Meet Bolt Hunter, the lightning camera trigger designed by storm chasers, for storm chasers. Grounded in science, refined through feedback, and proven by breathtaking results.
Bolt Hunter is a lightning camera trigger that measures your camera’s shutter lag, analyzes lightning in real time, and fires at the perfect instant - capturing strikes other triggers miss.
Simultaneous Timelapse + Lightning
Field-tested durability
40+ hours of battery life
Bluetooth app control (optional)
It doesn’t just detect lightning — it understands it.
Kickstarter Video
Why Lightning Photography is So Hard
Lightning happens faster than any camera can respond. Most triggers miss because they only react - firing too late, false trigger, or miss the shot entirely.
After years of photographing storms, I kept running into the same problem - the technology just couldn’t keep up. Every trigger I tried would fire too late, false trigger, or simply miss the shot entirely. When you’ve driven hundreds of miles for a single storm, that’s frustrating.
So I decided to build my own, from the ground up. At first, I didn’t envision creating a company. I just wanted to create something better.
Why We Built Bolt Hunter
We started with a simple goal - to build a lightning camera trigger that doesn’t miss.
To fix lightning photography, I knew I had to understand lightning first. So we built our own research tool: the Lightning Logger.
We collected and analyzed thousands of lightning events, and the data revealed three key things that make or break a photo:
Early detection of the faint intracloud flashes that happen before a strike
Each camera’s unique shutter lag
The right shutter speed to match the storm
We learned that most triggers miss because they only react. Lightning happens faster than any camera can respond.
How Bolt Hunter Captures the Strike
Most triggers react to lightning.
Bolt Hunter predicts it… even before it strikes.
Bolt Hunter reads the early optical signals that occur before a visible strike, measures your camera’s shutter lag, and fires at the perfect millisecond.
It doesn’t guess — it predicts.
That’s why Bolt Hunter captures shots other triggers miss.
Built for Every Storm Photographer
From beginners to seasoned chasers, Bolt Hunter makes lightning photography simple.
Whether you’re a seasoned chaser or shooting lightning for the first time, Bolt Hunter gives you the best chance at getting the perfect shot.
We made Bolt Hunter for:
• Storm chasers who need reliability
• Landscape photographers capturing distant storms
• Beginners who want their first lightning shot to actually work
If your camera has a shutter port, then you’re ready to go.
Key Features
Engineered from the ground up. Designed for the Storm.
Every detail of Bolt Hunter was shaped by field-use. Through testing and iteration, the result was a simple, rugged, and purpose-built trigger for storm-chasers and weather enthusiasts alike, with:
Backlit tactile controls visible in night conditions
Weather-sealed, compact enclosure built for rough conditions
Over 40 hours of battery life on a single charge
Bluetooth connectivity for advanced app control (optional)
Works standalone out of the box with almost every DSLR and mirrorless camera
Optimized sensor for lightning
Featuring adjustable sensitivity with automatic ambient light compensation.
Optimized sensor for lightning
Featuring adjustable sensitivity with automatic ambient light compensation.
The future of lightning photography has arrived.
Purpose built. Compact. Rugged.
A lightning camera trigger built by storm chasers - grounded in science,
refined through feedback, and proven by breathtaking results.
⚡ Triggered by intelligence
Bolt Hunter measures your camera’s unique shutter lag, analyzes lightning in real time, and triggers at the perfect moment for every shot.
⚙️ Simultaneous Timelapse + Lightning
Shoot timelapses and capture strikes at the same time. Bolt Hunter optionally detects lightning even between interval exposures.
🧠 Automatic Sensitivity
Bolt Hunter continuously adapts to ambient light, holding your set sensitivity so it reacts when it should—and stays quiet when it shouldn’t.
🔋 Long Battery Life
A built-in rechargeable battery provides over 40 hours of operation on a single charge. Precise runtime estimates and low-battery alerts ensure you never run out in the middle of a chase.
📱 Mobile App (Optional)
Use Bolt Hunter standalone or pair it via Bluetooth for advanced control. View strike data, adjust settings, receive real-time notifications, and fine-tune performance, all from your phone.
🎛️ Storm-Ready Interface
Designed by storm chasers for storm chasers. Rugged, weather-sealed, designed for rapid deployment, with tactile, backlit buttons and LED indicators that stay visible in the any condition.
📸 BULB-Mode Control
Bolt Hunter can even control the shutter speed of your camera when set to BULB mode, enabling automatic exposure adjustments in changing light conditions.
🌩️ Night Mode
At night, Bolt Hunter can work in reverse. It shoots continuous long exposures, then slams the shutter shut as soon as a bright return stroke occurs - preventing subsequent return strokes from blowing out your image.
🔗 Universal Compatibility
Bolt Hunter works with nearly every DSLR and mirrorless camera using standard 2.5 mm shutter release cables. One is included with the trigger, but feel free to buy a backup elsewhere!
Lightning isn’t a single flash…
It’s a complex sequence of events unfolding in a blink of an eye.
Lightning and timelapse,
at the same time.
Bolt Hunter can detect and trigger on lightning even between intervalometer exposures, intelligently adjusting intervals so your timelapse stays smooth.
Shot on Bolt Hunter
“It’s better than anything I’ve used before. I wouldn’t want to shoot with anything else.”
- JOHN SIRLIN
Storm photography tour guide and veteran storm chaser with over 30 years of experience.
“My capture rate is absolutely insane with Bolt Hunter... like what is even happening.”
- CONNOR HEALEY
Veteran storm chaser, and 1st place winner in Siena International Photo Awards’ “The beauty of nature”
“Bolt Hunter instantly became my go-to for its rock solid performance and durability.”
- LORI GRACE BAILEY
Professional photographer, lightning strike survivor, and monsoon photography workshop host.
“This changes everything. Bolt Hunter outperforms every other trigger I’ve used.”
- ROB GALLUCCI
Internationally recognized & award-winning photographer and monsoon photography tour guide.
“This is a game changer… Bolt Hunter is the best trigger I’ve ever used by far, and it’s not even close.”
- JIM TANG
Professional storm chaser and landscape photographer
The best trigger you’ve ever used, guaranteed.
When we set out to build a better trigger, we quickly realized we had to understand lightning itself first. After years of research, field testing, and data collection from thousands of strikes, we optimized every button, circuit, sensor, and line of code for real-world performance.
With feedback from dozens of storm chasers guiding every iteration, Bolt Hunter was built not in a lab, but in the field. And because of that, we’re confident saying:
If Bolt Hunter isn’t the best trigger you’ve ever used, we’ll give you your money back.
How did we get here?
Triggers miss bolts. Our mission was to build one that doesn’t.
Phase 1:
The Data
We built the Lightning Logger and sampled optical data from hundreds of cloud-ground bolts.
The results were clear. There are 3 things that will make or break a shot:
Detection of intracloud flashes preceding the stepped leaders
Camera shutter lag
Camera shutter speed
Phase 2:
The Experiment
We invented the Lightning Shutter, a revolutionary auxiliary shutter that reduced the shutter lag of a mirrorless camera from the average of 20-80ms, to only 1.8ms.
Incredibly, this still wasn’t fast enough for the most stubborn bolts. Our data showed that return strokes often only lasted a fraction of a millisecond.
Phase 3:
The Invention
Armed with everything we’d learned along the way, Bolt Hunter was born.
We optimized the detection circuitry to capture the subtle intracloud flashes that often precede a strike. Then we enabled the trigger to actually measure your camera’s shutter lag and use that data to analyze lightning events in real time, predicting the next return stroke to fire at the perfect moment — maximizing your chances of capturing the bolt.
Works with almost every camera on the market.
Compatibility
A shutter release cable designed for your camera will be included with your purchase. We don’t believe in expensive proprietary cables, so you’re also able to use the cables you already own, or buy extras elsewhere!
Bolt Hunter
Lightning Camera Trigger
The future of lightning photography has arrived. Bolt Hunter is the lightning camera trigger built for storm chasers, by storm chasers.
$329
*Estimated Availability Date: Jan 2026.