When Adorama announced that they were starting to go in their own direction with their rebranded Godox kit and actually developing their own compatible products, it was something of a surprise. The initial announcement of the R2 Pro Mark II got a lot of people very excited. It also got a lot of criticism, too. What’s with all the extra buttons? You’re making it too complicated! Well, now the trigger has started to ship, and the first reviews are out. Photographer Rob Hall has got his hands on one, and he’s put together his thoughts on it in this video after spending some time with it. The short version, though, is to just go get it.
Coming as something of an upgrade to the Godox XPro trigger, which was only released itself a little over a year ago, Adorama’s new R2 Pro Mark II trigger costs exactly the same, but packs a lot more features.
The LCD has larger text that’s easier to read, it’s got easy access to a lot of functions through a wealth of buttons (although some may still be better served in menus), those buttons are also backlit for easy viewing in dim conditions, and it has built-in Bluetooth (negating the need for a Godox A1), amongst others. Overall, Rob definitely prefers the R2 Pro Mark II over the original Godox XPro trigger. He suggests that if you’ve been considering buying either, then just skip the XPro and go straight for the R2 Pro Mark II – after all, the cost is the same. Although, that’s a little difficult for anybody not in the USA as it’s an Adorama exclusive and it doesn’t seem to be making an appearance elsewhere. Rob does say that there are some things that haven’t been addressed, though. Like the inability to easily use rechargeable AA batteries. Well, you can use them, although your battery indicator still wont’ be accurate (no word on whether they still have range issues like the XPro when using rechargeables). Although, personally, I really don’t see the point of using rechargeable AA batteries in a flash trigger. Flash triggers draw so little current that rechargeable batteries are likely going to be dead within a year of being permanently kept at full charge anyway. I’ve had Duracell Plus sitting in the first XPro trigger I received in August 2017 that still show plenty of power. The other issue Rob mentions is something he says a lot of people have complained about, and that’s the “flimsy” battery cover. I’ve got five of the original XPro triggers now (2 for Nikon, 1 for Canon, 1 for Sony and 1 for Pentax) and I’ve never lost any of the battery covers or had any issues with them falling off. So, I’m not entirely sure what people are doing with them that they lose them so easily. There’s certainly no way they just “fall” off, unless there was a bad batch made at some point. Still, if those issues affect you, then they haven’t been addressed. It would be nice to see this released in other countries, too, but until that happens, I’m quite happy to stick with my XPro triggers. They do all I need. The backlit buttons would be pretty awesome, though, if Godox is planning their own XPro update. But if you’re in the USA, then you can buy the Flashpoint R2 Pro Mark II trigger for $69, and it’s available in Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fuji and Panasonic/Olympus flavours.
