Product Description: The New PocketWizard Plus II offers great flexibility and ease-of-use for photographers who demand a reliable wireless solution that they can just plug in, turn on and shoot. The PocketWizard Plus II is the first radio triggering system to offer Auto-Sensing Transceiver Technology, which automatically sends or receives, plus can trigger your camera and flash in auto-relay mode. So easy, so reliable.
Great Product... but overpriced Pocket Wizards are great and they are the industry standard, which means most pros use them. I own a single pocket wizard, because I only need it when I'm shooting at shared studios or on-location where lights are already provided, and my PW serves as a TX not RX. For my personal lighting setup, I prefer the less expensive and very reliable Cybersync RX and TX from Paul C. Buff (Alien Bees). They are 1/3 the cost of Pocket Wizards.
Long story short, every photographer should own at least one of these.
Cheap built quality I bought four of these units, after struggling with the calumet radio triggers (I need the additional range provide by the PWs). I would have given PW a five star rating except for the fact of the built quality. The hot shoe mount is very poorly design and the quality and feel of the material is like what another reviewer mentioned (like a cheap 10 dollar toy). I wish the thumbscrew wheel had a larger diameter and I struggle to really get a "secure mount to the camera hot shoe without breaking the unit. I have a buddy who is also a professional photographer and he has already broken the flimsy mount on one of his PW. I wish they would address this problem because there is no doubt they are making a killing, charging 200 bucks for a radio, when you can go out and buy a Sony AM/FM radio for 15 bucks. In their defense, never had problem firing the trigger. I am an architectural photographer and I typically fire the units 900 -1000 times a week.
Adorama Crummy Customer Service The Pocketwizard is probably overpriced, since it has been the only game in town, but it works as it should. That may change with the new Radio Poppers coming out. Anyway, I own 3 Pocketwizards. I love them & use them all the time.
My opinion of Adorama is less positive. They sent me an opened, obviously used PW, sold as new. I notified Adorama about it, and they offered to send a replacement. I wanted them to pay the return shipping on the used one. They never responded to that request. Very disappointed in Adorama. I go to B&H for my photo gear now.
Best wireless ever I love my pocket wizards....they are the absolute best and worth every penny to me. - Pam
Great product, but make sure you have the right cable. Some basics: you will use this product most often with studio strobe lights and possibly to trigger your camera remotely (I haven't done that).
I own two Pocket Wizzard transceivers that I use with my 3-light Alien Bees strobe light set up. I attach one to the flash shoe on my Nikon D2Xs and another using the Hildozine Caddy attached to the light stand on one of my strobes. The caddy attaches very firmly and holds the Pocket Wizzard very well.
The only thing to remember is you must have a cable to attach the Pocket Wizzard to the strobe light. Alien Bees use a small plug, and I mistakenly bought a cable and adapter that was the wrong size, which delayed my use of the Pocket Wizzard. The other strobes are fired automatically when they sense the strobe fired by the Pocket Wizzard (at least on the Alien Bees strobes it works that way).
I would rate this a 5-star if the cable wasn't an issue.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
