It’s not often that I’m blown away by outstanding customer service but today I was.
While browsing the aisles at Ecotech Services (as you do….) I spotted a Pixel TC-252 Timer Remote Control camera remote shutter complete with its manual sitting on the shelf with the rest of the camera accessories (chargers, filters, and other bits and pieces). This device has a small LCD screen and quite a few buttons. It appeared at a quick glance to have quite a few features.
As I’m getting into photography and getting interested in chasing auroras and shooting the Milky Way, and maybe doing time lapses, my interest was instantly aroused, so I told my partner Alan Liefting that I was going to take it home to check it out. “Where did you find that?” he asked me. (Ha I spotted it first!! but I might let him borrow it….) The device is made by a Hong Kong based company called Pixel. After a quick Google search I found their website and had a read of the info. The remote has a lot of great features. It can do a single shot, multi shot, bulb, delayed and even a timer that can do multiple time delay shots – an intervalometer – so it can do time lapse. Perfect for astrophotography! (now I just have to wait for a star tracker to turn up at Ecotech Services – dreams are free!!) It turns out that the cable is connected to the remote via a 2.5mm plug and a range of different cables for different cameras are available. I tried pressing the biggest button which turned it on, and it fired up with a logo, then appeared to shut down after a short period. I wasn’t sure if this was normal behaviour or if it had a fault.
The manual didn’t really shed any light and a quick Google search found the Pixel website which had a chat feature so I thought I’d give it a go. The person on the other end was more than helpful. After I described the situation, they got me to send them a video of what the remote was doing, checked it against the behaviour of one they had at their end and got me to do some testing (see what happened when the batteries were replaced – it fired up). It turned out that what was happening was normal in single shot mode. I then tried clicking into the other features of the device and the appropriate displays came up on the screen, so it appears to work. The Pixel rep then gave me the specs of what cable I would need to find. They gave me their model number, which I expected, but also the specs of a generic cable that will do the job and make this remote work with both of our cameras. I was extremely impressed with the level of help given to a random customer who had not purchased their product, nor was likely to purchase a cable from them (they even said to me that the freight to buy from them directly would kill it). If you are into photography and are looking for a good quality remote timer/intervalometer, look into the Pixel.
Here is a review (should have watched that first!):
Pixel TC-252 – BEST VALUE INTERVAL TIMER for any camera! – REMOTE FOR TIME LAPSE
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