Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Canon Rumors – Your best source for Canon rumors, leaks and gossip
    • Home
    • Forums
    • Media
    • Contact
    Canon Rumors – Your best source for Canon rumors, leaks and gossip
    Home»Reviews»Review – PocketWizard PlusX
    svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PScwIDAgMSAxJyB4bWxucz0naHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmcnPjwvc3ZnPg== - Review - PocketWizard PlusX

    Review – PocketWizard PlusX

    PlusXFront JVLphoto - Review - PocketWizard PlusX

    Review – PocketWizard PlusX
    By: Justin VanLeeuwen | Twitter
    Discuss the PocketWizard PlusX

    Pocket Wizard has long been the industry’s standard name in radio transmitting remote flash triggers.  While many other companies have produced products with similar, or even additional, functionality, none have proven to be as reliable or as widely accepted for professional use as the Pocket Wizard. My first introduction to Pocket Wizards (PW's for short) was with their Transceiver II line. These were around $200 at retail, would act as a transmitter and a receiver, and included four channels that a user could switch to avoid crossing radio frequencies with others in the area. They were dead simple, worked spectacularly well, and had an incredibly reliable (and long) transmission range.

    These remained PW's signature transceiver for years, even after they produced the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 that promised TTL flash triggering (with mixed results). Recently, Pocket Wizard re-launched their transceiver line with the Plus III. It carried with it the same pedigree, a host of new features and a reduced retail price. But there is still a dearth of cheap radio triggers flooding the market, from sketchy eBay specials to legitimate competitors at low prices. Pocket Wizard was leaving a significant entry-level market behind. Thankfully they now have a great answer to this: the Pocket Wizard Plus X, which Pocket Wizards net to us for review.

    Build
    Like the Plus II transceiver before it, the Plus X is essentially a dummy trigger. It transmits, it receives, and it has a ridiculously simple dial to switch between ten channels. The dial turns and switches through the channels simply and effectively. When it is turned on, the numbers are lit up in orange. Overall, the Plus X has a bit of a plastic feel, and feels hollow compared to other models. The antenna is now buried under a hard plastic shell and some of the space inside of the unit lets me hear a hollow “spring” noise when I put it down too hard. Maybe the board inside is impact protected? I'm not saying it's not robust, and indeed, may be more than the Plus II ever was, especially with the antenna encased. A large rubber “test” button rests firmly on the side of the unit and, as the only button, can't be missed.

    Unlike previous PW's, except the Plus III, the Plus X slides into your camera's shoe “sideways” in that the controls are at the camera’s left side leaving a more slender front-to-back profile of the radio. The foot of the Plus X itself, like all PW's, is plastic. This has often been the weak point in the whole setup for me. While no remote trigger that I know of offers a better metal foot, I have broken the plastic in this area enough to have to send it in for repair. The plastic foot is easily damaged if your light-stand gets blown over, breaking where it meets the metal cold-shoe or Frio. You may also someday *ahem* drop your camera: the foot will break off at a corner or the whole side of the base, which may be preferred to ripping out your hot-shoe from the camera.

    One of the best features in the PW Plus III is an LCD screen indicating battery level. While the Plus X has no such screen, the Status LED fills the role by blinking green when full, yellow at less than half, and a faster red when under a quarter power. It is useful, since the battery is just one of many potential points of failure when working with a separate radio transmitting system.

    PlusXBack JVLphoto - Review - PocketWizard PlusX

    I was pleasantly surprised to find that Pocket Wizard has improved their accessory cable quality considerably. I was never impressed with the simple (and cheap feeling) PC sync cables they included in the original package. The Screw-lock PC Sync (for flashes like a Canon 600EX-RT or Nikon 910) will connect more securely to your speedlight than one without the lock. The coiled cable also gives you a greater working distance and some flex in how you choose to dangle the trigger from the included lanyard*. Also included is a mini to mini connector (the same as your headphone jack) and a stereo headphone adapter for your older studio strobes. I used to pay almost $15 a piece to upgrade to such cables from the stock ones, now I don't have to. Thank you Pocket Wizard.

    *Note: in the instructions, Pocket Wizard consistently shows the transceivers affixed to a Manfrotto Magic arm by either a cold-shoe or the screw port by the battery cover, always perfectly perpendicular to the ground and straight up (even above the light). Of course, in reality, we all just bungee cord or dangle the unit wherever we can.

    Features:
    Ten channels on a rotational dial to avoid interference with other PW users or, potentially, to set up different groups of flashes assigning each group its own channel to work off of. A single transceiver both transmits, and receives the signals, though you can set it to be transmitting only by holding the TEST button when powering on.

    An interesting feature new to the Plus X is an automatic relay mode, which I found surprisingly useful. What you do is to use a Plus X as a transmitter on a set channel (let's say Channel 1) and a second to act as a transceiver (also on Channel 1) while attached to your camera with a remote camera cable (http://www.pocketwizard.com/products/cable_accessory/cameracables/) (Not Included). A third (or more) pocket wizard is then set on the next channel up (Channel 2 in this case) and will act as a receiver to any flash head you want to trigger. Pressing the “Test” button on the first PW will then set off the camera's trigger which will, in turn, relay to trigger the strobe. This allows the photographer to be more mobile and away from the camera while taking pictures or, basically, the ultimate selfie setup.

    PlusXCamera - Review - PocketWizard PlusX

    The Plus X transceiver is rated to trigger flashes at 1/250th of a second, but if you’re an owner of some of the slowest cameras on the planet like me (5DMKIII and 5DMKII), your mileage may vary, for my use, I could get away with 1/160th on a 5D3. 1/200th showed the slight hint of banding at the bottom, and 1/250th was flat out.

    I should also note that the Plus X is backwards compatible with the current and previous Pocket Wizard models. For those still using a Plus II, you now get a trigger with a few more features for half the price of the original and you should be able to use them seamlessly.

    Range
    Range is a huge qualifier for buying radio triggers. Getting your flash off the camera is, obviously, the primary goal of these and an important function of a trigger is just how much distance you can cover with them. This depends wildly on a number of variables: level ground, proper placement, buildings, walls, plumbing, water, competing radio frequencies and even temperature. But, we hope, they will serve us better than our flash’s built-in infra-red triggering, though without specific control of the flashes, especially outdoors where IR is rendered nigh useless. Some flashes operate on an optical trigger which also relies on line of sight or at least sight of bounce as the light travels around spaces. Again, optical triggers are limited when working outdoors, over great distances, or even beyond obstructions of any sort.  Finally, I've written extensively about the Canon 600EX-RT radio triggering, a true game-changer with their ability to completely remotely control a flash, including its settings, but its one flaw also resides in distance: they cap out at about 98 feet. The Pocket Wizard Plus X's are designed for a maximum range of 1600 feet. This is under ideal settings, so I decided to take it outside for a “real world” test on a fairly common public street. As you can see below, we got to about 400 feet away before it stopped triggering (a Canon 5D3 and a LumoPro LP180), which is far enough for most practical and common uses and considering I was shooting with a 200mm lens.

    PWLightTest - Review - PocketWizard PlusX
    How far can you go?

    PWRange - Review - PocketWizard PlusX

    Who's it for
    If the Plus III's offer just a bit too many features, or the prospect of investing an extra ~$40 a unit for your flash is daunting the Plus X is a worthy alternative. Heck, with the relay mode alone I could even say you don't even need a flash to want nor need a good pair of Pocket Wizard Plus X's; you can reliably trigger your remote camera from a great distance too. Set one up behind a goal post at a soccer game, clamp your camera in an awkward-to access area out of reach, the Pocket Wizard Plus X's will take care of you when it's time to actually take the picture.

    Conclusion
    With all the unreliable, untried, and un-warrantied triggers on the market, having something reliable and affordable is important to pros and amateurs alike. Pocket Wizard offers two years of warranty coverage on your transceivers, and with a long and reliable background in the photographic community, you can count on them being there for at least that long. The ability to mix and match your PWs with previous models will add value if you're already invested in the Pocket Wizard infrastructure and, as with most name brands, they will likely maintain their resale value if you decide to go another route. If you want affordable, dead simple, and highly reliable transceivers for your camera or flash, look no further than the Pocket Wizard Plus X.

    Purchase Options:

    • PocketWizard PlusX Transceivers:Adorama

    Pros:

    • Dead-simple to use
    • Inexpensive and reliable
    • Superior distance to many similarliy priced triggers

    Cons:

    • Plastic foot is easy to break
    • Real-world range tests don't measure out to ideal spec (but when do they?)
    • Facebook 105K
    • Twitter 65.7K

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Get the latest news to your inbox

    Resources

    Third-party lenses for the Canon RF mount

    January 19, 2021

    Canon RF lens roadmap

    November 9, 2020
    Latest Announcements

    It’s here! Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM officially announced

    April 20, 2023

    Canon bolsters cinema line up with two new Flex Zoom lenses and updates to Cinema EOS cameras

    April 4, 2023

    Canon developing world-first ultra-high-sensitivity ILC equipped with SPAD sensor

    April 4, 2023

    Canon Adds EOS R50 and EOS R8 to the Growing EOS R Mirrorless Camera System

    February 8, 2023
    Latest Reviews

    Review: Canon RF 15-30mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM

    September 13, 2022

    Review: Canon RF-S 18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM

    July 20, 2022

    Review: Canon RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM

    July 20, 2022

    OpticalLimits reviews the Canon EOS RF 16mm F2.8 STM

    February 21, 2022
    Canon EOS R1 Rumor Round-up

    Canon RF 200-500mm f/4L IS USM confirmed, likely in Q4 [CR3]

    May 19, 2023190

    Canon’s EF 500mm f/4L IS USM II is going to be a zoom for the…

    Canon EOS R5 Mark II to arrive before EOS R1? [CR2]

    February 20, 2023

    The Canon EOS R1 may not come until 2024

    November 10, 2022
    Canon EOS R5 S Rumor Round-up

    Are two cameras going to replace the Canon EOS R5? [CR1]

    May 8, 2023274

    Sometimes we receive information that seems outlandish at first, but then we take a look…

    EOS R camera between EOS R7 and EOS R10 coming [CR3]

    November 28, 2022

    Canon is gearing up to finally release a high megapixel camera with 100+ megapixels [CR3]

    May 26, 2022
    Canon EOS R5 Mark II Rumor Round-up

    Are two cameras going to replace the Canon EOS R5? [CR1]

    May 8, 2023274

    Sometimes we receive information that seems outlandish at first, but then we take a look…

    Canon EOS R5 Mark II to arrive before EOS R1? [CR2]

    February 20, 2023

    EOS R camera between EOS R7 and EOS R10 coming [CR3]

    November 28, 2022
    Facebook Twitter RSS Discord
    © 2023 Canon Rumors hosting is fully managed by Host Duplex | Design & community services from Audentio

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.