Hahnel Captur Timer Kit review: remote shooting opens up a whole world of creative potential

There are certain situations when you’ll need to fire your camera remotely in order to get the perfect shot. The most obvious scenario that springs to mind would be setting up your camera in an area you’re expecting a wild animal to pass through, and then needing to remove yourself by some distance so that you don’t scare it off. Though this is by no means the only use-case for its remote shooting capabilities.

Digital cameras have over the past decade included more smart features, and while it is possible on many modern digital cameras to shoot remotely via a smartphone and dedicated app, this is often unreliable and dependent on a strong WiFi or Bluetooth signal.

That’s where Hahnel’s Captur comes in! The Captur Timer Kit comes with a wireless transmitter and receiver that allows you to fire off exposures on your camera from up to 100m away using a 2.4GHz radio signal which is much more reliable than WiFi or Bluetooth.

The Hahnel Captur Timer Kit is available in Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, and Olympus/Panasonic iterations. We got hold of the Canon version to test on our Canon EOS cameras, though much of this review will be the same for the other models with the main difference being the supplied cables to connect to your camera ports. Here’s how we got on with the Hahnel Captur and our thoughts as to whether or not you should add it to your photography wishlist…

Hahnel Captur Timer Kit: Design & Handling

The design of the Hahnel Captur has been kept simple which helps make it very user-friendly. In the Captur Timer Kit box, you’ll find the receiver and transmitter. The receiver slips onto your camera’s hotshoe and a locking wheel is spun to keep it securely on your camera.

The bottom of the hotshoe also has a 1/4 inch female port to mount the receiver to a tripod or light stand if needed. On our Canon version, two cables have been provided to fit either Canon’s C1 or C3 accessory port. The other corresponding end plugs directly into the camera accessory port.

It's worth noting that the receiver has a ‘cold’ shoe, in other words, no communication is made through the camera hotshoe, instead, it communicates through the provided cables - this means you don’t need to worry about compatibility issues with Canon’s multifunction shoe on its latest cameras. 

The receiver does however have a ‘hot’ shoe on the top, and this live female connection is ideal for mounting a flashgun or other hotshoe-powered accessory such as a flash trigger for off-camera flash work.

So that’s the receiver in a nutshell. The transmitter is equally just as easy to set up. Turn both the transmitter and receiver on via their respective switches and you’re ready to fire the camera remotely. Hahnel claims it can fire remotely at distances of up to 100mm using its 2.4GHz frequency and in testing we found it to be easily reliable at this distance - should there be no obstacles such as hedges or buildings blocking the signal.

If you want to get more advanced, the transmitter also has modes for intervalometer, long exposure, and delay. All modes are super easy to set up and use.

If you don’t need the wireless functionality you can use the provided cables to plug the transmitter directly into your camera and remove the need for the receiver altogether. The cable is a little short at 36cm in comparison to dedicated shutter release cables, such as Canon’s TC-80N3 which measures 80cm, but it’s a nice feature to have that makes the Captur more versatile and stops you from doubling up on equipment in your kit bag. Its functionality here goes way beyond what the cheap shutter releases you often find on Amazon and eBay usually offer so it is a more serious professional piece of kit.

Hahnel Captur Timer Kit: Performance

We had no problems substantiating Hahnel’s claims of a 100m range - in fact, we were able to reliably shoot over distances much longer than this, about 130m before the signal dropped out in our tests. The catch is we needed to be in an open area like a flat park or field, as disappearing behind any hedgerows or buildings did make the connection less reliable. 

One perk of using an app on your phone to fire your camera remotely is that you can see the live view feed and sometimes you can also adjust camera settings such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO and autofocus. While this isn’t a luxury you get with the Hahnel Captur, it does have a much beefier range and a more reliable connection. I have so far been unimpressed with the reliability of wireless camera and phone operation, though each method of wireless communication clearly has its own perks.

Both the Captur trigger and receiver run off two AA batteries and while battery life was impressive, there’s no indication of the battery status for either device on the trigger. This is a bit of a problem: if the receiver runs out of juice you could continue firing your camera from a distance thinking you’ve caught a fantastic moment, but the trigger has been off the whole time. So best practice is to put in a fresh set of batteries before any important shoot.

One thing we did like about the Captur is that the LCD in the trigger is illuminated when any button is pressed which lights it up and makes it easier to see in the dark. The green and red LEDs on both the trigger and receiver which indicate when they’ve been fired are also a little faint, so it can be difficult to see if it has been fired if you’re shooting in bright sunlight. We found the system worked best when paired with on-camera, or off-camera flash, as this gives a much clearer indication that the camera has fired an exposure as you'll see the flash fire if successful.

Hahnel Captur Timer Kit: Final Verdict

The Hahnel Captur Timer Kit is a formidable shutter release cable in its own right, currently costing around $79 it really gives Canon's own-brand TC-80N3 Remote Controller a run for its money as that will set you back $130. It has much of the same functionality, though perhaps not the same degree of weather sealing (the Captur uses a detachable cable whereas Canon's is fixed and sealed in place).

That said, not only is the Hahnel Captur a versatile and competent wired shutter release, but it also has the bonus feature of being able to fire your camera remotely from up to 100m, and even more in our tests. 

If you’re looking for a way to fire off exposures reliably at distances of up to 100mm and have found your camera's built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to be too unreliable for your needs then the Captur Timer Kit is a brilliant option to consider. It’s available to fit a wide range of camera types, though the Canon kit we had on test proved to live up to expectations and do everything it claimed to do.

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The Canon TC-80N3 is is an official shutter release “remote controller” from Canon designed to fit only cameras with its 3-pin connection. It also doesn’t have the wireless functionality of the Hahnel Captur and is more expensive at £129. Though as a wired shutter release cable it comes fully loaded with useful modes including an intervalometer, remote timer and an illuminated LCD.

The Canon BR-E1 remote controller works with Bluetooth-compatible Canon EOS cameras and allows you to trigger your Canon camera from up to 5m away. While it doesn’t have the 100m range of the Hahnel Captur kit, it is suitable for short distances making it great for shooting selfies and group shots without touching the camera. It’s also useful for videographers and hybrid shoots as it can be used to start and stop video recording.