Why is the official 40D/50D remote release SO expensive?

chris321

chris321

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I've just upgraded from a 450D to a 50D, and so I need a new remote release. The official one for my 450D cost something like £15, about double that of a 3rd party one, but for the extra quality I thought it might be worth it.

Just came to look for a new one, and found the ones for a 50D on Amazon for £40! But the third party ones are £6, the same as the 3rd party ones for the 450D.

Am I missing something here? I was willing to pay a little extra for the official one, but I'm struggling to see the justification for an extra £34 for what is essentially a switch on a bit of wire?

Can anyone enlighten me?! :cuckoo:

Chris
 
pro camera pro prices :lol: sorry its just they think if you can afford a better camera you can afford more in general thats how i see it anyway :shrug:
 
But it's not even a pro camera! I literally can't see the justification, and was wondering if it did anything special!
 
I just bought a Hahnel one for £20 from ebay as I couldn't justify official prices but didn't want some no-name piece of plastic. 80cm in length and comes with a 2m extension as well.
 
I balked at buying the Canon release when I saw the price difference between it and a third party one. I couldn't justify it at all, so I bought the 6 quid option and as far as switches on a bit of cable go, it certainly does act like one.

Looking at pictures of the one I bought and the Canon one, literally the only difference I can see is the stencilled logo. Everything else looks to be identical, shape, colour, shade of button, the lot. Wouldn't be surprised if they were made in the same factory.

I think it is a case of "Well you could afford that, so you can afford this." which has never really sat well with me.
 
O.K, thanks so much for the input, a cheapy one it is then! Cheers folks :thumbs:

Chris
 
I've been after one of these for a while - just bought the £3.90 one from ebay - will post my thoughts on it once it arrives.

Oh yeah cheers to Andy77 for the linky dink. :clap:

Fezman
 
because they -can-, and there will always be some people out there who will buy them!
 
thats a rip off - but as mentioned above, someone somewhere will buy it as they "have" to have the OEM stuff. Similar with pretty much all industries.

Right I am off to feel smug that my £20 rentax IR remote works on both Pentax bodies and a new camera doesn't need a new remote. Wired is so 2009..... ;)
 
I bought one for my 400D official canon one £15... turns out it works with my 5DmkII aswell :D... I'd be surprised if they would put a different sensor in the 50d to get a couple more quid

EDIT (It's a remote one, not a cable...)
 
It is a 500% rip off, just like the batteries. I bought a hama wireless on fleabay for £4 so I can't complain. I had chinese job before and it broke in a few days for no obvious reason.
 
The Hahnel came with detachable 3-pin female and a mini jack plug to fit all Canon digital models so assume they've changed somewhere.
 
Pretty much the same story with the battery grips, they are over £120 new for the x0D series and a 3rd party one is £45. They look almost identical and do the job just as well, but some people just want to have Canon name on everything, and are prepared to pay the premium, having said this 2nd hand values are good on genuine gear.
 
With any genuine product you are paying for quality of build, advertising, overheads, R&D etc, with a 'bandit' product you arent paying for any of that, so of course they will be considerably cheaper, whether they will be anywhere near as good or damage your genuine kit is debatable and if they are worth the risk is of course an individual choice.
For instance I wouldnt buy cheap batteries in case they leaked, cheap releases in case they fried the electronics, but that's just my choice.
 
davidbridges said:
I bought one for my 400D official canon one £15... turns out it works with my 5DmkII aswell :D... I'd be surprised if they would put a different sensor in the 50d to get a couple more quid

EDIT (It's a remote one, not a cable...)
Click to expand...

It doesnt. I had one on a 50e (film camera RC-1) that actuates my wife's 400d, wont activate my 50d though.
 
I know what you mean beermonster - I bought the canon BG-E2 before any 3rd party ones were available - paid a shedload more, and hardly ever use it.
I will be looking to sell it on here once I have enough posts :D - as you say at least the 2nd values hold on original gear.

Fezman
 
MatBin said:
With any genuine product you are paying for quality of build, advertising, overheads, R&D etc, with a 'bandit' product you arent paying for any of that, so of course they will be considerably cheaper, whether they will be anywhere near as good or damage your genuine kit is debatable and if they are worth the risk is of course an individual choice.
For instance I wouldnt buy cheap batteries in case they leaked, cheap releases in case they fried the electronics, but that's just my choice.
Click to expand...

Pretty much hit the nail on the head, 3rd party replica gear is just cloned in a factory in china, with little or no regards for quality, some stuff I don't mind buying copies of but anything electrical thats going to be attached to a £600 camera body its better to stick to genuine.
 
beermonster65 said:
Pretty much hit the nail on the head, 3rd party replica gear is just cloned in a factory in china, with little or no regards for quality, some stuff I don't mind buying copies of but anything electrical thats going to be attached to a £600 camera body its better to stick to genuine.
Click to expand...

And as you have already said, genuine gear holds its value in the 2nd hand market too, so in the long run probably cheaper than 'bandit' gear.
 
MatBin said:
And as you have already said, genuine gear holds its value in the 2nd hand market too, so in the long run probably cheaper than 'bandit' gear.
Click to expand...

What will you say when the £50 Canon wire breaks (in fact they do, just like chinese ones)? What about the batteries that lose performance? Some things just don't make sense at these ridiculous prices.
 
daugirdas said:
What will you say when the £50 Canon wire breaks (in fact they do, just like chinese ones)? What about the batteries that lose performance? Some things just don't make sense at these ridiculous prices.
Click to expand...

No manufacturer can guarantee 100% that their stuff wont break etc but I'd suggest you have a better chance of reliability with high grade manufacturers rather than cheap knock-offs. Add to that if we all buy knock-offs the manufacturers will have less 'cash' for R&D and we'll all suffer.
As I said though its all a matter of personal choice and I wouldnt criticise anyone for buying 3rd party stuff, your choice, your risk.

Matt
 
I bought a cheapo remote from eBay and although it did the job it felt like crap, I sold it again a few days later.
I ended up with a Canon TC-80N3 which was (and is) an absolute rip off in price, but feels good, and I've no doubt that if it did go wrong Canon would sort it.

I don't of course expect everyone to agree, but you do tend to get what you pay for.
 
I use cheap radio and cable remotes, I have had to replace one when I pulled off the end when it was trapped in my bag. but at ebay prices who cares. They are only switches after all.
 
I've never understood the obsession with expensive cable releases. Surely a cheapo one does the same job as a £40 one? :lol:
 
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