Scott Jones

When I switched from Canon to Nikon I had to replace not only my camera bodies and lenses, but all of the essential accessories, too. One of my most-used gadgets is a wired remote shutter release, and a friend had just raved about a third-party version that was only $10, compared to the $70 street price Nikon equivalent. Sounded worth a try.

The first thing I noticed that made me regret the purchase was that the connector didn’t quite line up with the pins in the D700 or D300 bodies. The connector on the cable got kind of chewed up after only a few uses. But the thing worked well enough once I’d jammed it in hard enough to make proper contact. The effort required to make the device work should’ve been a hint of things to come. Though it functioned in the temperate Bay Area, the first time I shot in really cold weather (by Bay Area standards, I mean around 32F) all of my Nikon gear worked fine, but the Zeiko remote couldn’t handle the low temperature.

As the day warmed up, it would work again, but when you want something to work and it doesn’t, it’s a drag. I grew frustrated enough to order the Nikon MC30 Remote Cable Release, and have never had it fail to work. Even though it’s seven times more expensive, it works when I need it to. I’ve tested it at Lake Tahoe as cold as 17F, and like everything else with the Nikon label, it worked fine. So if you don’t have any plans for extreme temperatures, and you don’t mind the dodgy connector, the cheaper option might be a good money-saving alternative for you. Otherwise, you’re probably better off to accept the expense and pay for the real deal.