Plato Wireless Shutter Release Arrived Today

I've been looking for a wireless shutter release for a while and went ahead order the Phottix Plato (C8 for my 50D) on Ebay. The main function for this is to take pictures of myself, mostly with a fish in my hands.
Been bitten by ebay wireless OCF triggers, I was debating whether to go with canon LC-5 but just could not pull the trigger as it's expensive, almost $400 and bulky. I've also looked into Cleon II and almost bought it from POTN shop but the Plato seem to be more user friendly.
Lead time: I paypal the money on Friday Night, May 8th. The package showed up in my mail box today. That's 10 days including 2 weekends, pretty good.

Front View:

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Just noticed that the batties are Super Heavy Duty ones, not alkaline. Make sure to change batteries before your heading out to shoot.

Just got mine today! It shipped in only a few days ago actually! I must have gotten lucky.

2.4 Ghz, 2-way reception confirmation - what's not to like! So far, I think it's a great trigger.

Nice find

What's the Canon $400 one? And how much did you pick this up for

~ Josh

Joshua Bowden wrote in post #7961963
What's the Canon $400 one?

Canon LC-5

And how much did you pick this up for

$45 shipped from Hong Kong. Available on eBay.

The price on ebay is more like 50 something for plato. I did not find any 45 dollars.
As long as the consistency is there, it's all good.

vincent_su wrote in post #7963392
The price on ebay is more like 50 something for plato. I did not find any 45 dollars.
As long as the consistency is there, it's all good.

how is the plato better than the original cleon?

it's more expensive.

i don't really like the detachable cord but i only use my cleon on one camera.

the four AAA batteries are certainly cheaper than one CR2 but also heavier and the transmitter has to be bulkier.

i'm not feeling the love for the plato....am i missing something?

ed rader

ed rader wrote in post #7963493
how is the plato better than the original cleon?

2.4 GHz which is much more reliable and less prone to interference than 433 MHz. It also has a two-way reception confirmation light, which tells you that you're out of range.

Also no ugly antenna on the remote

I'll take my re-chargeable AAA's over CR2's any day of the week.

If you own a Cleon and it works, there's absolutely no need to "upgrade". But for people who are going in "fresh" (like I did), I wouldn't even consider the Cleon anymore.

int2str wrote in post #7963559
2.4 GHz which is much more reliable and less prone to interference than 433 MHz. It also has a two-way reception confirmation light, which tells you that you're out of range.

Also no ugly antenna on the remote


I'll take my re-chargeable AAA's over CR2's any day of the week.


If you own a Cleon and it works, there's absolutely no need to "upgrade". But for people who are going in "fresh" (like I did), I wouldn't even consider the Cleon anymore.

so you actually have never used the cleon? mine has worked reliably in all conditions and i don't need to extend the antenna.

great marketing on phottix's part to keep releasing new models and upping the price .

ed rader

ed rader wrote in post #7963589
so you actually have never used the cleon? mine has worked reliably in all conditions and i don't need to extend the antenna.

great marketing on phottix's part to keep releasing new models and upping the price .

ed rader

I think the Cleon has more range than a 2.4 device anyway, and less prone to interference with all the routers, microwaves, phones and other devices using it.

^^ agree. 2.4Ghz is so cluttered these days. almost anything wireless is on the 2.4Ghz band.

but this is definitely an interesting find, good luck!

vincent_su wrote in post #7952428
Just noticed that the batties are Super Heavy Duty ones, not alkaline. Make sure to change batteries before your heading out to shoot.

All these 'green' initiatives to save the planet, you would think they would outlaw the manufacture of these types of batteries. By the time they get into consumers hands you might be lucky to get one use out of them before they are in a landfill!

BTW, I have just about every type of NiMH rechargeable there is, and if you need ones for the remote pick up a cheap pack of the RayoVac Hybrid NiMH. They hold a charge as good as the Eneloops and last just as long. I picked up a pack of 8 AAs for ~$10 because they were cheap and for my ex-wife so didn't want to give her my Powerex or Eneloops. They are waaaaay better than I thought they would be. I'm going to buy them instead of Eneloops for devices like Wii remotes and anything that sits around. The Energizers are good for high drain devices but have little shelf life, so you have to charge them as close to when you want to use them for practicality. I'll still stick with the Powerex over the Energizers, but I may switch to the cheap RayoVacs over the Eneloops even though my mom works at GE and I can get a good discount. (Eneloops are GE/Sanyo)

Tthere are centainly different attributes from each model, not necessary one is better than the other. It all depends on if the one you've got works the way it supposed to.
As for the detatchable cord, it's all about streamline the production process for the products.

Mine is on its way as well. Thanks for the brief review. Main reason I went with Plato was 1) typical AAA batteries, and 2) signal reception confirmation on the hand set.

Thanks all for this info. I was in the market for a wireless trigger and I wasn't planning to spend 400 on the canon brand. Was looking into The original Phottix wireless, then up to Cleon 1, 2, and finally Plato. I finally purchased plato wireless from HKsupplies on ebay. This will work great on both my 50D and 5D