We were treated to a fascinating evening when Paul Berkleley (and his wife) came to tell us about the Triggersmart System.
Paul is a self employed Engineer and Designer who lived on the I.O.Wight and where he and his wife started a camera club, as they are both keen photographers. He saw an opportunity to invent and develop a system to take photographs of high speed events, such as a pellet shattering a glass, for instance, or a bolt of lightening. He decided that the system should be simple, versatile and affordable, and since he perfected it, it has been used by many people and organisations world wide.
The basis of the system consists of two boxes about the size of a cigarette packet, with wires to connect it to a control box, about the size of a small brick. and another cable to connect to the remote release socket of the camera. One box sends out an infra-red beam which is received by the other box, and if the beam is broken by something physical like a pellet, or an animal, it sends a signal to the control box which in turn sends a signal to the camera to take a shot, all done in milli-seconds of course. In addition there is a sound sensor in one of the boxes and a light sensor in the the other allowing triggering on a sound (like a pellet gun being fired) or a flash of light (e.g., lightening).
We saw a practical demonstration involving a toy car speeding down a steep track and a picture was taken by the camera just before it came to the end of its journey as it broke the beam. This was followed by examples of pictures that had been taken by Paul and others of the many subjects which can be recorded; like a pellet fired at a balloon filled with coloured water showing the water just starting to flow out of the punctured balloon and the pellet just having exited the other side; a jumping spider in mid jump; a redstart just leaving its nest, and many more amazing images which one could spend hours trying to take by other methods. Paul was quite definite about the system being easy and quick to set up and use.
It is sold world wide (already in more than 20 countries) by a distributer called Flaghead who are based in Poole. The basic kit costs £238 (incl VAT). The standard camera cable fits most Canon cameras but of course they also sell cables to adapt to fit most other makes of camera. There are quite a variety of accessories available for different uses, e.g. a wildlife kit, and there are other boxes which give a wider beam out over longer distances. Also waterproof covers for the boxes to protect them from the weather, and many more bits of equipment for special jobs.
All in all, it was a very interesting evening and I am sure some of our members will 'have a go'.
Thank you Paul.