RM-1 remote

[520user]

A few questions about the RM-1:
I'm trying to shoot hummingbirds from from a hanging plant using my E-520 and RM-1 remote. It appears I have to hold the RM-1 almost straight in front of the camera to make it fire. But that puts me pretty near the hanging plant, which scares away the birds.

1) Any suggestions on technique?
2) Why doesn't Olympus put an infrared sensor on the back of the camera too?
3) Where can I find instructions on the RM-1 itself? I can't figure out what the W, T, minus and plus buttons are supposed to do. You'd think W and T would control the zoom, but they don't seem to do anything. The minus and plus buttons seem like they should control exposure, but again, they don't seem to do anything. Does this sound like operator ignorance/error? Equipment malfunction? The E-520 manual has almost no information on the remote, and I've searched the Olympus site with no luck. Any help appreciated.

tx

[Photo-John]

Welcome to the site and our Olympus forum. 520user!

I don't have any experience with that remote. However, from your description, it sounds like a generic Olympus remote that was probably designed for compact cameras. Since your E-520 lenses have a manual zoom ring, there's no way the remote could control the zoom. Exposure it could do, if it's designed to do that with your camera. But my guess is it's only programmed to do the extra stuff for compact cameras. As for the shutter release problems... Yup - infrared is pretty much line-of-site. I think the bottom line is you need a radio remote like a PocketWizard, or you need a longer lens. Either solution is going to cost you a chunk of dough, though.

Have you looked at our Nature & Wildlife forum, yet? There's no shortage of experienced bird photographers there. They won't necessarily be able to help you with your remote question. But they will be able to help you with your bird photo strategy and technique

[Greg McCary]

You can buy better remotes than the rm-1. I had one for my 510 that the receiver mounted in the hot shoe and it had a 100ft range. I got it off of e-bay.

[Photo-John]

It will probably be hard to set up. But if the camera is on a tripod and you're always shooting from the same spot it might be worth the effort. Use a mirror! Position a mirror in front of the camera so you can bounce the infrared remote beam from whereever you want.

[Greg McCary]

Something like this......
http://cgi.ebay.com/Cleon-II-Wireles...item3caf2e222d

[Don Kondra]

That looks like a better model than the Cactus wireless trigger I use for the simple reason it mounts on the hot shoe.

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/produc...cat=285&page=1

My trigger was only a year old before it began working intermittently due to the stress from the receiver hanging on the cord that plugs into the camera, sigh...

And the cord is not long enough to secure it in another manner.

These types of remote shutter releases will work anywhere in relation to the camera.

Here's the pdf manual for the RM-1

http://support.olympus.co.jp/jp/supp...ve/man_rm1.pdf

Cheers, Don

[erikzen]

Why not use the wired cable release?

This one is currently $9 at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...NB3M82K7WYBCKC

[Dave6223]

I have both wired and wireless release.

I find the wireless best