Self-timer:Continuous on Canon 70D?

Question

I currently own a Rebel T3i and need to upgrade. The Canon 70D looks like a good option at a reasonable price. Looking over the features and youtube videos about it, it really surprised me that it doesn't have the Self-timer:Continuous feature. Some people say that nobody uses it anyway, but that's one of the features that I use a lot on my T3i.

I really want to get the 70D, and in reality this is not a deal breaker, but I would really love it there was an alternative. Is it possible to achieve the same result using a different feature? If you don't know what it does, it's a regular 10sec timer on burst mode. I usually use it to get people in the air (me included often, otherwise I wouldn't need it! lol).

Some suggest that a intervalometer would get the job done, but having to carry one around, or just having to hook one up for this purpose doesn't make sense.

Well, any thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks!!

Answer 1

I don't think there's any way you're going to achieve this without additional gear of some kind--most probably a wireless shutter release (remote). You could use an infrared remote (e.g., RC-6), for which the T3i and 70D both have a built-in sensor (it's that circular dot at the top of the grip). Or, if you're a Strobist, simple flash radio triggers would work for this; most flash radio triggers can also work as shutter releases, where the trasmitter becomes your remote, and you cable the receiver to the camera's shutter release port.

Remotes make timing things much simpler--you don't have to deal with the timer countdown (and possibly the burst mode) at all, but can just push the shutter button at the exact moment you want to take the shot.

dSLRs, unfortunately, by their very nature tend to make you haul about a bag of gear with you. If carrying around and hooking up a small piece of extra gear doesn't make sense to you, then you may just have to live without this capability.

Answer 2

Beside of an external device like an itervalometer, there is also an interesting project, which extends the features of the camera. It is called Magic Lantern. Magic Lantern is a firmware for the camera, which is booted from the SD card. It provides features like a build in intervalometer and raw video functionality (an much much more).

At the moment it is not fully compatible with the 70D, but this might change in a while, since the development team is focused on bringing a stable build for the 70D to life.