Sniper at 500 meters away: iShoot Sniper Wireless Trigger Preview

[Zeus]

In the era of strobing with Joe McNally, Zack Arias and David Hobby creating legion of fans, manufacturers have been quick on the trail to come up with innovative products. The brand new iShoot sniper features a 2.4Ghz wireless radio flash trigger which is has claims that it can trigger up to 500meters. Yes, you read right, that is more than a bus stop away!! (if you can even see the recevier!!). The Ishoot is a transceiver: users can set it to be either a transmitter or a receiver. It features a 16 channel wireless flash trigger with a range of up to 500m. As a hybrid it can be used as a wireless remote trigger or a wireless flash trigger. It uses 2 AA batteries which is widely available. The iShoot wireless trigger has the ability to control up to 3 groups of flash wirelessly. The sync speed of the wireless trigger is rated at 1/500s(camera body dependant)





Key features:

• iShoot Sniper is compatible with Nikon/ Canon and other manual flashes
• Uses 2AA batteries
• Antenna for enhacned wireless signal (replacable)
• Sync speed is up to 1/500
• Metal hotshoe
• PC-Sync port and remote port

Thoughts
The feel of the iShoot Sniper feels rather plastic, the built is very similar to PocketWizard TT5 series (maybe another pending lawsuit by LPA Design after the court order against Phottix a few days ago?). The buttons are pretty intuitive, each Sniper can either be set as a flash or camera mode, in Tx or Rx (transmitter/receiver more).

In Camera mode, the following functions are available:

• 4 second delay
• Bulb mode
• Automatic mode

In flash mode, one can shoot from three individual groups (A,B & C) can be selected. On top of this, there're 16 channels to choose from. The option of having so many groups/channels is quite mind-boggling at the moment, while perhaps the manufacturer is trying to create a Pocket Wizard AC-3 replacement to control these units in future.

This iShoot sniper is an top contender against the influx of long-range flash triggers, from the Pocketwizard Plus II /TT1/TT5 series to copycats like Phottix Atlas, Strato. All these have a distance claim of 100 to 300 meters while the iShoot sniper is claiming a range of 500meters!!
Independent tests for 500 meter range experiment will be carried out soon!! Watch this space!

	iShoot Sniper	Pocket Wizard Mini TT1	Pocket Wizard Flex TT5	Phottix Stratos	Phottix Altas
Frequency	2.4Ghz	340.00 - 354.00 MHz FCC / 433.42 - 434.42 MHz CE	340.00 - 354.00 MHz FCC / 433.42 - 434.42 MHz CE	2.4Ghz	433Mhz CE/ 344Mhz FCC
Channels	16 Channels	52 Channels FCC/ 32 Channels CE	52 Channels FCC/ 32 Channels CE	4 Channels	4 Channels
Range	up to 500m	up to 365m	up to 365m	up to 100m +	up to 100m +
TTL	No	Yes	Yes	Yes(transmitter only)	No
Type	Transceiver	Transceiver	Transceiver	Transmitter & Receiver	Transceiver
Power	2 AA batteries	3 V Lithium battery, CR2450 (included) or CR2354 Lithium coin cell type	2 AA batteries	2 AAA batteries	2 AA batteries
Wireless/Wired Remote	Yes(Wireless only)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hot Shoe material	Metal	Plastic	Plastic	Metal	Metal
Price	~$160	~$300	~$350	around $120	~$180

All prices at in SGD. 1USD ~ SGD$1.30

[Zeus]

Ishoot sniper test shoot at 90 meters, with Canon EOS 7D, 70-200, receiver with 580EXII. 7D on fast burst mode.