Experience with motion triggers

lokatz

Senior Member
Well, since there were no comments from others, I went ahead and bought one to try it out myself. :)

Initial impressions: pretty good. With about 2 ounces (plus the weight of two AAA batteries), the unit is extremely lightweight. It can be set to respond to motion, sound, and lightning events, where the sensitivity is adjustable for the latter two across a wide range. In other words, you set it such that the ambient sound respectively light JUST won't trigger it, then turn on your camera, and the MOVO triggers a shot when a louder sound or more intense light appears.

The below picture shows it on my D500, mounted via the plasticky-but-sturdy-enough extension arm. Seems to me that extension won't be needed for sound and lightning, but since it moves the sensors much closer to the front of your lens, it gives you better motion sensor results. MOVO claims that it is able to detect motion within a range of about 5m/16ft, which works with me as the subject but probably is shorter with birds and other small animals. With me as the subject, even small movements triggered it reliably.

Haven't used the MOVO in any 'live' situations yet, but I think I'm going to like this thing.


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hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I honestly don't recall reading much about motion triggers here. Not sure if [MENTION=9753]Scott Murray[/MENTION] has ever used any or not. He's taken lightning photos so it's possible he's used something similar. Have fun with it. :encouragement:
 

Scott Murray

Senior Member
I have used lightning triggers which I guess are similar but this one does look interesting.

Sorry for the delay in replying as have been on holiday.

I honestly don't recall reading much about motion triggers here. Not sure if @Scott Murray has ever used any or not. He's taken lightning photos so it's possible he's used something similar. Have fun with it. :encouragement:
 

Daz

Senior Member
This does look interesting !! If it can work with lighting I would be very interested in getting one of these !!
 

lokatz

Senior Member
Haven't used it in a real thunderstorm yet, but the light sensitivity setting seems to work well and it triggered my camera reliably.
 

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Haven't used it in a real thunderstorm yet, but the light sensitivity setting seems to work well and it triggered my camera reliably.
The trick is for it to work in low contrasty conditions and pick up the light from the lightning when still some daylight around. This is normally very hard for lightning triggers but they are getting better and the real good ones can sense the type of lightning eg CG (cloud to ground) CC (cloud to cloud).
 

Blade Canyon

Senior Member
I think Trigger Trap offers some of these features, too, but they're out of business. Anyone who still has that dongle could use it coupled with a mobile phone. (But then you have to leave your phone near the camera.)

For a camera to be triggered by motion, Steve Perry has an excellent idea about setting your focus manually to an empty point in space (where your target might appear), and using the focus release setting. You trigger the camera (maybe with a remote? don't remember...) and walk away. The shutter will wait until the shot is in focus. If something moves into the focus field (a critter, or maybe even a lightning bolt), the shutter trips.
 
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