MIOPS Smart Trigger Review – A Powerful and Versatile Gadget!

Performance

Before we jump into the various modes, allow me to tell you how you can control the Smart Trigger with your smartphone. You need an Android or iOS powered smartphone or tablet with Bluetooth connectivity and the MIOPS Smart Trigger app installed on it (downloadable from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store). Once you’ve finished installing the app on your device, enable your Bluetooth connection and launch the MIOPS Smart Trigger app (needless to say that you must have the MIOPS Smart Trigger powered on for this to work!).

On the first screen, you’ll simply have to touch the screen where the MIOPS Trigger icon is shown and you’re ready to rock. Using the app to control your trigger allows you to work more efficiently and hassle-free. It also gives you access to some extra features (remote triggering modes) that cannot be used without the application.Alright, let’s see how we can use the trigger’s various modes now:

Alright, let’s see how we can use the trigger’s various modes now:

Lightning Mode

In this very self-explanatory mode, the MIOPS Smart Trigger will… trigger your camera every time a lightning strikes. You simply set your camera on a tripod with the trigger mounted on its hot-shoe and you dial in your settings in Manual Mode (for example 15s shutter speed, f/3.5, ISO 400) and you enable the trigger (depending on your scene, the sky conditions and the intensity of the lightnings you will have to play a little bit with the “Sensitivity” setting). Capturing lightning strikes isn’t the only thing this mode is useful for. You can use the “Sensitivity” setting in order to have the trigger actuate your camera’s shutter with lighting condition changes. Whenever the lighting changes it will activate and capture a photo.

Sound Mode

Sound Mode allows you to capture events that happen right after (as soon as) a sound is heard by the MIOPS Smart Trigger’s microphone. Apart from the “Sensitivity” setting, in the Sound Mode we also have a “Delay” setting, adjusting the Delay setting does… exactly what it says, delays the triggering action by a user-designated amount of milliseconds. With the Sound Mode you can capture popping balloons, water drops, breaking light bulbs, various objects falling into water, etc. There’s no limit in what you can capture using the sound mode, the only limit is your imagination.

Time Lapse Mode

Time Lapse is like playing a video at a very high speed, kind of like “time travel”. It isn’t just a sped up video. It is a sequence of frames (photos) taken at predetermined (invariable or variable) intervals. Once captured, they are imported into a program and then exported as a video sequence. Some cameras have a Time Lapse feature built-in, others do not. In any case, you can use the MIOPS Smart Trigger’s Time Lapse Mode to capture time lapses. Within the Time Lapse menu you can select how many frames to capture, the exposure time and the interval. With these settings you can control the outlook of your timelapse (perceived playback speed and motion smoothness)

Laser Mode

To use the Laser Mode you need to purchase a regular laser pointer because the MIOPS Smart Trigger is only playing the “receiver” part of the laser sensor. With laser mode you can use the Smart Trigger to photograph objects falling into a liquid or hitting the ground, water or any other material splashing onto a human, colliding objects, wild animals, etc. There are settings to choose how many frames to capture and if you want to delay the triggering. As an example, you can set the camera and the trigger somewhere on your yard, place a “bait” (food) for a “target” wild animal (or your own dog for example) and place the laser pointer in the way where you expect the animal to go/through.

HDR Mode

With the HDR Mode you can… shoot HDR photos even if your camera doesn’t support HDR mode or Exposure Bracketing. You simply choose the center value (nominal exposure), the amount of frames and the variance (exposure value changes) between them.
This way you can capture all the Dynamic Range of a very high contrast scene, which is impossible to capture properly in a single exposure.
You need to capture at least 2 frames at different exposure settings (simply because the camera sensor cannot capture the whole dynamic range of the scene).

DIY Mode

The DIY Mode of the MIOPS Smart Trigger allows us to use custom sensors. You can use a thermistor (thermal sensor) or a switch, or even a fan’s RPM feedback to trigger your camera. Once again, the limit to what one can do with the unit is his own creativity (and technical skills). Apart from the Delay and Threshold settings, there’s a “Sensor Mode” setting to choose which sensor condition triggers the camera. You can set it to trigger the camera when the electric current changes or specifically when it is rises or drops.

Cable Release Modes

In these modes, the MIOPS Smart Trigger acts like a smart Shutter Release/Intervalometer. It allows you to choose between taking normal exposures, predetermined exposures (specific exposure time), manually controlled exposure (press and hold keeps the shutter open until you release) and a sub-type of manually controlled exposure, Press & Lock which is useful for very long exposures, you simply press the shutter icon and “depress” it whenever you want, taking a long exposure without having to keep your finger on the “shutter” during the exposure.

Mobile Dongle

By purchasing the “Mobile Dongle” you can use the MIOPS Smart Trigger without connecting it to your equipment. Your smartphone will do the triggering instead. All the modes are available in Mobile Dongle “mode”.