Flashpoint Wave Commander Remote Shutter Intervalometer Review
If you have to deal in using long exposures or image stacking, here’s a gizmo you might be interested in. The Flashpoint Wave Commander can control taking a long series of photographs. You get to specify how long to wait before taking the shots, the shot duration, how many shots, and the delay between shots.
Flashpoint Wave Commander
You can see the plug-in cord for the camera. This part is what you can replace to fit other camera models. Use the multi-direction control and its “set” button to program it. The Flashpoint shutter release button is the big round button shown on the left.
Connected to camera’s 10-pin plug
The Flashpoint connects to your camera’s remote control input plug (e.g. the 10-pin plug on my Nikon D500 and D850). It’s modular, so you can buy cheap (about $8) separate plugs to fit many Nikon, Canon, Sony, Samsung, Matsushita, Pentax, Olympus, and Panasonic cameras.
I endured a lot of tedious photography of things like star-scapes and infrared landscapes using my watch to monitor shutter times from around 15 seconds to 4 minutes. I finally got smart and got this unit.
This intervalometer lets you specify how long to wait before you take any shots, how long the exposure should be, how many shots to take, and how long to wait between shots. It’s really easy to set up, and it remembers your settings for the next time, unless you turn if off. It has a beeper, if you want sound, and also a screen backlight for night photography. A pair of AAA batteries powers the unit.
You can set any of the times from 1 second through 100 hours, and you can take from 1 to 399 shots in a sequence. Just press its little start/stop button to start the program running.
To configure your camera to use the intervalometer, you need to be in “manual” mode, and set the shutter on “bulb”. Set the “single-shot” mode, also. Make sure you’re in “release-priority”, so that the camera won’t freeze if it isn’t in focus. It’s also wise to close the eyepiece shutter (or your viewfinder blocker) so that light can’t enter the viewfinder during the exposure.
Even though my Nikons have intervalometer features built into them, I find this device superior. And the price is right. It is “wired” to your camera, but once you program it, you can start it and walk away until the program finishes.
You can also use this remote as a simple wired shutter release, even if its batteries go dead. If all you want to do is take a photo without camera shake, then just connect the unit (don’t even bother to turn it on) and press the Flashpoint’s shutter release button instead of its start/button. Simple.
I don’t get any money from these guys, so I have nothing to gain if you get one or not. I just wanted you to be aware that this device exists; I really like mine.
