A must have tool when shooting the night sky is a remote release trigger for your camera. Triggers range from very simple cable releases over phone apps that connect to your camera’s Wifi to very specialized Intervalometers. I tried the phone apps for my cameras and they miss a very basic feature: bulb mode timing. Meaning, when you set the camera to bulb mode and start the exposure, most apps do not display how long the shutter is open already. It also eats battery life from the camera as Wifi or bluetooth needs to be on on the camera. In the mid range there are Intervalometers that can be programmed through a small display and some buttons and usually work quite well.
How I made my own DIY “Pixelstick” for $22
You might know the Pixelstick. “nothing compares” is one of their statements. And this is true. At least price-wise. The Original Pixelstick retails for EURO 399,– here in Germany. I have always wanted one to at least try out some lightpainting with it.
The Pixelstick is a 188cm RGB lightstrip on a stick that plays bitmap files. It weighs 1,6kg, has a nice display to select files, has a remote release and runs on 8 AA batteries. Oh and it comes in a nice bag. Still 399,– is a bit steep.
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!