We spoke, and PocketWizard was listening. The Plus III transceiver gets a highly coveted update, and you can say goodbye to sync cords. They have essentially turned the Plus III on its side and added TTL pass-through, along with a few other goodies.
My only complaint with my Plus IIIs was that I didn’t have the ability to shoot with my flash on camera and trigger another. The wedding photographer inside me just squealed with joy at the Plus IV announcement. I will be picking up a couple of these to work in tandem with my Plus IIIs as soon as I can, which is expected to be in January of 2016.
The Plus IV isn’t designed to be a replacement for the Plus III, rather a compliment. They feature the same zoning system for creating different looks or working in different areas as your counterpart. It also sports the long range and repeater modes to ensure you can get the job done, even in the largest of venues. PocketWizard has also added a metal shoe for durability, which is great when running around a wedding reception with a large flash attached.
The Plus IV will be compatible with most Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic cameras and flashes. The units are still in testing but should be capable of use with some Fuji and Olympus bodies as well. They should also be capable of triggering just about any flash set to manual power mode.
If you are attending PhotoPlus in New York City this week you can see this bad boy in action over at the PocketWizard booth.
[via PocketWizard]
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Finally they made a version that goes flat and not upright!!! I love my Pocket wizards but hated the upright design.
Well, it took them about a decade, but they're finally moving in the right direction!
(no pun intended).
As someone who owns about 10 plus iii's and mainly uses them for weddings, this is such a great announcement.
I just played with them in person here at Photo Plus and it looks like the sync cord can finally be buried forever which is exciting (RIP horribly designed cord)! I was told they should be priced about the same as the current Plus III units and will start shipping in Jan.
That's a ton of iiis, damn. I can't wait to add a couple of these for weddings though. You're right, I never knew if that shotty cord was going to work or the tip was damaged.
Pocket Wizard is kind of love+hate relationship on my side... when they work awesome, when they start to misfire I am always tempted to search for new stuff such Youngnuo but so far I keep the PW.
I have had pocket wizards for over 15 years and never have had one misfire or not fire. Have had some fun times firing other photographers packs in other studios on occasion..
When I use them at more controlled environment such studio shoots then reliability is higher. As soon as I am at a venue such wedding reception or outdoor location shoots then not firing is a common issue. Specially if I use 2 or cameras things start to get goofy with them. That is why specially at the weddings I am always ready for that with 2 different set ups or one camera simply set only for ambient in case the PW play a game with me... otherwise like them a lot :)
I had PWs for years but got hosed by them not firing reliably on several important shoots.
I switched to Yongnuos and had good success but lately they have been flaky too. I am thinking of going back to PWs because of the fact that I can use receiver cards for them in my Bowens flashes. Thus I can get rid of PC cords (the weakest link in the photographic world).
This makes more sense than getting the TT1 mini or the TT5
Really? Everyone but Sony gets it..... very frustrating.
I used to shoot Sony. They are the black sheep of all accessories. .
I just looked at the units and they claim they work with Sony although not TTL
that makes sense. I guess Sony TTL is pretty hard or expensive to do because there are not many TTL radio triggers.
Nissin and Phottix make TTL triggers for their systems that works awesomely well with Sony.
It is not more hard to make such a trigger for Sony than for Canon or Nikon.
Pocket Wizzard is just a company that thinks in Dollars. They are not alone in such cosiderations today.
So far Canon & Nikon share the market, so why to bother with companies like Sony that has only few percent of the market?
This is the MAIN reason why there is no compatibility between Pocket Wizzard products and Sony... TTL speaking.
But wait, a bit - and you'll see Pocket Wizzard will make such triggers for Sony TTL too.
Lots of Pro shooters switch to Sony those days, and this will continue. Sony start to be the leader in sensor market - their sensors are just best today. So Sony will continue to grab the market parts.
If Sony continue on their way, In two years Sony cameras will be ahead a whole generation against Canon and Nikon. Then you are going to see plethora of triggers and accesories for Sony.
And all those companies that thinks in Dollars today (Pocket Wizzard and so) will want to make much of a buzz: hey we have Sony products too!
Todays Sony success is well visible from every corner, so lots of companies think already: hey there is Sony! let's do something before it is to late. Nissin, Godox... there are already there.
Okay I am not sure if it has one or not....
But looking at the photo, I guess there is no AF assist light.
I know most of you guys don't need/care about it, but sometimes, it can really be essential especially when shooting events.
Pocket wizards never had AF assist. And they are not for the kind of shooting
I know PWs never had AF assist.
And you think Pocketwizard shouldn't cater other type of shooting? Would it hurt their brand?
I love pocketwizard's reliable wireless triggering but how I just wished I have to switch to Yongnuo's 622 tranceivers whenever I shoot at places where AF assist are needed. If Yongnuo will make their products more reliable and rugged. I won't wish for pocketwizard to hopefully have a trigger with af assist
My flash has the AF assist, I didn't even know triggers could have that.
Well with the hotshoe on the Plus IV (supporting TTL pass-trough) I am guessing having a speed light on top of it will activate AF Assist Light.
The old stuff from Canon (ST-E2) or Nikon (SU-800) are optical "triggers". Wireless triggers from China (Phottix, Yongnuo, e.g.), some specific units has AF-assist
Yes AF assist will still work which is crucial with accurate AF in low light. There are some triggers like the ones from Yongnuo which have an extra AF illuminator for flashes which don't have them built which would have been nice.
Bout time they put a metal shoe. The plastic ones break so easy. I still love my yongnuo triggers.
They are pretty late. Other trigger manufacturers have already been here and moved ahead.
It almost looks like a Phottix Strato. For the price, I'd much rather look at Yongnuo's products or for more functionalities at the Phottix Laso. To me, it seems like PocketWizard is producing the same thing over and over again with just a different housing. This seems like nothing more than a mix of a Plus III and MiniTT1. It's time they start looking at what the Chinese manufacturers do… especially now that Profoto has its own triggering system and doesn't use PW in their packs or compact heads.
Very good point! Companies like Phottix have a fresh kind of thinking - they innovate. They are not afraid to make the horizon larger. Nissin have their new system Di700A + Air 1 for Sony too & soon there will be receivers in that system, so more flashes will jump into their innovative system.
When it comes to wireless TTL, the Canon 600EX‑RT is hard to beat. They hardly ever misfire and are a breeze to use. I've got a lot of Pocketwizards for tripping remote cameras but I dumped my TTL set in favor of the Canons.
Regarding the new metal shoe, some manufacturers believe it's in the best interest of photographers that if something is going to break under stress and need repair, the camera hot shoe is by far the more costly and inconvenient repair. Plastic in the right place can be a good thing.
The problem is that the shoe on the PW breaks easily and then is unrepairable. I would be fine if the plastic shoe could be replaced easily and cheaply. When it does break you either pitch it or use it dangling from its cord.
I wish this company would make a separate REMOTE TRIGGER ONLY model and drop the price.
I need to fire remotes body's.. not flashes. I spoke with a guy that use to do the distributing for the MAC group the other day (they no longer handle PW) he said he was glad to have them off their collective plate due to all the issues, returns, and hassle..
I don't know what to think.. I had the MultiMax deals with the large screens... I chucked em in the bin.