The remote is clutch in my opinion. It's great to be able to start and stop the camera at will while you're behind the boat. Not to mention you can change the mode of the camera from the remote. So, if you want to go to burst mode to get still motion shots, easy. And then you can change it right back to video if you want. The only caveat is once you submerge the remote, the signal won't make it to the camera. So, if you are recoding, and you crash, or don't get the button pushed in time, you'll be recording the boat turning around to get you until you can get signal again. Not a big deal, just something to keep in mind. It's priceless. I used it all summer and got some killer shots while using the remote on my wrist.