Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony RM-S1AM Remote Commander for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera

I have quite a tremor in both hands making smear-proof photography rather challenging. So I decided, on a recommendation from a professional photographer-friend, to try the remote control. I found that most all of my pictures taken with my Sony Alfa 100 are now on a tripod. The control works perfect and the length of the cord is short enough not to get tangled in my equipment. A half-push of the button allows auto focus and lock and push the rest of the way snaps the shutter. When it's plugged into the camera, both the camera button and the remote work at the same time so I can grab my camera for an action shot using the camera trigger and let the control just dangle to one side. I highly recommend it if camera shake is a problem and makes tripod work fun. The price is also reasonable.

Before you spend $$ for this remote, make sure that you really need it. It's good if you're using your tripod a lot and also if you work with slow shutter speeds. Doesn't make sense having it if it's not on a tripod.
ALSO, after I bought this, I found that there's a third party (Opteka) remote for about 1/4th the price. If only I'd see that earlier, I'd have saved myself some money.
This is indeed a good piece of equipment and is actually made by Sony so no complaints. But there's something which is functionally good enough (if not quite as pretty) and I being of a thrifty nature would go for that instead.

The piece works great for your camera. (I own an a100). I have to say that I regret not having done more research before ordering it. There is a model that is made by Opteka that sells for $15 only. That is $45 cheaper than the sony. It is supposed to do everything that this little piece can do. (it's not a very sophisticated piece) This is the reason that I give only 3 stars. Otherwise very satisfied.

Product arrived on time.

It is about 2 feet long cord that plugs into the Sony Alpha with a button to activate the shutter. It allows for the halfway down effect that the actual shutter button performs. The Sony Alpha camera strap has a plastic gizmo to attach the cord to the strap for carrying around. Not sure I would do that.

Satisfied. Will work out well for taking night shots where I dnt want to move the camera when I press the shutter button, now I use this remote.

I compared this product with Sony Alpha RMT-DSLR1 Camera Remote (Black) for my new A550. I decided to go for the infrared remote control instead. The infrared remote can do everything the wired remote commander can do except one thing. If you want a shutter speed slower than 30 sec (bulb) buy the this product. If you don't require this function, buy the infrared remote controller instead. The infrared remote controller has the benefit that you can stand 10 meters in front of the camera and take a photo of yourself. There is also a 2 sec delay button, so you don't have to stand directing the remote when the photo is taken. Add to this that the remote is much cheaper and the choice is clear. There are also a bunch of playback buttons to be used when camera is attached to television set on the infrared remote controller, but I'm not using them