Triggertrap Mobile 2.0: A Time To Trigger
Triggertrap Mobile 2.0
Ketan Kundargi tests Kickstarter phenomenon Triggertrap Mobile 2.0 that brings together several innovations into one.
With Triggertrap Mobile, the phone now becomes an important picturemaking tool even while using DSLR cameras. It’s basically a remote trigger than puts the shutter release button on your phone. All you need is their proprietary cord and the app on your phone. In return you get some very useful features while shooting that are otherwise missing in the tradition remote triggers.
What Does it Do?
The exhaustive list of modes and trigger mechanisms on the Triggertrap app set it apart from any other trigger in the market, most of which we have elaborated on, in the box below. The iOS version offers a few more advanced trigger options that are yet to come to Android. In addition to a simple touchscreen trigger, you can also use sound, vibration, magnetism, motion and facial detection to set off the shutter. These can be further customised to the decibel for the sound trigger or the number of faces in the Facial Detection mode. A bit of a wonder, I must say. You can even use a combination of two devices, a master and a slave (connected to the camera) to turn the Triggertrap into a wireless remote.
In Practice
One cannot help but complain about the length of the sync cord. It severely limits the distance between the camera and phone. You are left with the option of mounting the phone on the camera itself, using an additional phone as the master or using an extended third-party jack cord.
The performance of each feature in the app is spot on. However, the app needs to be constantly on. It cannot run as a background task, thus draining the battery a lot. Additionally, if you get a call or any notification, that too tends to interrupt the shooting process.
Conclusion
Triggertrap Mobile 2.0 is an interesting addition to any photographer’s bag. It is compact, easy to use and has impressive performance to really take your photography up by a notch. If you are looking out for a trigger that gives you an advanced creative control, then this is clearly the best value-for-money advanced trigger that one can get in the market.
Interesting Possibilities with the Trigger
Once the time interval between the shots is selected, all you have to do is hit start and stop. You can set it to shoot star trails or use Timewarp to create a timelapse with a decreasing time difference between each shot over time. DistanceLapse, a rather unique offering uses distance rather than time as a measurement of when to trigger the camera. To add to this, you can even turn each of these frames into HDRs by shooting (and bracketing) multiple times.
Final Ratings
Features
Very customisable, no Windows support yet
33/35
Ease of Use
Simple to set up, cord is too short
30/35
Performance
Performs very well, but drains battery a lot
27/30
OVERALL: 90%
Value For Money: 4/5 stars
Who Should Buy It?
Action and landscape shooters or those who wish to experiment with timelapse and stop-mo.
Why?
The amount of control offered by Triggertrap Mobile is fantastic. It doubles up as a cable release as well as a remote that can be programmed in several different ways.
