Home / Reviews / Vello Wireless ShutterBoss Remote Review

Vello Wireless ShutterBoss Remote Review

May
28
2012
May 28, 2012
By 29 Comments

This is the 4th and last in a series of quick reviews of remotes, the Vello ShutterBoss Wireless Remote, which has been kindly supplied by B&H Photo – where we buy most of our photo equipment.

Vello ShutterBoss WIreless Remote

1) Features and Specifications

The Vello Wireless ShutterBoss can be used as a remote release, a delayed shutter release, programmed as an intervalometer or to activate the bulb function on certain Nikon cameras. For those who may not be familiar with an intervalometer, it can be programmed to take a series of photos, with a preset length of exposure as well as time between exposures.

Specifications:

  1. Frequency: 99 selectable channels over 2.4 GHz
  2. Range: 250 feet (80 meters)
  3. Timer Control: Delay, 0s to 99hr 59min 59s in one-second increments
  4. Exposure Range: 0s to 99hr 59min 59s in one-second increments
  5. Interval: 0s to 99hr 59min 59s in one-second increments
  6. Number of Shots: 1-99
  7. Operating Temperature: -4º to +122º F (-20º to 50º C)
  8. Dimensions (Trans.): Approx. 149 x 50 x 24mm (5.9x2x1 in)
  9. Dimensions (Receiver): Approx. 63 x 38 x 31mm (2.5 x 1.5 x 1.2 in)

2) Handling

I found the ShutterBoss to be easily programmable. It has all the features that the Nikon MC-36 has, except that the remote from Vello does it wirelessly. The range is more than adequate and it worked from anywhere in my home just like the previously reviewed Vello FreeWave Wireless remote. It can be set to 99 different channels on the 2.4 GHz frequency to avoid interference or to control multiple cameras at the same time with one remote. The channels are easily selected on the transmitter and receiver electronically, not with pins/dip switches. This wireless capability allows the photographer to set up a scene and take photos without disturbing the subject, making it useful for wildlife or time lapse photography.

The contours of the transmitter are rounded and comfortable in the hand but it is the largest of the transmitters and will take up more room in your bag than the others. One negative is that although the receiver has an on/off switch, the transmitter does not and so it goes into a standby mode and will wake upon any button being depressed. According to the manufacturer, the batteries should last 3-4 years in standby mode. I cannot verify how long the batteries actually last in real world usage, however, if the batteries should die in the field, the transmitter will plug into the cable and work like a wired remote. The transmitter is powered by 2 AAA batteries and the receiver is powered by one CR2 3 volt battery.

Vello ShutteBoss Wireless Remote

3) Build Quality

Build quality is on par with the other remotes previously reviewed in this series. The only thing I would mention is the facing on the transmitter and receiver seemed to be a cheap laminate, the kind that looks like it might peel off with time and usage.

4) Packaging and Manual

The Vello Wireless ShutterBoss remote comes with no carrying or storage case, just a simple basic manual describing care and programming. There is no downloadable manual from the manufacturer’s website, vellogear.com. In this day and age, there should always be a downloadable PDF of user’s manuals available.

5) Value

The functions give you more control than the previously reviewed Nikon ML-3 or Vello FreeWave remotes at a lower price than the either of the Nikon remotes, the ML-3 or the MC-36.

If you need the features of the Wireless ShutterBoss but don’t feel you need the wireless capability, then you could consider the regular (non-wireless) Vello ShutterBoss for less money.

6) Conclusion

The Vello Wireless ShutterBoss combines the best of both remotes when compared to the Nikon MC-36 and the Vello FreeWave. You get the control of the Nikon MC-36 and the wireless capability of the Vello FreeWave in an affordable price.

7) Where to Buy

B&H Photo currently sells the Vello Wireless ShutterBoss remote for $99.50 (as of May 26, 2012)

Vello Wireless ShutterBoss Remote Review3.600000000008Nasim Mansurov2012-05-28 22:42:24This is the 4th and last in a series of quick reviews of remotes, the Vello ShutterBoss Wireless Remote, which has been kindly supplied by B&H Pho…http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Build Quality
Handling
Value
Features
Packaging and Manual
Photography Life Overall Rating

Related posts:

  1. Nikon WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter Announced
  2. Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite Announcement
  3. PocketWizard Plus III Announcement
  4. Nikon D3200, 28mm f/1.8G and WU-1a Pre-Order Links
  5. Nikon D300 vs D80
Filed Under: Accessories Tagged With: , , ,
About Tom Redd

Tom grew up in Texas, but the love of nature and the mountains lured him and his family to Colorado, where he and his wife raised their kids enjoying the beauty and activities that surround them. It is that beauty of both wildlife and landscape that made Tom want to capture and preserve these experiences thru photography. He became serious about photography in 2008 and continues to learn and refine his skills. Some of his photos can be found at 500px.

Comments

  1. 1
    ) Pat Kelly
    May 29, 2012 at 11:08 pm

    This is very interesting … Your website is now my homepage and I learn new things every day

    Reply
  2. 2
    ) Matt
    May 29, 2012 at 11:43 pm

    Thanks for the review!

    So all of these remotes use the flash hotshoe? That’s where the Poketwizard goes!

    *Sigh*

    Reply
    • 4
      ) Tom Redd
      May 29, 2012 at 11:55 pm

      Matt – They do not have a “hot” connection to the hotshot so you can attach them to an optional flash bracket. They all connect to the camera thru the 10 pin (or other appropriate) connector.

      Reply
      • 8
        ) Matt
        May 30, 2012 at 2:53 am

        I see… thanks, Tom!

        Reply
  3. 5
    ) Daniel Haaf
    May 30, 2012 at 1:01 am

    Great article as always – but when are we going to see a nice review of the new Nikon AF-S 28 f/1.8G? :D

    Reply
    • 6
      ) Nasim Mansurov
      May 30, 2012 at 1:04 am

      Daniel, hopefully it will ship sometime this week – I still have not received it. Will be receiving the Nikon D3200 tomorrow for testing.

      Reply
  4. 7
    ) Sam
    May 30, 2012 at 2:02 am

    hi,

    https://triggertrap.com/

    the mobile edition.

    could you test this one, i am from europe and they have some problems with european devices :S

    may be this is the best solution for all automatic shutter, since its working with iPhone.

    another question i have, where to get the information about the specification of the nikon input pins?

    if i had all the information about the input signals, i could make this shutter by my self with a FPGA, which could fit all the needs of a professional photographer.

    thanks

    Reply
    • 9
      ) Tom Redd
      May 31, 2012 at 9:10 am

      Sam, the reviews on the triggertrap mobile edition are mixed. It appears it works reasonably well as an intervalometer. Where most people are upset is the HDR function as it only goes to 1/10 or 1/20 of a second shutter speed which means it is not as useful in daylight situations. I have not used it so I cannot directly comment at this time. Maybe in the future we will review it because a few people have asked about it.

      As for the Nikon input pin question, I would try the Nikon website as a start.

      Reply
  5. 10
    ) Troy
    June 5, 2012 at 7:39 am

    Love your site! Awesome I for here!

    Is this a new product from Vello because I owned the pixel on for a year now. Looks exactly the same. Who makes it for who? Here is the one I got from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DQUF8O/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

    Reply
    • 11
      ) Tom Redd
      June 5, 2012 at 7:59 am

      Troy, thank you for visiting and for the comment. I am not sure who makes it for whom. I have seen it marketed under a few names – Vello, Pixel, Pearstone – to name a few. I assume they are built the same, but I could not say that for certain.

      Reply
      • 21
        ) Peter
        June 29, 2012 at 12:30 pm

        Thanks for the review and a wonderful web site. The device Troy references works just fine on a D800 although this is not mentioned on the Amazon site. So thank you Troy!

        Reply
        • 22
          ) Tom Redd
          June 29, 2012 at 4:10 pm

          Thanks Peter for the follow up.

          Reply
        • 23
          ) Troy
          June 29, 2012 at 6:19 pm

          I just came back from a 3 week trip in Europe and used this on my D800 and it worked flawlessly as well as my D7000. You can get it with different cords to work with most nikon and canon cameras.

          Reply
  6. 12
    ) Nikhil
    June 8, 2012 at 7:28 am

    Hi Nasim,

    I think the SMDV remotes are awesome. The receiver plugs directly into the remote socket without occupying the hot shoe on the camera. Check it out:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005PCDSBQ/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

    Reply
    • 13
      ) Tom Redd
      June 8, 2012 at 9:42 pm

      Thank you Nikhil – that one looks nice!

      Reply
  7. 14
    ) Ken Z
    June 22, 2012 at 12:23 pm

    Hey, I bought this about 6 months ago but never had the time to set down with it for time lapse work…I’ve used it for other things, but today I am digging into it and now I cannot find my manual. Grrrr, Vello Gear does not offer the PDF….

    Is there any tutorials out there on how to set up the time lapse feature? I thought it would not be too bad to figure out, but I must be missing something because it is not doing what I expected.

    Reply
    • 15
      ) Tom Redd
      June 22, 2012 at 1:13 pm

      Ken, that is a glaring oversight on their part, isn’t it? Try the link for the Pearstone branded ShutterBoss:

      http://www.hdrlabs.com/yabbfiles/Attachments/Pearstone_Wireless_ShutterBoss.pdf

      Let me know if it works for you.

      Reply
      • 16
        ) Ken Z
        June 22, 2012 at 1:31 pm

        Thanks so much Tom!!!! I appreciate the help, and the FAST reply!! That link worked great…now I have it :)) Happy again!!

        Reply
        • 17
          ) Ken Z
          June 22, 2012 at 1:42 pm

          Hmmm, I must be living in a fog…I am still not understanding how to set this up for time lapse. Here is where I am having trouble.

          I want to setup a time lapse to take a photo every 2 seconds for 15 minutes. That should give me 450 frames. But how do I set that up with the Vello?

          I go to “Long” – but the instructions say that is length of exposure (?)
          I go to Interval – I set that to 2 sec
          I go to N – but I can only go up to 99

          Still miffed!

          Reply
          • 18
            ) Tom Redd
            June 22, 2012 at 2:10 pm

            99 is the limit. If you can go with 1 second intervals, you can set it to shoot every one second indefinitely under continuous shooting.

            Reply
  8. 19
    ) Vicki
    June 25, 2012 at 7:46 pm

    I love your comments and the website…THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! My question is if you have a D800 coming and are looking for a remote control what would be better the Pocket Wizard Plus III or the Vello Shutterboss wireless remote. I realize there is a price difference, but I guess I don’t understand the difference between the two? Thank Again…

    Reply
    • 20
      ) Tom Redd
      June 25, 2012 at 10:13 pm

      Thank you Vicki, the Pocket Wizard system will give you more flexibility in setting up zones to fire flashes and cameras, helpful in studio shooting. The ShutterBoss is more of a basic remote trigger for the Camera.

      Check out the link below to the Pocket Wizard Plus III announcement on our site, there is good info there and a video that shows it in action. I hope that helps.

      http://photographylife.com/pocketwizard-plus-iii-announcement#more-26934

      Reply
    • 24
      ) Troy
      June 29, 2012 at 7:07 pm

      Not sure if you reviewed these, but i bought these for a budget because i dont use off trigger flash very often, but thes work very well! Great option if you dont want to spend a lot for pocket wizzards….
      http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YW79F4/ref=ox_ya_os_product

      Reply
  9. 25
    ) Jeff Lovinger
    September 19, 2012 at 9:54 am

    Great website and reviews and comments. I bought the Pearstone model last year to do HDR. I could never get it to work properly to trigger the 5 sets of bracketed images in high speed shutter release. I even wrote the mfg. They couldn’t figure it out. I returned it.

    I’m now thinking of ordering the Vello, mainly because I want it for light painting, in bulb mode, and interval shooting. Have you or anyone figured out how to trigger a Nikon D800E, or other camera to shoot HDR? Previously, I set up the camera in bracket mode, in hs shooting or single shot.

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • 26
      ) Tom Redd
      September 20, 2012 at 8:17 am

      Jeff, one thing to be careful of is that I am pretty sure that the Pearstone and Vello models are manufactured by the same company and are the same item. If what you needed didn’t work for you, then the Vello will probably not work either.

      Reply
      • 27
        ) Jeff lovinger
        September 20, 2012 at 8:35 am

        Thanks for the quick response Tom. I kind of thought they were pretty much the same as well. I did go ahead and order one anyway with some other things from B&H. I want to do some light painting and time lapse photography, so I thought this would at least work for that if not for HDR.

        Reply
  10. 28
    ) Trigger
    November 28, 2012 at 3:43 am

    These are good remotes at a very decent price, but there is one big flaw with them, when using the remote in manual shooting mode you can not take shots in full continuous burst, there is a one second delay between shots, Hahnel wireless remotes had the same problem, but is now fixed on the latest model, shame really because the Vello/Pixel is half the price of the Hahnel.

    Reply
  11. 29
    ) Olga Celle
    February 15, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    Hello, I hope you can help me.
    Have any of you tried this product on a NEX 7. I need to know if it will work fine without damaging the camera’s electronics. Sony did not know if it was compatible…Alas, Sony!

    Reply

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