AEO Photo Pro 2.0 - Manual

AEO Lightning Strike! Pro Camera Shutter Trigger
The AEO Lighting Strike! Pro is a Lightning Shutter Trigger. Enhancements in our “Pro” series triggers
include both a sensitivity over ride adjustment, as well as a locking hot shoe / tripod mount.
Lightning Mode: Test your new device right out of the box: Place the device in a room with no light
source which might be flickering (computer screens, fluorescent lights, etc). Ambient daylight through
the windows is OK. Make sure there’s a 9 Volt battery in the battery compartment. Set the mode
switch to “Lightning”. Turn the power on. The red LED will flash every time the device triggers. It’s
normal for it to trigger once on power up. If it continues to trigger, check for light sources leaking into
the room. (If you cover the window of the device with your hand, it should not trigger). Set off a
camera flash (using another camera or a flash attachment). The flash should trigger the device.
Note: Many household lighting appliances will continuously trigger the device. A computer monitor
will set it off continuously. Make sure when you’re testing the device no lights or computer screens are
on. Ambient daytime (indoor) light is ok.
Manual adjustment of the sensitivity is accomplished by adjusting the “trim screw” accessible on the left
side of the device (looking from above). The port in the most forward position is the sensitivity
adjustment. (The “aft port” is your cable connection). The Sensitivity Trim is a SINGLE TURN
adjustment. CAUTION: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FORCE THE ADJUSTMENT BEYOND IT’S MECHANICAL
STOPS. DOING SO MAY DAMAGE THE SENSITIVITY ADJUSTMENT. Use a small jewelers screwdriver
standard or Phillips) to make the adjustments. Full CLOCKWISE sets the sensitivity at 120% of the
factory set point. Full COUNTER CLOCKWISE sets the sensitivity at 20% of the factory set point. We
recommend for most situations to use the normal set point which is approximately ¼ turn CCW from the
full sensitivity point. Other photography scenarios may dictate different settings at the professional
photographer’s discretion.
Theory of Operation: The device triggers on the first bolt it detects. Your camera shutter mechanism is
not fast enough to catch that first bolt, but fortunately, most bolts are followed by many more. Thus,
you want to have the camera shutter open for a fairly long time to capture those subsequent bolts
(we’ve used 10 seconds with good results).
Photographing Lightning is as much Art as it is Science. Getting the right conditions and settings can be
challenging, and some folks have a better knack for it than others. But to get you started, here are some
basic “recommendations”:
1. The camera should be mounted on a tripod. You want it stable during the exposure.
2. Mount the device in your camera’s hot shoe mount with the red semi-clear window facing the
direction you are photographing. Insert the supplied plug into your camera remote shutter
interface.
3. Point the camera at the storm or in the direction you see lightning activity.
4. Set your Auto Focus feature to OFF or Disable.
5. Set the focus to infinity. (If the lightning is closer than that, you’re too close to it!!!)
6. We’ve found that when photographing lightning at night, an f-stop of 5.6 works well.