Nero Trigger Review
Shoot remotely using lightning, lasers, sound, time lapse...
Now, those of you that know me know that I love my gadgets. Things that can either help with my photography/video work or simply entertain me and this little black and yellow box has me intrigued. So what is a Nero Trigger?
Note: I was sent a copy of this gadget by Nero Trigger after expressing my interest in doing a review for All Things Photography. I am not an affiliate for them in any way but simply wanted to try out this cool little item and tell you all about it.
Update Notification
This unit has now received a huge update. The company changed name and redeveloped the Nero Trigger and have now released the MIOPS Smart Trigger. A really cool gadget with similar features but (in my opinion) a lot better.
A Nero Trigger is a small plastic box that can either attach to the hotshoe (flash mount) of your DSLR or be placed nearby depending on the length of the cable used.
It will allow you to remotely fire your camera OR speedlight automatically in a number of cool ways including high speed photography to photograph gunshots, lightning, balloons popping etc. Any of these features are only limited by your imagination and can be used to capture all sorts of funky and tough-to-get shots.
I personally love things that allow me to get shots that are otherwise too difficult as it makes my work stand out, especially when shooting stock photography for example.
The Nero Multi-Trigger has 10 built-in functions*
*There is a cheaper version that is only triggered by lightning
So let's go through each of these explaining what each one does and when you might possibly use it.
Lightning Trigger
Ever tried to shoot lightning? I think most of us SLR/DSLR users have and it can be quite frustrating. For one, you never know when or where the lightning will strike and secondly, what settings do you use?
I won't go into settings and all that here. You can see some recommended settings at the end of the downloadable Nero Trigger User Manual. However, what the NERO Trigger does, is use it's built in lightning sensor to detect the millisecond that a lightning flash is occurring. It will simultaneously set off your camera's shutter.
As long as you have the right settings, you can leave your camera switched on and running with the Nero Trigger all night if you wanted. As long as you are pointing in the right direction, you should end up with some pretty cool shots.
Video by Nero Trigger's Inventor
Here is a simple set up with a lightning trigger in action
The Nero will be activated by any sounds whether that is a gunshot, door opening, car starting, firework explosion, sneeze…anything. The standard setting means that this will keep shooting images all the time there is noise.
By activating the lock mode, the camera will only fire once and then the NERO will need to be reset.
The former is great if you are shooting a scene where you want to capture everything that enters a room for example and the latter, with lock mode, is great if you are waiting for a specific, sound induced shot such as a sneeze (why you would want to capture that I don’t know ; )
Video by Nero Trigger's Inventor
Time Lapse
Unless you already own a specific cable release such as the Canon TC-80N3, the Nero Trigger will work wonders plus you have all the other features.
The time lapse feature will allow you to shoot time lapse photography in 1 second intervals from 1 to 10 seconds or in 1 minute intervals from 1 to 10 minutes. Great for creating time lapse movies of moving clouds, building work, star trails…anything!
Video by Nero Trigger's Inventor
Laser Trigger
Ok, there isn't currently a video for this feature by the inventor or anyone else so you will have to watch my full review video above for more details of this in action. The laser trigger is activated using the sensor on the front of the NERO unit. There was no laser included in the price so you will have to buy your own. I bought these two from Amazon for the purposes of this review:
For this product, the first red laser will work fine. However, the second green one is really cool as it comes in a handy box with 5 different heads. These heads makes all sorts of laser patterns on your ceiling or wall (kept me and the kids amused for hours)!
All you need to do is align the laser so that the beam is firing directly onto the sensor of the Nero Trigger. Please note that the lasers above will not "lock" on. They only work when the button is pressed in so you may need to improvise by taping or clamping down the button to keep the laser on.
When anything moves in front of the laser or Nero and the beam is cut, your camera will fire.
Nero Trigger Uses
Now this could be great for capturing wild animals such as badgers leaving their set at night. Or maybe your little brother/wife/boyfriend/parents sneaking into your room whilst you are out (although I haven't tested the battery life of the laser yet).
You could also set up your camera with a set of speedlights on Pocket Wizards to capture any of this at night. Owls leaving a barn for example. Or what about setting the camera up during the day with laser fired across a fence at a show jumping event? Never miss a horse jumping as the camera fires each time a horse and rider breaks the beam.
I find this sort of photography really exciting and this trigger will be a lot of fun to play with…
Laser Trigger with Delay
There are 10 settings in delay mode where you can adjust the time between the beam being interrupted and the camera firing. These range from 0 (instant) to 500 milliseconds with 50 millisecond.
Laser Trigger with Multishot
What if you wish to take more than one photo once the laser beam is broken? You can set the Nero Trigger to fire off anything between 1 and 10 photos in 1 shot intervals. Great of you want to set your camera and speedlights up outside a barn where owls frequently come and go at night or at the afore-mentioned show jumping event for example.
Good for cameras with fast continuous shooting such as the Canon EOS 7D or EOS 1DX.
Long Exposure
Again, unless you have a specific cable release to do long exposures, the NERO trigger will help you with this as well as everything else above. You can activate and lock up your mirror for ling exposures at any of the following time frames:
Super Bulb
This function will simply lock the mirror for any length of time until you press a button to de-activate. Great for Astro or infra red photography for example.
Manual
Another simple operation whereby your camera will take a pre-set number of images remotely. Take anywhere between 1 and 10 shots each time the C button on the unit is pressed. Not bad but you are limited by the length of the cable. The Pocket Wizards would give you a huge range by doing this via radio waves and not a short cable.
Nero Feature List
Multi-Cable/Camera Capability is now STANDARD. There is no need to buy another trigger if you have two DSLR cameras, or when you upgrade to a different model or brand of camera.
Dimensions
To enable me to do this review properly, I bought the laser pens mentioned earlier from Amazon as well as a Maximfoto - 3.5mm to Male Flash PC Sync Cable coiled Cord 12" length to enable me to fire my Canon Speedlights using the Nero Trigger.
You can buy the Nero Trigger unit for your Canon or Nikon DSLR direct from the creator but please make sure you get the correct one before purchasing. There are two models available and for a few different types of camera.
- 1Full version - $199
- 2Lightning only version - $117
Update Notification
This unit has now received a huge update. The company changed name and redeveloped the Nero Trigger and have now released the MIOPS Smart Trigger. A really cool gadget with similar features but (in my opinion) a lot better.