Bolt Hunter Desires to Be the Storm Photographer’s Greatest Good friend

Motion Horizons LLC has introduced Bolt Hunter, a purpose-built lightning digital camera set off that it describes as “the most advanced lightning photography tool ever built,” designed to deal with a few of the most persistent challenges in storm pictures, together with missed daytime strikes, overexposed nighttime frames, and inconsistent shutter timing.

A Singular Focus on Lightning

Founded by Jeff Boyce, Motion Horizons says Bolt Hunter was engineered with a singular focus. Rather than making an attempt to construct a multi-purpose machine that blends lightning detection with a big selection of secondary options, the corporate concentrated solely on refining lightning seize efficiency. That design philosophy knowledgeable every little thing from the detection algorithms to the bodily controls, battery system, and mounting answer. According to the corporate, each facet of the machine was evaluated via the lens of 1 query: Does this enhance lightning pictures?

“We designed Bolt Hunter to address the complaints and shortcomings of every trigger on the market,” Boyce says.

“Instead of building a do-it-all device that’s marginal at many things, we built something exceptional at one thing: lightning photography.”

Boyce frames the product as a response to years of person frustration with inconsistent triggers, false positives in vivid circumstances, and the fragile steadiness required to seize early-stage lightning construction with out blowing out the body.

Beyond Reactive Triggers

Traditional lightning triggers rely totally on brightness spikes to fireside the shutter, that means they react to seen modifications in gentle depth. Bolt Hunter takes a extra analytical strategy. According to Motion Horizons, the machine detects faint intracloud precursor exercise that may precede seen stepped leaders. It then measures the digital camera’s precise shutter lag and compensates for it in actual time.

The system analyzes return stroke timing throughout an lively lightning occasion and may schedule subsequent exposures inside milliseconds. Motion Horizons refers to this as predictive triggering. The first detection is reactive, however as soon as a bolt begins, the machine calculates when the digital camera can be prepared to fireside once more and buffers further exposures to maximise seize reliability. The firm emphasizes that it isn’t predicting when lightning will strike, however relatively optimizing publicity timing as soon as a lightning occasion is already underway.

This distinction is vital for storm photographers who work in fast-moving cells the place timing variations of only a few milliseconds can decide whether or not the stepped chief is captured cleanly or missed totally.

Built for Dynamic Conditions

Bolt Hunter is designed to operate in quickly altering ambient gentle, together with circumstances that may confuse standard triggers. Bright skies, shifting cloud cowl, and even direct daylight can introduce false triggers or stop a system from detecting lightning altogether. Motion Horizons says Bolt Hunter routinely adjusts sensitivity as lighting circumstances shift, permitting customers to configure the machine as soon as and depart it working with out fixed recalibration.

The firm states that the machine can set off even when pointed instantly into the solar, a situation that always presents challenges for brightness-based programs.

For nighttime capturing, Bolt Hunter features a devoted Night Mode. Rather than triggering to begin an publicity, Night Mode holds the shutter open in BULB mode and closes it as soon as lightning is detected. This strategy is designed to seize the earliest seen levels of a strike whereas limiting the chance of overexposure attributable to repeated return strokes throughout the similar body. For photographers working after darkish, this methodology presents a substitute for stacking a number of strikes right into a single publicity and hoping for balanced outcomes.

Workflow-Focused Features

Bolt Hunter integrates instantly into storm-chasing workflows. A built-in intervalometer permits photographers to run a timelapse whereas concurrently triggering on lightning, eliminating the necessity for a number of exterior equipment. This twin performance is meant to streamline setups throughout quickly evolving climate occasions.

A lightning simulation mode permits customers to check their configuration within the subject and consider return-stroke seize efficiency earlier than a storm absolutely develops. The machine operates independently with a single-button setup and doesn’t require a cell software for primary lightning triggering or timelapse performance.

However, a Bluetooth companion software unlocks further capabilities, together with shutter lag measurement instruments, predictive triggering controls, firmware updates, and connection monitoring alerts. Optional movement detection alerts notify customers if a digital camera ideas or shifts place, and an built-in speaker can present audible confirmations or error notifications. These additions are geared toward lowering uncertainty throughout lengthy waits between storm cells.

Designed for demanding out of doors environments, Bolt Hunter includes a compact, weather-sealed housing meant to face up to heavy rain. It consists of an inside lithium battery rated for greater than 48 hours of runtime, eliminating the necessity for disposable 9-volt batteries. Charging is dealt with through USB Type C.

An auto-tightening chilly shoe mount prevents slippage throughout use. The mount incorporates a sacrificial design meant to guard the digital camera physique throughout onerous falls, with a user-replaceable element priced at roughly $15. This strategy acknowledges the unpredictable terrain and circumstances that storm photographers usually encounter within the subject.

Compatibility

Motion Horizons states that Bolt Hunter helps the overwhelming majority of contemporary cameras, together with fashions from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, OM System, Pentax, Leica, Hasselblad, and Sigma.

The machine makes use of normal, non-proprietary shutter cables for bodily connections. For cameras with no devoted shutter port, such because the Canon R50, Bolt Hunter helps Bluetooth Low Energy triggering. It additionally helps newer USB Type-C shutter connectors on choose fashions, although the corporate notes that Bluetooth can supply decrease shutter lag in sure lightning pictures situations.

Motion Horizons states that manufacturing is already underway, with first manufacturing items scheduled for supply in April 2026. Availability past the Kickstarter marketing campaign has not but been detailed, although the corporate signifies that the marketing campaign will function the first launch channel.

As lightning pictures continues to draw devoted lovers {and professional} storm chasers alike, Motion Horizons is positioning Bolt Hunter as a specialised, performance-driven different to general-purpose triggers. Whether its predictive timing system and workflow-centric design translate into measurable beneficial properties within the subject will finally be decided by the photographers who deploy it in actual storm circumstances.

Pricing and Availability

Bolt Hunter launches on Kickstarter on March 3, 2026. Early backers can safe launch pricing beginning at $279, representing a reduction of greater than 20% off the deliberate producer’s advised retail value of $349.

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Image credit: Motion Horizons LLC