I NEVER had a cable release give me any trouble until you mentioned at Archangel Falls that I should carry two. The very next shot it hung and I had to spend some time getting it working again. Bought a spare immediately after that trip!
My cable releases almost never fail, because I loose them first. Admittedly mine are used in medium format and are not the 3 foot types Ben uses. Last time around, I bought 3 or 4 of Chinese manufacture; very inexpensive and seem to work okay (New). We'll see how they hold up.
Randall Stewart Those smaller ones are certainly easy to lose. I am thinking that they might be quite durable since they are small. The longer ones might reveal the weaknesses in the materials even more.
Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who always carries two cable releases. Must admit that I never lock mine but use the "T" stop on my lens instead for long time exposures. Makes me feel more comfortable. Greetings from: Germany! 😉
Lars I like to use bulb mode for shorter exposures up to about 10 seconds, and the T mode on my lens for exposures longer than that. For whatever reason, I just feel more accurate with the shorter exposures by just letting go of the release, rather than pressing it a second time in the T mode. It might have to do with the fact that holding the shutter open in bulb mode mimics the way I use a stopwatch in my other hand.
The Nikon AR-3 is a nice, high-quality and readily available Japanese made cable release. If your local store doesn't have them they can probably get them because they're made by Nikon of course.
I haven't worked with the Nikon one, but it sounds great. The Gepe one that I bought to replace my damaged one worked out very well on my last trip. We'll see how long it lasts, but I'm also taking better care of it than my past ones.
They seem to get good reviews. I just got one and it seems well made with a speedy release spring. It stays locked with no option to disable that so you always have to release it manually. Unless I'm missing something. But I suppose 2 seconds or longer is enough time to move your thumb to the release point.
I have ones from my that I've used back in the 80's that are still good. I am still using them today. I have new ones for my other bags. The main thing is not to stretch them or wrap them too tight.
Jerry Hutchins Definitely. I try not to wrap them very tight, but I still manage to stretch them over time. I also ended up with some sort of weird abrasion on the cable release that I don't know where it came from -- almost as though it got pinched in something. We'll see how the new one holds up by putting it in the cloth sleeve.
I put a cable release on each of my wide angle lenses. I shot a 4x5 Technika and I put a release on both my 75 and 90mm. They were both on recessed boards and were a pain to connect. It saved a lot of time just leaving a cable on each. I used one release for the 125, 150, 210, but any of the other releases could have been a spare if one failed.
Kirk Keyes That is a very good plan, especially when working with recessed lens boards. It probably would be a good idea if I did something similar. I have never tried leaving the longer releases attached to each lens.
I also leave a cable release attached to each lens so that I have one less thing to futz with when setting up a shot. That also provides plenty of redundancy if any one release fails.
To help relieve some stress from the shutter, I used a short, flexible cable extension of about 3" long - extension into the shutter and then release into the extension. I have both the Gepe 3.5" extension and one by Kalt. They both worked well. The Kalt sheathing started to fray after a while but the Gepe, which has a plastic cover on the flexible part, is in good shape after 10+ years of use.
If your cable release breaks, you could use the self timer on your camera if it has one. I have tried that in emergencies. It doesn't help you with B exposures, but it works for short exposures with static subjects. It also works on cameras that don't have a cable release socket but do have a self timer., such as a Contax T2, I may be the only person ever to have used one on a tripod, judging by the videos on TH-cam about them.
@@BenHorne It is along while since I shot large Format, the 1980's I suspect. Do you not get a self timer on the shutter. I still have them on my 1950's TLR's leaf shutters, along with support for clock work time delay (M) mode for for flash bulbs.
I'm still rocking one from a used shop I picked up in NC in 2010. They break, and it stinks when they do, a lot. Think recessed board, once in a lifetime shot, 2 sec exposure......::kick self:: know the pain and heed the advice. All the best-
Michael D. Farrell, Jr. That is a disaster of a scenario with a recessed lens board and a broken cable release with a 2 second shutter! I would probably just sacrifice some DOF and adjust my aperture to get down to a second. Either that or throw the camera off a cliff in slow motion.
I always have 3 in my backpack! Nothing worse than trying to take a shot by triggering it right from the shutter, trying your damndest not to shake the camera
3:22 bulb exposure - do you often do bulb exposures? Your lenses all appear to have very new copals, all of which should have a T setting. Is there a reason you prefer locking with B, to simply using T?
I like using Bulb for exposures just over a second up until maybe 8 or 10 seconds. Longer than that, I like using the timer mode. I've found that using bulb mode makes the process much easier with the shorter exposures. The action of starting and stopping my stopwatch mimics using the cable release in bulb mode, so it's less to think about.
Thanks for the Video, Ben. I just got a Bronica Medium Format camera and being new to cable releases, I thought the new one I bought was broken. I found it to be user error after seeing your video. Thanks again for the video.
Unless the manufacturer of the release or camera did something unconventional and proprietary, they should be universal. I can use the cable release from my 8x10 with a 35mm camera that's designed to take a manual release.
Dosh Doctor This is Winston. He is an incredibly skittish cat, and has never been seen in person by my friends and family, even when they take care of him while my wife and I are on vacation. We also have an orange tabby that loves people and acts more like a dog.
For anyone reading this now, I am watching this video because I had a metal braided cable release fail and have been trying to fix it, the spring has come out of the button end of the braiding, and the whole thing came out of the plastic wrap somehow. Not worth the effort I've put into trying to fix it so far
Eric Burke He actually jumps up there on his own when I walk into the room and he is following me. With my orange tabby, I have to bribe him with treats.
Digital "Your memory cards will fail, shoot redundant to both cards"
Film "Your cable release will fail, carry two"
Kyle Medina very true! Also, with LF it is a good idea to shoot 2 sheets of film "just in case". Redundancy is a good thing.
I NEVER had a cable release give me any trouble until you mentioned at Archangel Falls that I should carry two. The very next shot it hung and I had to spend some time getting it working again. Bought a spare immediately after that trip!
Alan Brock That was some pretty crazy timing! At least you were surrounded by other photographers and someone would have an extra one kicking around.
My cable releases almost never fail, because I loose them first. Admittedly mine are used in medium format and are not the 3 foot types Ben uses. Last time around, I bought 3 or 4 of Chinese manufacture; very inexpensive and seem to work okay (New). We'll see how they hold up.
Randall Stewart Those smaller ones are certainly easy to lose. I am thinking that they might be quite durable since they are small. The longer ones might reveal the weaknesses in the materials even more.
Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who always carries two cable releases. Must admit that I never lock mine but use the "T" stop on my lens instead for long time exposures. Makes me feel more comfortable. Greetings from: Germany! 😉
Lars I like to use bulb mode for shorter exposures up to about 10 seconds, and the T mode on my lens for exposures longer than that. For whatever reason, I just feel more accurate with the shorter exposures by just letting go of the release, rather than pressing it a second time in the T mode. It might have to do with the fact that holding the shutter open in bulb mode mimics the way I use a stopwatch in my other hand.
The Nikon AR-3 is a nice, high-quality and readily available Japanese made cable release. If your local store doesn't have them they can probably get them because they're made by Nikon of course.
I haven't worked with the Nikon one, but it sounds great. The Gepe one that I bought to replace my damaged one worked out very well on my last trip. We'll see how long it lasts, but I'm also taking better care of it than my past ones.
They seem to get good reviews. I just got one and it seems well made with a speedy release spring. It stays locked with no option to disable that so you always have to release it manually. Unless I'm missing something. But I suppose 2 seconds or longer is enough time to move your thumb to the release point.
I have ones from my that I've used back in the 80's that are still good. I am still using them today. I have new ones for my other bags. The main thing is not to stretch them or wrap them too tight.
Jerry Hutchins Definitely. I try not to wrap them very tight, but I still manage to stretch them over time. I also ended up with some sort of weird abrasion on the cable release that I don't know where it came from -- almost as though it got pinched in something. We'll see how the new one holds up by putting it in the cloth sleeve.
Maybe the length. Mine do not exceed 12" maybe 16". Maybe a bad plating, could be peeling off or water got in.
Just getting ready to head to death valley in a couple weeks and needed a new cable. Glad I looked here. I just you'd have a suggestion!
I put a cable release on each of my wide angle lenses. I shot a 4x5 Technika and I put a release on both my 75 and 90mm. They were both on recessed boards and were a pain to connect. It saved a lot of time just leaving a cable on each. I used one release for the 125, 150, 210, but any of the other releases could have been a spare if one failed.
Kirk Keyes That is a very good plan, especially when working with recessed lens boards. It probably would be a good idea if I did something similar. I have never tried leaving the longer releases attached to each lens.
I also leave a cable release attached to each lens so that I have one less thing to futz with when setting up a shot. That also provides plenty of redundancy if any one release fails.
To help relieve some stress from the shutter, I used a short, flexible cable extension of about 3" long - extension into the shutter and then release into the extension. I have both the Gepe 3.5" extension and one by Kalt. They both worked well. The Kalt sheathing started to fray after a while but the Gepe, which has a plastic cover on the flexible part, is in good shape after 10+ years of use.
If your cable release breaks, you could use the self timer on your camera if it has one. I have tried that in emergencies. It doesn't help you with B exposures, but it works for short exposures with static subjects. It also works on cameras that don't have a cable release socket but do have a self timer., such as a Contax T2, I may be the only person ever to have used one on a tripod, judging by the videos on TH-cam about them.
I do wish large format lenses had a self timer built in. It would come in handy in certain situations.
@@BenHorne It is along while since I shot large Format, the 1980's I suspect. Do you not get a self timer on the shutter. I still have them on my 1950's TLR's leaf shutters, along with support for clock work time delay (M) mode for for flash bulbs.
Please do the cat outro at the end of every video from henceforth!
Frank Young Haha! I likely will. I might as well put those guys to work.
I'm still rocking one from a used shop I picked up in NC in 2010. They break, and it stinks when they do, a lot. Think recessed board, once in a lifetime shot, 2 sec exposure......::kick self:: know the pain and heed the advice. All the best-
Michael D. Farrell, Jr. That is a disaster of a scenario with a recessed lens board and a broken cable release with a 2 second shutter! I would probably just sacrifice some DOF and adjust my aperture to get down to a second. Either that or throw the camera off a cliff in slow motion.
Hi Ben! That's valuable advise. I've gone through about half a dozen of those cable releases over the years and always bring a spare.
Thanks Raphael! I am hoping that the cloth sleeve I'm now storing the cable release will help make it last longer. We'll see though!
Yes it will. Mine broke during a flight but I was able to gaff tape it back together through a shoot. I'm going to carry two spares now.
I'm glad you were able to get yours working again to complete the shoot. Such a simple piece of equipment can sure cause problems when it breaks.
I always have 3 in my backpack! Nothing worse than trying to take a shot by triggering it right from the shutter, trying your damndest not to shake the camera
Higgins2001 Having 3 of them is probably a very good plan! Heck, I managed to destroy 2 cameras this year, so crazy things can happen.
3:22 bulb exposure - do you often do bulb exposures? Your lenses all appear to have very new copals, all of which should have a T setting. Is there a reason you prefer locking with B, to simply using T?
I like using Bulb for exposures just over a second up until maybe 8 or 10 seconds. Longer than that, I like using the timer mode. I've found that using bulb mode makes the process much easier with the shorter exposures. The action of starting and stopping my stopwatch mimics using the cable release in bulb mode, so it's less to think about.
Thanks for the Video, Ben. I just got a Bronica Medium Format camera and being new to cable releases, I thought the new one I bought was broken. I found it to be user error after seeing your video. Thanks again for the video.
I'm glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!!
Do all shutter release cables fit the same? For example would one for a film SLR button screw into a large format lens?
Unless the manufacturer of the release or camera did something unconventional and proprietary, they should be universal. I can use the cable release from my 8x10 with a 35mm camera that's designed to take a manual release.
Ben Horne Awesome thanks for the reply Ben!
Sorry Ben! The like for this video was mainly for the cat!
Jarrod Tobeck I'll take it! 😜
Your cat looks like my Jill.
They sure are fun critters to have around. :-)
cool... but what brands?
I'm currently using a release made by Gepe, and I'm very happy with it. It's built very well.
Love the cameo appearances from the black cat, whats her or his name?
Dosh Doctor This is Winston. He is an incredibly skittish cat, and has never been seen in person by my friends and family, even when they take care of him while my wife and I are on vacation. We also have an orange tabby that loves people and acts more like a dog.
There is a solutuon. Metal braid cabel release.
I think the Linhof branded one had a braided metal layer under the outer protective layer, and that's why it lasted so long.
Maybe. Mine is metal braided all the way with no outer coat.
For anyone reading this now, I am watching this video because I had a metal braided cable release fail and have been trying to fix it, the spring has come out of the button end of the braiding, and the whole thing came out of the plastic wrap somehow. Not worth the effort I've put into trying to fix it so far
Brand names??
I'm a big fan of Gepe Releases.
Ben Horne Thank you.
How do you get your cat to stay on that stole so long lol.
Eric Burke He actually jumps up there on his own when I walk into the room and he is following me. With my orange tabby, I have to bribe him with treats.
So you have one really loving cat then, kind of like my friends cat as soon as she gets home cat follows her everywhere.
must have been a CATastrophic failure
Henry McQueen So true! 😂
Your cat is cute, but has nothing to say this time... :-P
Matthew Saville Haha! Not this time, but maybe next time. 😜