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How to trigger AR7II wirelessly & remotely when shooting tethered?

rupho

New member
How to trigger AR7II wirelessly when shooting tethered?

Here is my dilemma: the Sony got only one micro USB multi-port and that’s occupied by the tethering cable already. Important: for practical reasons I need to be able to fire the camera’s shutter from a distance of up to 50m. / 150 feet.
That means Sony’s offerings don’t work: I tried the wireless app to trigger from a smart phone as well as the Infrared Trigger form Sony. Both cannot cover that distance.

My own Photix trigger units would need to access the Micro USB port on the Sony where I got the tether cable. I tried the wireless set up on the Sony which is too slow to transmit RAW and apparently so are the EYE-Fi cards from what I read.

I see 2 possibilities:
a: find a MicroUSB splitter (male/2 female) but I could not find those and I am wondering if the camera could even handle that or
b: are there radio controlled trigger systems (s.a. Pocket wizards) that work via the camera’s hot shoe WITHOUT having to be connected to the camera’s Micro USB multi port? But ideally I would like to maintain the option of still being able to fire flash with this set up.

I normally use an Alpa FPS for this particular shooting situation and it got all the necessary connectors (PC socket for flash, connector for the Photix trigger and tethering through the IQ260 connector).
Any ideas how to overcome this limitation on the Sony?

thanks in advance

Grischa
 
If you're capturing to C1 Pro, you can run Capture Pilot on an iDevice and use it to trigger the camera. Of course, you can always just fire right from the keyboard too. Do you need something different for your situation?

CB
 

Owen

Member
If you're capturing to C1 Pro, you can run Capture Pilot on an iDevice and use it to trigger the camera. Of course, you can always just fire right from the keyboard too. Do you need something different for your situation?

CB
I find that C1/capture pilot has a slight lag which a pocket wizard does not. I'm missing this feature big time.
 

rupho

New member
If you're capturing to C1 Pro, you can run Capture Pilot on an iDevice and use it to trigger the camera. Of course, you can always just fire right from the keyboard too. Do you need something different for your situation?

CB
thanks Chris
well in my particular case I have the camera tethered to the laptop but I need to to be able to stray away up to 150 feet from the camera to trigger it.
Capture Pilot does to my knowledge not reach that far without setting up its own wifi router and I would not even need the ability to get an iPad feed set up.
I just need to bridge the fact that the Sony does only have one USB port and I could not find any alternative to getting full size RAW into my laptop without cable tethering. All wireless solutions (in camera and EYE-Fi )are too slow IMO - at least when it comes to RAW files.
Juts now I found some second party vertical grips that got some radio remote controlled transmitter coming with it. Its called : Neewer® LCD 2.4GHz Wireless Remote Control Pro Battery Grip, but they have not gotten a new A7RII version and I cannot understand how this grip communicates with the camera and what the reach for the remote is labeled for.

(http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UL2GA6A?&tag=briasmitphot-20)

any thoughts on one of those grips?

thank you

Grischa
 

rupho

New member
thanks after much deliberations and even BH expert talk I could not find a solution until I stumbled over a very similar product: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UL2GA6A?&tag=briasmitphot-20
Amazon sells this Neewer hand grip and I have a feeling the one you suggested comes from the same manufacturer. Both are offered at Amazon US (not BH nor Adorama) I even tried the otherwise great Sony app for Remote controlling the camera for for some stupid reason once the app is activated on the A7RII its disconnects the tether connection.
very frustrating. Those issues don't come up on the Canon's thats for sure.
but thank you for your suggestion I am trying to figure out what the difference between the 2 products is. In fact Amazon even got a third product MCOplus that almost identical to bother other offerings.
I assume the battery grip which is offered for the A7II is identical to the A7RII?
best regards

Grischa


 

Owen

Member
I emailed Meike about the effective range and their answer was "in theory, about 100m'. I'll order a unit and see how it does.
 

rupho

New member
I emailed Meike about the effective range and their answer was "in theory, about 100m'. I'll order a unit and see how it does.
thats funny, I am also corresponding with them right now. They seem to be based in Hong Kong but no retailer carries their hand grip. I asked them about Neewer but silence, I wonder what thats all about , both products seem almost identical.
 

rupho

New member
Owen just to give you a heads up
the customer service person I contacted told me that it does not have a tripod mount ,thats really a deal breaker for me.
if you receive the unit could you kindly double check?

thanks
I emailed Meike about the effective range and their answer was "in theory, about 100m'. I'll order a unit and see how it does.
 

Owen

Member
I'm now using Stefan's Hcam adaptor which does, so it should be fine. I'll write a quick review in that thread when I get time. Basically, it's excellent.
 

ShooterSteve

New member
I'm not sure why the C1 Capture Pilot solution doesn't work for you. I've used it many times in that situation with perfect results.
 

DigitalSteve

New member
Owen just to give you a heads up
the customer service person I contacted told me that it does not have a tripod mount ,thats really a deal breaker for me.
if you receive the unit could you kindly double check?

thanks
I have the Meike and it has the standard 1/4" tripod mount on the bottom. I only tested the remote in my office, so don't know what the actual range is.
 

rupho

New member
@ shooterSteve: in your experience what's the range on Capture pilot to laptop to work properly? I got some sketchy connectivity over distance and around corners

@ digitalSteve: I ordered on of those grips now and hope it works. Thanks for the tip on the tripod mount , the manufacturer had told me initially that there is none and later retracted it since I could not believe it.

Will post the result on range in due time . It's quite staggering that it's so hard to find a simple solution for that. Sonys remote trigger app is really good but it cripples the USB multi port when the trigger app is activated , it's sheer stupidity
Go figure
 

rupho

New member
Just a quick note to say that the China made vertical handgrips from Meike I ordered works as advertised so if somebody is looking for a solution to trigger their sony remotely and stay tethered that seems to be doing the trick .
The radio trigger seems to work well even around corners and longer distance
Plus it's a vertical handgrip that's less than half of Sonys offering and it does have a tripod mount I was misinformed about that.
Grischa
 

kimbrunstudio

New member
Just a quick note to say that the China made vertical handgrips from Meike I ordered works as advertised so if somebody is looking for a solution to trigger their sony remotely and stay tethered that seems to be doing the trick .
The radio trigger seems to work well even around corners and longer distance
Plus it's a vertical handgrip that's less than half of Sonys offering and it does have a tripod mount I was misinformed about that.
Grischa
Could you share the model number. Upon visiting Meike's site I wasn't able to find the model that supports the A7r II.

Thanks
 

ShooterSteve

New member
That grip looks like a great solution. Capture pilot is limited to the Wifi network range or coverage so it's variable for sure. Good work in finding that grip! Nice to know.
 

Owen

Member
This seems to be the perfect solution, I don't know why Sony themselves have not provided it.

Could anyone please confirm if this can do Liveview with Sony CaptureRemote Or Capture One?
I'll pick one up in a couple of weeks and try it out.
 
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