The AEO Photo Lightning Strike Pro makes capturing a photo with lightning easy – and potentially safer. Without a lightning strike trigger, one would either utilize a long exposure and hope that you capture the moment or you would have to hope your shutter finger is fast enough to react to the first millisecond of flash. Now, there is an easier and better way to capture lightning strikes with your camera. It is so easy in fact, that the first time I tried to use it, I set it up on my backyard deck, and since the sporadic lightning occurring was more of a flash in the clouds as opposed to a bolt, I left the set-up on the tripod and did a few minor chores around the house. After about 10 or 15 minutes, I came back to check the pictures. What I found was that amongst a number of shots of a cloudy but lit up sky, was one shot that included a lightning bolt. Kind of like those commercials on television, you can set it and forget it, it is that easy. Not only easy, but it is also safer than standing outside exposed to the elements while trying to grab a photo.

AEO Photo manufactures 3 different models, a basic model the Lightning Strike!, the Lightning Strike Pro that adds sensitivity adjustment to give the user some flexibility and more control and finally, the Lightning Strike! MT which adds a motion sensor to the trigger for wildlife photography. Let’s take a closer look at the middle model, the AEO Lightning Strike Pro.

1) Handling

The Lightning Strike Pro is simple and straightforward to use and mounts to your camera’s hot shoe and communicates to the camera by a cable. In the case of the Nikon D300, it connects via a 10-pin cable. The design of the Lightning Strike Pro will allow you to buy cables to suit your needs so that should you change camera models or if you have multiple cameras, you need not replace the entire unit, just the relatively inexpensive cable to fit the appropriate camera.

The sensor is placed on the hot shoe with the sensor facing forward and the cable attached to the unit and the camera. It is best to shoot in manual mode and I found shooting from f/5 for 4 seconds to f/7 for 5 seconds was an acceptable range at night. You should set your ISO as low as possible and if your camera has a Long Exposure Noise reduction setting, then adjust it accordingly. Set your camera to manual focus and set the focus to infinity. Double check ahead of time that your lens is actually focused on infinity when it says it is as it could be slightly off. You then turn on the switch at the top of the sensor, one frame will fire and then you are set to watch the show. Should you find that you need to adjust the sensitivity of the trigger, there is an adjustment screw on the side of the unit. I found that my unit worked excellent with no adjustments needed in daylight, dusk or night scenes, but should you need it, it is there.

The trigger will fire in the first 0.1 milliseconds of the lightning flash and will activate the shutter. Of course your camera will snap the photo immediately, depending on your camera’s normal lag.
Overall, this unit worked excellent out of the box, it consistently triggered only when it was supposed to. I did have a brief period in which it did not fire correctly, but I believe that when I moved locations, the cable connection came loose. The unit worked again flawlessly after that.

2) Packaging and Manual

The Lightning Strike Pro comes packaged in a Micro Pelican Case that is custom fit with foam to cradle the unit and its cord beautifully. In fact, all photo equipment manufacturers would do well to provide protective packaging as nice. The only negative to it, is that for the space challenged equipment bag, it might take a bit more room than one would like. I can see many photographers taking it out of the plastic case and just putting it in an equipment bag to save space. A nice touch would be an additional small, lightly padded pouch (think neoprene) that protects without taking up as much space.

As for the manual, well there is good news and bad news. First, the good news, the trigger is extremely easy to operate and so a lot of operational instruction is not needed. The bad news is that there isn’t much in the way of a manual, it is just a single sheet of paper with straightforward instructions and a few tips. While this is adequate, maybe a little more information would be helpful in case someone is trying to troubleshoot.

3) Build Quality

The AEO Lightning Strike Pro Trigger is well built, it is plastic, but all the parts seem to fit well and be constructed nicely. The on/off switch seemed small to me at first but there is a method to the manufacturer’s madness. In an earlier version, the switch was larger and although it was easy to find and use, that ease of use made it easy to be accidently turned on while in a camera bag, thus resulting in drained batteries. AEO Photo has since redesigned the switch to minimize the chances of this happening.

4) Size

The Lightning Strike Pro Trigger is light so weight is not a problem. As for the size, it has a low profile when seated on the hot shoe. However, it does hang off the back of the camera rendering the viewfinder difficult to use as your forehead and the back of the unit battle for the same space. Luckily, you do not need to use the viewfinder much because you will likely have this mounted on a tripod with the camera set to fire. The only time you need the viewfinder is to recompose as the storm moves.

5) Value

First off, anything that increases your safety has a value. As for value relative to similar products on the market, I compared the cost of the AEO Lightning Strike Pro with others and found it less expensive making it a good value considering it does what it claims.

6) Safety First

It goes without saying, lightning is a deadly beauty and so in your excitement to capture an interesting scene, PLEASE DON”T FORGET TO BE SAFE! Position yourself a safe distance from the strikes and pay attention to surroundings that might attract a strike and avoid unsafe areas. Here is more information on lightning and safety tips.

7) Conclusions

At the time of this review (May 2012) AEO Photo has just announced new 3rd versions of their triggers which will have improvements, chief among them, a reduction in size.

I found the Lightning Pro Strike Sensor to work as advertised, it was both accurate and reliable and allowed me to shoot from the relative safety of a car or building. It isn’t as cheap as just repeatedly pressing the shutter with long shutter speeds but it is just as fun and prevents taking scores of frames with no lightning in them. My only regret is that I didn’t have more storms to take photos of before this review. So if adding some lightning shots to your landscapes interests you, consider adding a Lightning Strike Pro trigger to your camera bag. Have fun and be safe!

8) Where to Buy

B&H Photo currently sells the AEO Lightning Strike Pro as reviewed here for $239.95. (as of 05/04/2012)

So, how do you take a picture of a lightning?

1) Safety first!

Find a good cover – staying inside a building, a car or any other object that can protect from a direct impact is the best. I strongly advice against photographing a lightning in an open area, especially if there is water, tall trees or structures nearby. Stand at least 50 feet away from water and tall trees/buildings.

2) Prepare your equipment

If you want a very good picture of a lightning, a DSLR with a tripod is almost a must. If you have a point and shoot, make sure that your camera can be set to manual control for shutter speed and aperture. Some people get lucky by taking a good picture of a lightning hand-held, but I strongly advice to use a tripod instead. Depending on the amount of ambient light, you will have to use long shutter speeds between 3 to 30 seconds and any potential shake will negatively impact the sharpness of the image. Any lens would work, but wide angle and zoom lenses work the best, since you can fit more and at the same time have the flexibility to change the focal length and target a specific area.

3) Find a lightning storm and a good spot

Finding a lightning storm is typically not a problem – lightnings happen everywhere and depending on the time of the year, might even happen as often as every day. What’s hard, is finding a good spot to take a picture of a lightning. Sometimes it is not very practical to scout for a good location in the middle of a lightning storm, so try to find a spot close to you that would give the best view of the sky and a relatively good foreground/background that would look good. Again, make sure that you pick a safe spot from which you can take your picture. I suggest protecting your camera against rain drops by putting a piece of cloth or a plastic bag on it, covering both the camera and your lens.

4) Set up your camera and tripod

Put your camera on your tripod and configure the camera settings:

1. Set your lens to manual focus and then focus to infinity. Take a test shot in auto mode and make sure that your picture looks sharp on the rear LCD. Remember, digital cameras cannot acquire correct focus in dark environments, so it is best to focus manually.
2. Set your camera ISO to “base” ISO (lowest value). On Nikon D5000/D90/D300/D700/D3/D3s cameras the base ISO is 200. On older Nikon cameras such as D80/D200 the base ISO is 100. Most Canon DSLRs have 100 as the base ISO.
3. Set your camera to full manual mode. In manual mode, you control both the aperture and the shutter speed. I would not trust the camera’s metering system, simply because periodic lightnings will brighten up the area and your camera might give an incorrect exposure. Start at the shutter speed of 3-5 seconds and f/8 and see how the image comes out. If you are in a dark area, you might want to decrease the shutter speed all the way to 15-30 seconds, while in areas with plenty of light, you will have to stop down the lens to f/16 or more to allow longer exposures without overexposing the entire scene.

5) Other considerations

A remote cable release or an infrared remote (depending on your camera) is strongly recommended if you want to avoid camera shake, even on a tripod. If the lightning is far away, having a flashlight with you might be useful, since you can “paint” your foreground subject to make the whole scene look more dramatic.

6) Compose your shot

While composing your shot, make sure to cover more sky than your foreground/background. It might not look very good in the viewfinder, but once the lightning strikes, your subject becomes the lightning. During intense lightning storms, the lightning will cover the majority of the picture and that’s exactly what you want. I would say 60-80% of the sky and 20-40% of the ground is probably a safe bet.

7) Be patient and take many shots

I typically take many shots (shot after shot), pointing my lens at the same location. Sometimes you might get nothing, sometimes you might get an awesome shot. Just be patient and keep taking pictures and I’m sure you will get a really nice opportunity for a great shot.

Good luck!