HI everyone, I recently purchased a MIOPS trigger, with the primary use bing for lightning. I am using the trigger on a Nikon D850 set on manual focus and exposure etc... I am finding that the trigger does trigger the camera with lightning however it seems to miss the lightning more often then not. I've had some nice large bolts with triple flashes in the lightning and it only fires after the 3rd flash of lightning.Has anyone else had these issues with this trigger? Is it possible that I have a faulty trigger?I did post in the Accessories category as well, not sure if this is a  camera issue or trigger issue.

Steve wrote:HI everyone, I recently purchased a MIOPS trigger, with the primary use bing for lightning. I am using the trigger on a Nikon D850 set on manual focus and exposure etc... I am finding that the trigger does trigger the camera with lightning however it seems to miss the lightning more often then not. I've had some nice large bolts with triple flashes in the lightning and it only fires after the 3rd flash of lightning.Has anyone else had these issues with this trigger? Is it possible that I have a faulty trigger?I did post in the Accessories category as well, not sure if this is a camera issue or trigger issue.I think you will have far better luck simply choosing an aperture and ISO that gets you a nice exposure of the foreground at about 20 to 30 seconds. Trigger the camera on tripod, and relax with fingers crossed that strikes will occur.This method is obviously dependent upon luck that you get one or more strikes while the shutter is open, but when there is a storm going with significant lightning, the strikes often happen fairly regularly.Takes a little luck, but I doubt you'll find a trigger that can fire the camera fast enough to get the initial strike.

That would be great if it were dark... I'm talking daylight exposures where that situation isn't possible.  At night it's no issue catching the lighting, it's the daylight situations that are the struggle

I use a ND filter for daytime lightning and a 20-30 second exposure.

And that would also darken the lightening making it less intense, correct?

Steve wrote:And that would also darken the lightening making it less intense, correct?Doesn't change the ratio of ambient to lightning.

Have you shot lightning like this?  I agree that the brightness ratio doesn’t change... but a 30sec exposure would require a 1sec bolt of lightning (as an example) to be of equal brightness or am I missing something?the duration of the lightning flash doesn’t change so a ND filter will just dim the lightning

Steve wrote:Have you shot lightning like this? I agree that the brightness ratio doesn’t change... but a 30sec exposure would require a 1sec bolt of lightning (as an example) to be of equal brightness or am I missing something?the duration of the lightning flash doesn’t change so a ND filter will just dim the lightningThe longer your exposure time, the lower the contrast will be between the lightning and the sky.If you could get a trigger to only open the shutter for the duration of a given lightning strike, you will get maximum contrast. But I don't believe a trigger would be able to fire your camera quickly-enough, even if it fired it instantaneously when the lightning strike happened. Lightning lasts on the order of 10s of microseconds. If memory serves, there is about a 20 to 40 millisecond lag between pushing the shutter release on a modern DSLR and when the front curtain opens. That's about a thousand times too slow.So, you are going to have to just open the shutter and hope for a strike while it's open. Tradeoff is short shutter speed gives better contrast, but likelyhood of a strike while the shutter is open goes down.

DPFranz wrote:If you could get a trigger to only open the shutter for the duration of a given lightning strike, you will get maximum contrast. But I don't believe a trigger would be able to fire your camera quickly-enough, even if it fired it instantaneously when the lightning strike happened. Lightning lasts on the order of 10s of microseconds. If memory serves, there is about a 20 to 40 millisecond lag between pushing the shutter release on a modern DSLR and when the front curtain opens. That's about a thousand times too slow.Lightning triggers when set up correctly will sense the "main event" of the initial strike's sequence, but there will be plenty of time to catch the return stroke, the return return stroke, the return return return stroke, etc. In our last storm here there was a spectacular multiple stroke sequence that lasted 3 seconds.What you will miss with a lightning trigger are the elaborately branched exploratory "feelers". The subsequent repeating strokes mostly go along the same pathway as the main bolt of the initial strike. Every daytime lightning stroke I've seen from anybody is nowhere as intricate as what you often see in nighttime shots.So, you are going to have to just open the shutter and hope for a strike while it's open. Tradeoff is short shutter speed gives better contrast, but likelyhood of a strike while the shutter is open goes down.That's the best approach for night time shots.OP: I usually use f/8 at base ISO for lightning, so you have some leeway to use an ND filter in the day if you wish.Also, have you explored the sensitivity settings in the MIOPS? The model I have from them is a few years old but it does have an adjustment. Mine can reliably trigger on unphotographable, invisible intra-cloud daytime strikes. Start at the top end and adjust downward until you don't get nuisance false triggers.My pet peeve with the commercially available triggers is that they don't give the user an option to constrain their field of view to match your camera. Triggering on a stroke that is out of the frame isn't terribly useful.

Ok so according to what you're saying all lightning triggers are just scams?   I don't believe that to be true.  As the user posting below you states it does work.   My concern is with this particular model.

Thanks for your response.  Ok so good to hear you're using the MIOPS and getting good results with it.  I have the sensitivity set to the max, I've also turned it down somewhat hoping that would make a difference.  It does fire the camera overtime but usually after the strike.What camera are you shooting with?

Steve wrote:Thanks for your response. Ok so good to hear you're using the MIOPS and getting good results with it.I actually can't say I'm getting good daylight lightning shots with it: every time I have been free to get out and shoot a daylight storm, there haven't been any cloud/ground strikes, they've all been hidden in the clouds. But I do see the clouds brighten, and the shutter does fire...I have the sensitivity set to the max, I've also turned it down somewhat hoping that would make a difference. It does fire the camera overtime but usually after the strike.Not every storm or location delivers the required repeat strikes.What camera are you shooting with?D800 initially, then D810 later. And the 16-35G works well even at 16mm if set to f/8. But if you need 16mm, you're getting wet, or will beverysoon.

Steve wrote:Ok so according to what you're saying all lightning triggers are just scams? I don't believe that to be true. As the user posting below you states it does work. My concern is with this particular model.Nope, they do work, but I prefer the method I describe. I did some trigger shots back in the late 2000's and didn't have as much luck as just opening the shutter and waiting. Easy, works well. Apologies if it came out impolitely. Best of luck!

User6967922740 wrote:I use a ND filter for daytime lightning and a 20-30 second exposure.What stop ND are you using with base ISO and f8, for example?