What are your thoughts on the new Profoto Connect? Who do you think they are trying to target with this tiny trigger? Read the full article here: www.slrlounge.com/profoto-connect-review/
IMO, this product (like quite a few Profoto products these days) is targeted at wedding photographers. In this case, it's for wedding photographers who have a need for flash, but do not have a working knowledge of flash photography, don't have the time to learn flash photography, and because wedding photography is such a profitable business, have the money to spend $1,500 on the Connect and an A1. Think about it for a second? A good wedding photographer knows they need more light than the majority of venues can provide naturally. I have been told many times by friends who are wedding photographers, that they don't have time to learn to use flash and can't afford to try using flashes with clients and potentially screw up the client's photos or look unprofessional trying to get them to work. A good wedding photographer would have the revenue to justify spending the above mentioned expense for this product that will just work and that they don't have to think about. Despite my personal feelings about it, I now see why this product exists and one thing is for sure. Profoto does know how to satisfy their customers.
Not really worth. Very expensive flash. I wouldn't buy it, but I got one from a trade. I then realized its great for my photo booth because my other trigger is too big and wont fit on my photo booth box. This is one fits perfectly and the phone control is perfect as well because I don't have to open the box anymore to change settings.
For sure this is for folks with more money than sense. Essentially it's a basic TTL trigger but doesn't have any controls....and you have to connect it to your phone to change any of the settings. I don't see how this make this better to use and in fact adds an additional layer of complexity by having to connect your phone to it. The last thing I need is to have to hold another device while I am shooting. Unless the phone app is next level easy with incredible features I don't see the value here other than being another Profoto status object.
Whether the phone app is next level with incredible features or not it's surely irrelevant? You still have to hold it in your other hand! The spin put on pro foto gear is mind boggling This one is spectacular a trigger with no buttons, but it has manual auto settings, so that is a button right? The world's simplest trigger to use! No not really Just the world's most expensive not necessary black thingy? Love the way pro foto spin doctors try to make out they have created a game changing gadget!
@@nigeljameshughes3722 I agree and I was being incredibly generous with the statement I made. Pro Foto is much like those audio companies that sell $1,000 audio cables to audiophiles. It's just the status of having a very expensive item that provides no additional benefit over other products at more than half the price.
@@GeraldBertramPhotography Here's my take on this (having a ton of Profoto gear as well as other lighting systems). I have not purchased one of these yet but I did have a chance to fiddle with it a bit and the reviewer did an okay job at reviewing it but very shallow. I am actually considering this little remote for a couple of reasons. I love how small it is, it has a bunch of channels, I believe it can control 3 (or 4) separate groups independently (and probably as many as the AIR system supports with firmware upgrades) and is absolutely fantastic if you work with an assistant of any kind -- which most of us Fashion/Editorial photographers do, even on small shoots you usually have at least one other team member on set even if it's just a makeup person. Having that assistant with the app have direct control over tweaking light power levels based on what I see and what I want is a big win. The way this works is that the app is actually all the buttons/controls for the remote IE that app talks to the remote which talks to the lights. The remote is actually like an AIR-TTL remote and the computer based Profoto software/dongle that I also use in more complex studio setups. This is sort of a very mobile version of that setup. In that situation I much rather just tell someone what I want with what are very direct simple up/down dials on that app than punching little tiny buttons on top of my camera myself. Yes it's a little thing but $400 is a mere variance in expenses for most of the shoots I do. Ps. If you use lighting gear all day most days the difference between Profoto with all the little design touches, ease of use, etc, etc and budget systems is night and day.
I have Profoto AirTTL remote and I went and ordered the connect. I am planning on using the connect on my second body when shooting weddings. Also I use TTL for the reception dance and I normally adjust / compensate strait from the body in this case
I just got the Connect with A1X. It appears there is more flexibility with connecting to multiple channels etc. Once you connect via Channel A1 to the connect the flashes can then be controlled to any channel and adjusted accordingly. The drawback is the initial setup of the units to the Connect. Seems pretty simple though.
You made a good point regarding the usage for this. However, those who are starting out in photography, generally speaking, don't have the money to buy Profoto stuff as they're just getting into photography and might not want to invest thousands on lighting equipment.
I don't get it???? If you don't use an I phone your not going to be able to use the remote app? If you want to change settings you need to walk over to each light to alter settings??? The A1 was spun as the smallest studio light, when it's actually a normal flash gun? Now this is being spun as the trigger that's easy to use because it's got no buttons? Another must have over hyped over priced black thingy???? To add to all the other black thingy's! 😃
We have well over 25 triggers at my workplace, mixture of AIR TTL, Air sync and the normal air remote and we have 13 studios. I could weirdly see a use for us as we train all our fashion students to shoot with B2 flash and we have a huge variety of skill levels, some use the air-ttl to the max and get loads out of it, some however just want to get a quick image and actively don't want to learn (don't get me started). This would be absolutely ideal for those students. Education, thats where I see this being useful, outside of that I really can't see why any professional would pick one up when the other options are just better in every way.
You're being respectful but this is a product no one asked for; in fact, it's the exact opposite of what everyone has been asking for. I've recently upgraded from Paul C. Buff to Profoto and I am mostly happy, however, the Buff Cyber Commander has it all over Profoto triggers. We need a trigger with more control not less. We need more than the three groups the Air TTL offers - that's almost a joke (the other groups it provides offer no control whatsoever but to fire or not fire). We also need to be able to remotely change a head's mode (from 'normal' to 'freeze'). Lastly, we need to be able to see the relative amount of power we are using on each light we are triggering. You can do all of this and much more on the Commander. To be sure, the Commander is a delicate piece of gear and the Air remotes are built much more robustly, but the technology of the Commander is far superior. Given how expensive it is to invest in a Profoto system it's ridiculous they don't yet have a trigger that competes with the Commander.
There has to be a very small market that wants to invest in the most expensive lighting lineup while not wanting to have full control. One can use the air ttl remote in a very basic set up if they want. It's just not limited to that.
I am transitioning from canon to sony. I have many profoto products. If I buy the connect for sony, will it trigger my profoto a1 for canon (off camera)? Oh yeah I would buy the full transmitter but I only need it to trigger the equipment I aleady have so I would save $200 by just getting the connect
Assuming the ProFoto app allows for multiple groups, could it work for a pro shooter at an event telling the lighting assistant to change the setting on their phone (instead of the shooter)?
I see your point, but this seems a strange direction. Funniest thing is that Profoto sent me a survey asking about my remote usage a couple days before this was announced--perhaps they should have done that research before designing this confusing product!
Hey Pye, A great audience for this is Architectural photographers or anyone doing compositing work where the objective is to not touch the camera at all costs. In that case you might have multiple lights spread out across a space, and you want to adjust their power without touching the camera at all, and if you can control it all from your phone / ipad, where you're probably also controlling the camera from, that's a level of convenience over walking around to each flash.
I really love the B10, I have couple of them and nothing bat]d about the, but profoto commanders are the worsts I’ve ever used, and I’ve been using almost all of them! I hope they make a good commander soon! Cheers from Japan, awesome content!
maybe it will be useful to persons that remotely operate their cameras from their phone like snapbridge or something like that, that way, they can also change the flash settings from the phone.
The answer is a yes people like me buy it, but then we work out it does not do what we want and buy the Profoto AirTTL remote as well. FYI - I have 2 A1X's now and since the A1/A1X does not have bluetooth - when using the Profoto Connect with A1/A1X you can only change the power across all A1 heads at the same time. Hence why I use the Profoto AirTTL remote when I have multiple heads. Then advantage of the connect is for walk about shooting with one hand held flash.
It's a "marketing tool", I guess from most comments the majority are not real businesses/Pro's. Without sounding too condescending, this is aimed at the novice as an entry into the world of "flash photography". It's there to help the amateur to understand TTL flash with the benefits of going "manual" as they progress their experiences. I say it's a "marketing tool" coz it's entry level item (priced accordingly) to get people interested in Profoto Equipment. Of course it can be used as a "training tool", which is why I bought a Nikon & Fuji versions. Don't bitch-when YOU don't understand "why" !!!
The answer to the question that no one asked... I guess it would be different if it were priced at $60, but why would you get this instead of a TTL remote, especially at this price point? Of course, what do I know, I'm an Olympus shooter that's been asking them for an A1 for M4/3rds! At least we have the TTL-O remotes.
To me it's a great product for traveling photographer. It's super small and low weight. The auto is just the TTL mode which is great for quick shooting on the go on events where you don't have the time at all to set the flash. With this you can go on a fast shoot, your assistant can hold the light and you can just travel and take photos fast. Btw, the only way that this product could be improved would be to add the hot shoe on top. It would be epic if it could be pas-throu, but the dummy one could be fine, especially for mounting other gear.
Navi Retlav why would you need that though? Chances are you would be using an A1 and it can already act as a commander. A pass through would only be necessary for another brand of flash and trust me, two flashes is already way beyond what these influencers are using. -P
Just a cheaper way to use an A1 without buying the Air remote. Just cannot see why on earth would you use a phone!! This is aimed at those people who are natural light shooters only. The Profoto TTL is perhaps the best available. I would rather use my B10 :-)
So if you turn up at a wedding and someone else has this same connect, then both of you will be triggering each others flash light (as its stuck to one chanel)
Does Profoto own a bunch of Apple stock? This seems to only be controlled from an iPhone. A significant part of the industry may not use Apple device??? Is there a reason that Profoto is ignoring their non-Apple customers?
They know their market... Apple users would be more likely to appreciate a device that is minimalist to the point of absurdity. Putting form before function and being okay with offloading necessary functions to additional devices (read: dongles). An Android user would be less likely to put up with that crap
They’ve said the fragmentation of Android makes it more costly to develop for that platform and they know they have a large IOS user base so that’s what they’re focusing on first.
Yes sir. I believe sticking the remote n much easier to use. Why that little toys and have to use on ur phone ? Doesn’t make sense at all !!!!!!! 👎👎👎👎👎
So even this new one can't even show current power either through the app! This little remote still feels like a failed April Fools day joke that someone accidentally made. It's stupidly over priced and sells only thanks to the Profoto name.
Much talk with primitive testing of the device. Not even showing about shutter speed gives a result of one poor lighting only. While combining with existing light is important for a situation like this. Please be as a professional.
"The way photography is going in the future is super automated.." Seriously ? You're 'unboxing' a product designed for completing the automation of photography NOW.
interesting this product made for jessica kobeleissi and the other girls that skip the learning phase 🤷🏻♂️ give me one button camera a great model and the work is done. 6 billion views
Richard Bierman Richard Bierman she needs a new grip..or not because if you want to be a cool youtube photgrapher you have to hold the camera in a cool way 😍😍😍
This product is a bad design. The only possible use is when you have a big studio and someone else is making all the lighting decisions, so they just control it themselves. To not have any controls on the unit and have to rely on a gd phone app is so fucking stupid only a millennial might think its a neat idea. Its just another way they can look at their phones instead of living in the real world. I have so much Profoto gear and I would never consider buying this. The AirRemote is so much better, granted there are a few things they could improve on that and its just stupid that its $400. You can buy two entire speedlights and a remote with Godox for that price. Profoto, this is a TOTAL FAIL.
What are your thoughts on the new Profoto Connect? Who do you think they are trying to target with this tiny trigger?
Read the full article here: www.slrlounge.com/profoto-connect-review/
Useless toy! Oh sorry toy can be used! but not this one
IMO, this product (like quite a few Profoto products these days) is targeted at wedding photographers. In this case, it's for wedding photographers who have a need for flash, but do not have a working knowledge of flash photography, don't have the time to learn flash photography, and because wedding photography is such a profitable business, have the money to spend $1,500 on the Connect and an A1. Think about it for a second? A good wedding photographer knows they need more light than the majority of venues can provide naturally. I have been told many times by friends who are wedding photographers, that they don't have time to learn to use flash and can't afford to try using flashes with clients and potentially screw up the client's photos or look unprofessional trying to get them to work. A good wedding photographer would have the revenue to justify spending the above mentioned expense for this product that will just work and that they don't have to think about. Despite my personal feelings about it, I now see why this product exists and one thing is for sure. Profoto does know how to satisfy their customers.
@@PT-ul5gq Not really, because you can use on-camera exposure compensation instead of your phone in most cases.
Not really worth. Very expensive flash. I wouldn't buy it, but I got one from a trade. I then realized its great for my photo booth because my other trigger is too big and wont fit on my photo booth box. This is one fits perfectly and the phone control is perfect as well because I don't have to open the box anymore to change settings.
For sure this is for folks with more money than sense. Essentially it's a basic TTL trigger but doesn't have any controls....and you have to connect it to your phone to change any of the settings. I don't see how this make this better to use and in fact adds an additional layer of complexity by having to connect your phone to it. The last thing I need is to have to hold another device while I am shooting. Unless the phone app is next level easy with incredible features I don't see the value here other than being another Profoto status object.
Whether the phone app is next level with incredible features or not it's surely irrelevant? You still have to hold it in your other hand!
The spin put on pro foto gear is mind boggling
This one is spectacular a trigger with no buttons, but it has manual auto settings, so that is a button right?
The world's simplest trigger to use!
No not really
Just the world's most expensive not necessary black thingy?
Love the way pro foto spin doctors try to make out they have created a game changing gadget!
@@nigeljameshughes3722 I agree and I was being incredibly generous with the statement I made. Pro Foto is much like those audio companies that sell $1,000 audio cables to audiophiles. It's just the status of having a very expensive item that provides no additional benefit over other products at more than half the price.
@@GeraldBertramPhotography Here's my take on this (having a ton of Profoto gear as well as other lighting systems). I have not purchased one of these yet but I did have a chance to fiddle with it a bit and the reviewer did an okay job at reviewing it but very shallow. I am actually considering this little remote for a couple of reasons. I love how small it is, it has a bunch of channels, I believe it can control 3 (or 4) separate groups independently (and probably as many as the AIR system supports with firmware upgrades) and is absolutely fantastic if you work with an assistant of any kind -- which most of us Fashion/Editorial photographers do, even on small shoots you usually have at least one other team member on set even if it's just a makeup person. Having that assistant with the app have direct control over tweaking light power levels based on what I see and what I want is a big win. The way this works is that the app is actually all the buttons/controls for the remote IE that app talks to the remote which talks to the lights. The remote is actually like an AIR-TTL remote and the computer based Profoto software/dongle that I also use in more complex studio setups. This is sort of a very mobile version of that setup. In that situation I much rather just tell someone what I want with what are very direct simple up/down dials on that app than punching little tiny buttons on top of my camera myself. Yes it's a little thing but $400 is a mere variance in expenses for most of the shoots I do.
Ps. If you use lighting gear all day most days the difference between Profoto with all the little design touches, ease of use, etc, etc and budget systems is night and day.
Gerald Bertram Photography ok boomer
I have Profoto AirTTL remote and I went and ordered the connect. I am planning on using the connect on my second body when shooting weddings.
Also I use TTL for the reception dance and I normally adjust / compensate strait from the body in this case
Your comments about some in the industry were spot on!
Thanks for watching!
Diz is the review i am waiting from u pye
Thankq so much i am about switching to profoto u gave me best solution, i will definitely buy air ttl remote
I just got the Connect with A1X. It appears there is more flexibility with connecting to multiple channels etc. Once you connect via Channel A1 to the connect the flashes can then be controlled to any channel and adjusted accordingly. The drawback is the initial setup of the units to the Connect. Seems pretty simple though.
Pye baby! Enjoying your Lightroom course and your lighting course. Good stuff. :-)
You made a good point regarding the usage for this. However, those who are starting out in photography, generally speaking, don't have the money to buy Profoto stuff as they're just getting into photography and might not want to invest thousands on lighting equipment.
I don't get it????
If you don't use an I phone your not going to be able to use the remote app?
If you want to change settings you need to walk over to each light to alter settings???
The A1 was spun as the smallest studio light, when it's actually a normal flash gun?
Now this is being spun as the trigger that's easy to use because it's got no buttons?
Another must have over hyped over priced black thingy????
To add to all the other black thingy's!
😃
Thank you very much for this video- I'm going for the AirTTL remote
Pye your analysis of this product is spot on.
Could you please share how you set up your Sony camera when doing flash photos? I know mechanical flash but what about EFCS? LIVE PREVIEW? etc etc!!
We have well over 25 triggers at my workplace, mixture of AIR TTL, Air sync and the normal air remote and we have 13 studios. I could weirdly see a use for us as we train all our fashion students to shoot with B2 flash and we have a huge variety of skill levels, some use the air-ttl to the max and get loads out of it, some however just want to get a quick image and actively don't want to learn (don't get me started). This would be absolutely ideal for those students.
Education, thats where I see this being useful, outside of that I really can't see why any professional would pick one up when the other options are just better in every way.
Agreed, this wasn't designed for the professional in mind.
I like the fact that I might not be able to break any buttons on this device compared to the air ttl. Great video, pye!
You're being respectful but this is a product no one asked for; in fact, it's the exact opposite of what everyone has been asking for. I've recently upgraded from Paul C. Buff to Profoto and I am mostly happy, however, the Buff Cyber Commander has it all over Profoto triggers. We need a trigger with more control not less. We need more than the three groups the Air TTL offers - that's almost a joke (the other groups it provides offer no control whatsoever but to fire or not fire). We also need to be able to remotely change a head's mode (from 'normal' to 'freeze'). Lastly, we need to be able to see the relative amount of power we are using on each light we are triggering. You can do all of this and much more on the Commander. To be sure, the Commander is a delicate piece of gear and the Air remotes are built much more robustly, but the technology of the Commander is far superior. Given how expensive it is to invest in a Profoto system it's ridiculous they don't yet have a trigger that competes with the Commander.
Chris Violette top comment right here; totally agree! -P
Thanks for watching!
There has to be a very small market that wants to invest in the most expensive lighting lineup while not wanting to have full control. One can use the air ttl remote in a very basic set up if they want. It's just not limited to that.
I am transitioning from canon to sony. I have many profoto products. If I buy the connect for sony, will it trigger my profoto a1 for canon (off camera)? Oh yeah I would buy the full transmitter but I only need it to trigger the equipment I aleady have so I would save $200 by just getting the connect
Quite a useful setup for wildlife photographers looking to couple the flash off camera on a bracket off the telephoto lens
Assuming the ProFoto app allows for multiple groups, could it work for a pro shooter at an event telling the lighting assistant to change the setting on their phone (instead of the shooter)?
It does work with multiple groups the app allows that control.
I see your point, but this seems a strange direction. Funniest thing is that Profoto sent me a survey asking about my remote usage a couple days before this was announced--perhaps they should have done that research before designing this confusing product!
I got that survey too. I was expecting a new Air TTL down the road from all of our inputs, not this a couple days after!
Just a toy! A expensive one! My opinion
Thanks for sharing and love the channel and all the nice content!
Hey Pye, A great audience for this is Architectural photographers or anyone doing compositing work where the objective is to not touch the camera at all costs. In that case you might have multiple lights spread out across a space, and you want to adjust their power without touching the camera at all, and if you can control it all from your phone / ipad, where you're probably also controlling the camera from, that's a level of convenience over walking around to each flash.
I really love the B10, I have couple of them and nothing bat]d about the, but profoto commanders are the worsts I’ve ever used, and I’ve been using almost all of them! I hope they make a good commander soon! Cheers from Japan, awesome content!
What is a profoto commander?
Oh G- I forgot that is a badass lens can you talk about are I missed it
You forgot TTL with flash compensation in camera, would be the best use of it 👍
Thank you for this video with advices and some of help direction
speak freely??? HAHAHAHAHA now THAT was funny...good job
Will this work with my B1's? It's a better price than the air Remote.
Profoto use the same Air system for all their units
maybe it will be useful to persons that remotely operate their cameras from their phone like snapbridge or something like that, that way, they can also change the flash settings from the phone.
The answer is a yes people like me buy it, but then we work out it does not do what we want and buy the Profoto AirTTL remote as well. FYI - I have 2 A1X's now and since the A1/A1X does not have bluetooth - when using the Profoto Connect with A1/A1X you can only change the power across all A1 heads at the same time. Hence why I use the Profoto AirTTL remote when I have multiple heads. Then advantage of the connect is for walk about shooting with one hand held flash.
It's a "marketing tool", I guess from most comments the majority are not real businesses/Pro's. Without sounding too condescending, this is aimed at the novice as an entry into the world of "flash photography". It's there to help the amateur to understand TTL flash with the benefits of going "manual" as they progress their experiences. I say it's a "marketing tool" coz it's entry level item (priced accordingly) to get people interested in Profoto Equipment. Of course it can be used as a "training tool", which is why I bought a Nikon & Fuji versions. Don't bitch-when YOU don't understand "why" !!!
The answer to the question that no one asked... I guess it would be different if it were priced at $60, but why would you get this instead of a TTL remote, especially at this price point? Of course, what do I know, I'm an Olympus shooter that's been asking them for an A1 for M4/3rds! At least we have the TTL-O remotes.
On the contrary, if you don't want to take the time to learn flash/strobe that gizmo is for them.
To me it's a great product for traveling photographer. It's super small and low weight. The auto is just the TTL mode which is great for quick shooting on the go on events where you don't have the time at all to set the flash. With this you can go on a fast shoot, your assistant can hold the light and you can just travel and take photos fast. Btw, the only way that this product could be improved would be to add the hot shoe on top. It would be epic if it could be pas-throu, but the dummy one could be fine, especially for mounting other gear.
Navi Retlav why would you need that though? Chances are you would be using an A1 and it can already act as a commander. A pass through would only be necessary for another brand of flash and trust me, two flashes is already way beyond what these influencers are using. -P
Seriously ? 🤣
Okay...so...can you use it for more than one flash?
A single "auto" light seems.....pretty useless.
Pretty cool - ambassador status
World Class images on Instagram by "photographers" who know Nothing about Flash 😂😂😂
Manual flash is always better regardless the flash you use
Very true Pye. I also think professional will not be interested in using.
Just a cheaper way to use an A1 without buying the Air remote. Just cannot see why on earth would you use a phone!! This is aimed at those people who are natural light shooters only. The Profoto TTL is perhaps the best available. I would rather use my B10 :-)
So if you turn up at a wedding and someone else has this same connect, then both of you will be triggering each others flash light (as its stuck to one chanel)
all about the warm and fuzzies
Does Profoto own a bunch of Apple stock? This seems to only be controlled from an iPhone. A significant part of the industry may not use Apple device??? Is there a reason that Profoto is ignoring their non-Apple customers?
They know their market... Apple users would be more likely to appreciate a device that is minimalist to the point of absurdity. Putting form before function and being okay with offloading necessary functions to additional devices (read: dongles).
An Android user would be less likely to put up with that crap
As a side note, this makes me feel vindicated in my decision to sell my B1s and go to Godox.
They’ve said the fragmentation of Android makes it more costly to develop for that platform and they know they have a large IOS user base so that’s what they’re focusing on first.
Bro... That was NOT a good car analogy🤣
why not?
Well worth purchasing when this virus is passed
Hey brother. I thought you get all your good stuff from reading your great books. Shalom
Thanks for watching!
Yes sir. I believe sticking the remote n much easier to use. Why that little toys and have to use on ur phone ? Doesn’t make sense at all !!!!!!! 👎👎👎👎👎
So even this new one can't even show current power either through the app! This little remote still feels like a failed April Fools day joke that someone accidentally made. It's stupidly over priced and sells only thanks to the Profoto name.
Guess they can't use more than 1 flash in auto so they have to switch to manual and use their phone to control flashes, Pointless 😤
🌵。。。sore💥
Much talk with primitive testing of the device.
Not even showing about shutter speed gives a result of one poor lighting only.
While combining with existing light is important for a situation like this.
Please be as a professional.
No the best equipment. It's not for me.
"The way photography is going in the future is super automated.." Seriously ? You're 'unboxing' a product designed for completing the automation of photography NOW.
interesting this product made for jessica kobeleissi and the other girls that skip the learning phase 🤷🏻♂️ give me one button camera a great model and the work is done. 6 billion views
I am what I am bitter? LOL
mavfan1 🤣
Don't knock jessica! She finally worked out she'd been holding her camera wrong!
Richard Bierman Richard Bierman she needs a new grip..or not because if you want to be a cool youtube photgrapher you have to hold the camera in a cool way 😍😍😍
It's for millennials. If it can't be done with a phone, they can't do it and they'll spend more than that for bluetooth earplugs.
This product is a bad design. The only possible use is when you have a big studio and someone else is making all the lighting decisions, so they just control it themselves. To not have any controls on the unit and have to rely on a gd phone app is so fucking stupid only a millennial might think its a neat idea. Its just another way they can look at their phones instead of living in the real world. I have so much Profoto gear and I would never consider buying this. The AirRemote is so much better, granted there are a few things they could improve on that and its just stupid that its $400. You can buy two entire speedlights and a remote with Godox for that price. Profoto, this is a TOTAL FAIL.