Photographer invents radio trigger for camera with 20-mile reach
San Diego photographer Robert Benson has created a device that can allow photographers to fire their shutter release button from distances of up to 20 miles using consumer handheld radios.Benson’s device, which has a patent pending, will continue to motor the shutter so long as the audio input keeps coming in.
He cautions that using two-way radios for this might be illegal. Why? Well, because of obvious potential applications such as, say, setting off plastique from a distance, the Federal Communications Commission normally doesn’t allow you to use two-way radios for much aside from talking.
But Benson says in his blog that his device could also trigger a camera’s shutter button using any kind of audio device, such as an iPod or a radio. While most photogs probably don’t plan on standing next to their cameras and hitting “play” on their iPod, this could have interesting applications such as taking shots of yourself in the morning every day just as your radio alarm goes off.
In the YouTube videos below, he uses the squelch on a two-way radio as an example.
Enjoy watching these, and check out Robert Benson’s full blog post on the device here.
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