Site Supporter Registered: August, 2016 Location: Florida's Space Coast Posts: 41 | | Review Date: March 10, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $12.99
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | wired and wireless options, half-press support, simple operation, commonly-available easily replaced CR-2032 battery, wired works without battery | | Cons: | not water-resistant, no bulb-lock, stiff factory cable | |
I was looking for a remote for my K-30 that could be used either as a wireless IR or a wired unit when I came across this KiwiFotos UR-262 on Amazon. Since I could not find any information on it here in the forums, I went ahead and risked the $12.99. I have used it maybe once or twice a month since then (Sept. 2016), probably 70% of the time as a wired remote, so I figured I would leave some feedback here for my fellow Pentaxians.
Note the UR-262 comes in versions specific to Canon, Nikon, Sony, and of course Pentax, as reviewed here (model number UR-262P). The main difference seems to be the connectors on the supplied cable, and the options available on the selector switch.
There are only two buttons up front: the large 15mm trigger button, and a small 5mm IR wireless mode selector switch, which toggles between four modes, each with a small LED indicator which illuminates for about 5 seconds after a press. There is a 27mm square removable panel on the back for the coin battery, a 7mm opening for the IR transmitter on top, and a 2.5mm phono jack on the bottom for the wired connection.
The Pentax version has the following modes, which again only affect wireless/IR operation:
- S - Simple switch mode, acts as a full press of the trigger only
- T/W - Tele/Wide zoom control, but doesn't seem to work with any of my zooms, including my recent-model DA 18-135 WR. However, this T/W mode does seem to function as a half-press - that is, in this mode, a full press of the remote button acts as a half-press of the trigger. To do a full press, though, you must switch the remote back to S mode.
- Fn - Documentation says the Fn mode is supposed to trigger video on Pentax, but for the life of me I've never got it to do anything at all.
- Off - Note that wired mode works even when off, or in fact with the battery removed. Also note there is no auto-off.
Wired mode is extremely simple: no matter what the wireless mode selection is set to, and regardless whether the battery is even present or not, the remote trigger button performs just like the camera button, including half-press.
The Good
- Comfortable to hold, if a little light. Trigger button is big and my thumb falls naturally over it, no matter which hand is holding.
- Works reliably as a simple trigger in both wired and wireless IR modes (I tested on both a K-30 and a K-x).
- Wired mode supports half-press. There is a subtle detent that gives it a decent feel when half-pressed. I doubt it could be felt with gloves on, however.
- Wired mode works when off, or even when the unit has no battery or a dead battery.
- Wireless IR seems to work as well as my Pentax remote, in terms of distance and angle.
- You can even accomplish a half-press via IR using the T/W mode, although you must switch it back to S mode to do a full trigger.
- Simple intuitive operation, no interval timers or anything fancy, it's just a remote trigger button. That could be seen as a negative, but of course the Pentax itself can insert a delay after remote trigger, and/or interval shooting.
- Standard, easy-to-find CR-2032 coin battery, easily replaceable.
The Not-As-Good
- Unit could use a little heft; it feels too light and empty, only some 23g - less than an ounce. But then again, that's less weight in the carry bag.
- The cable is only 24" long and is rather stiff, which can defeat the purpose of using a remote with a long tele lens since moving the remote can transfer motion to the camera body via the stiff cable. The good news is the connections are standard 2.5mm on both ends, so it's easy to find longer/better cables.
- No auto-off. This is mitigated by the fact that the battery seems to last a tremendously long time even if left on, and wired mode works even with a dead/missing battery.
- No bulb-lock on the trigger switch. However, this can be ameliorated by changing the Pentax bulb mode option to work as a press-open/press-closed shutter (from menu C1 on the K-30).
- Fn mode seems to do nothing. According to the documentation, this mode is supposed to trigger video recording, but when I enable remote video triggering on the K-30, the normal S mode starts video from the remote, not the Fn mode, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- When using it in wired mode, it's a little awkward that the wire projects from the bottom of the remote, rather than the top. But that's because the top has the IR transmitter for wireless, so I suppose it's the best compromise.
- Not water-resistant. However, I have operated it successfully through a Ziploc bag in a drizzle.
The unit supposedly comes with a one-year factory warranty. I haven't tried to contact the manufacturer, but I did find the manual on the JJC website (JJC also makes their own remotes, but they seem to carry this KiwiFotos line as well).
Despite its shortcomings, this KiwiFotos UR-262 remote has proven worthy of the small space it takes up in my bag, especially for the versatility and practicality of having one unit for both wireless and wired remote trigger functions. But I did purchase from a third-party a slightly longer, more flexible, better-quality cable for it, and would recommend my fellow Pentaxians do the same.
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