The Canon Wireless Controller LC-5 simply attaches to a compatible camera's accessory shoe or can be separately attached to a supplied bracket and connected to the camera's three-pronged N3 Remote socket with the supplied 15-inch receiver cable. The unit is triggered with a pocket-sized transmitter that sends an infrared pulse-modulated strobe signal to the receiver. Powered by four AA alkaline batteries (approximately 4,500 operations per set), the LC-5 controller is also compatible with AA-size Lithium, oxyride, and Nickel-hydride rechargeable batteries.
Offering photographers the situational adaptability of four control modes, the LC-5 can be set to Single-Shot mode which captures one shot each time the transmitter button is pressed; Continuous mode which signals the receiver to keep firing the camera (until the transmitter button is pressed again or until the camera's buffer memory limit or maximum storage card capacity is reached); Test mode, which illuminates a red LED on the receiver to confirm that the unit is operating properly before shooting, and Delay mode, which fires a single shot approximately 3.5 seconds after the transmitter button is pressed.
The Wireless Controller LC-5 is also equipped with three channel settings (A, B and C) to ensure that multiple remote Canon users do not inadvertently set off someone else's camera or in situations where a single photographer is remotely triggering more than one camera set-up. In that instance the photographer has the option of firing the separate cameras individually and at will or all at once by selecting the unit's "ALL" setting.
Whether capturing nature shots in macro mode or intimate wildlife studies that must be fired at a distance, Canon's Wireless Controller LC-5 expands the ease and with it, the opportunities for unmanned but not unmonitored photography. Among the expanded capabilities offered by the LC-5 that were unavailable on the predecessor models is the improved one-shot release mode (1SR) that permits the photographer to pre-focus the camera and then essentially lay in wait - virtually indefinitely -- for the subject to cross into range. By pressing the LC-5 transmitter trigger fully, the LC-5 remote receiver can now "wake" the camera from its energy saving "sleep mode" and capture at will the image that the photographer has patiently been waiting for. In other than 1SR mode, the photographer needs only to depress the remote transmitter's trigger button halfway to engage the camera's autofocus before shooting.
The Wireless Controller LC-5's components -- transmitter, receiver and bracket -- pack up into three conveniently sized cases for increased ease of use. The unit is compatible with Canon's prosumer EOS 20D digital SLR (and its predecessor the EOS 10D) as well as the professional digital SLR cameras including the EOS-1D, EOS-1Ds, EOS-1D Mark II, and EOS-1Ds Mark II. Not limited to use on digital models, the Wireless Controller LC-5 is also compatible with several EOS 35mm film-based SLR models including the EOS-3 and the EOS-1v.
