trouble with? I’ll contact the tech team here to get it fixed.
Your kind words are so much appreciated and I’m so glad you like the blog! Have so much fun on your vacation!
Ah, I see. Oh perfect, I’ll have a peek! Thanks so much for sharing and have a wonderful evening!
Kind regards,
Claire
Good Morning,
I am using Safari on a new iPad and tried Chrome on my Win10 PC last night.
Thank you,
Good morning! Thank you so much Michelle, I’ll get on this. Have a wonderful day!