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Quick look: Movie Mode Trigger for Nikons (ok…Canons too ;-)

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One of the (very few ;-) things I don’t like about my Nikon D7000’s is the fact that there has been no start/stop remote trigger or release for the “Movie Mode” button which meant my hand was leaving the handle and my eye was leaving the viewfinder every time I wanted to “cut” in camera. Canon shooters, with their masses, haven’t had this problem. There are plenty of companies that have stepped up to provide optical, electronic and mechanical solutions for them. But we die-hard Nikon shooters have had to do without and hope that it will be addressed in the next release.

Today I got a peek at a prototype of a simple solution to the problem.

20110808_20110808_movie_mode_trigger_007It started last week when I was cruising the internet looking for possible solutions to the problem and ran across a company called DSLR Triggers. At first it just seemed like it was more of the same…all Canon…but as I looked closer I wondered why this simple mechanical device couldn’t also work with Nikons.

I dropped Michael Carey (the owner and an avid Turtle Photographer ;-) a line and asked why it couldn’t. This resulted in a series of back and forth emails that culminated with Mike coming down to my test studio with a few adjustable prototypes.

20110808_20110808_movie_mode_trigger_01520110808_20110808_movie_mode_trigger_008The idea was a simple one…so simple you’d want to slap yourself upside the head and wonder why you hadn’t thought of it yourself. An old fashion mechanical shutter release with 2 custom brackets (one for the plunger and another for the pin). Duhhh

We played around with different rigs and configurations, talked about trigger placement with different types of handles and clearances for Zacuto style loupes. After a few hours of “what if’s” and measurements I came up with the configuration you see in the pictures…simply running the cable through my GenusTech rigs main rod gave us a handy mount for the push button trigger and reduced the cable clutter. Nirvana…a way to keep my hand on the handle and just move one finger to start/stop recording…sweet ;-)

Mike headed back out to his shop up in Bellingham with lots of ideas but is looking for more feedback and input and asked me to help spread the word.

If you’re interested in something like this then drop him a line, tell him that you saw this and let him know what YOUR ideal version would be like.

You can see his other prototype here

And drop him a line/give input at: Michael Carey

Have fun…Ric

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