| Author: | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2008 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,697 | | Review Date: May 17, 2023 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 5 |
| Pros: | It worked well for a time | | Cons: | Battery died and could not see how to change it | |
Mine came some years ago as part of s/h K-R bundle, and worked for some time after that (but was only used very occasionally) until it was clear that the battery had died. Then, I couldn't find any way to change the battery and had to bin the whole thing as there no way (IIRC) of opening it up. A very poor design for a relatively expensive remote control.
Had to go back to using a cheap 3rd party r/c which was/is even older, has a user-replaceable battery AND it still works reliably!
| | | | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: September, 2016 Location: Central Iowa, USA Posts: 173 | | Review Date: May 11, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small, reputable brand, good design, battery user-changable (requires small screwdriver) | | Cons: | Small | |
I bought a new Pentax camera and - as I often shoot from a tripod - needed to get a remote for it.
I checked the 'usual suspects' vendors for remotes - photo retailers and an online retailer, and saw the usual 'off-brand' remotes for sale... I already have two of those, each requiring a different kind of battery. Pentax also sells a remote - but the battery supposedly isn't user replacable. Groan.
I've always liked the design of the (now discontinued) Remote Control F - the battery it uses has a long shelf life, and the activation button is located in a recessed area of the control, so it wouldn't be easy to accidentially press the activation button while its stored in a camera bag.
I stumbled some NOS (New, Old Stock) Remote Fs for sale on an auction site, and decided to standardize my remotes on the Remote Control F. All three units I bought worked when I took them out of their factory packaging, but just to be safe, I replaced the batteries with fresh ones. With the right screwdriver (a really small phillips) it takes less than a minute to do. All work fine. There is an article on Pentax Forums that shows how to change the battery in a Remote Control F.
My previous remotes were a mixed bag - different vendors, different batteries, wildly different form factors, and both were much larger than the Remote Control Fs. I've had to replace batteries in both of my off-brand remotes, and never really trusted either of them. I wasn't looking forward to have to worry about another off brand unit - which would probably take yet another size of battery.
Yes, the Remote Control F is a small unit. If you're careless with it, you're gonna lose it. On the other hand, because it's small it doesn't take up much room in your camera bag. I store my Fs in a pocket in the tops of my camera bags - this is a thin flat area which suits the Remote Control F form factor and there isn't anything I keep in the tops of my bags that is gonna push the activation button.
Range of a remote isn't a big issue for me - I'm normally standing close to my tripod when I fire the remote. When I took the units out of their factory packaging, I tried them indoors - with their old batteries - from ranges of 8-12 feet. They worked fine. I understand that an outdoor test in bright sunlight might be a tougher test, but the Remote Control Fs have a reputation as a good design, and I was just testing to make sure that the units worked at all.
I've been using the Remote Control Fs for about a month now. I like the size and the quality of the Remote Control F. I'm only sorry I didn't go with them earlier.
| | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: September 1, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Size, works reliably | | Cons: | Easily lost | |
Like the small size, but that same small size (and the black color) make this unit easy to misplace. I put it in a small bag along with other similarly easily lost items. Battery life? Don't know - owned it for over five years, and still on the original cell.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: December, 2007 Location: In the most populated state... state of denial Posts: 1,851 | | Review Date: July 17, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Light - Simple - Good Range | | Cons: | Sometimes it is small | |
Got mine years ago, with an MZ7 camera; works with the MZ, *st, Optios, and the DSLRs
Battery life is impressive, a small CR1620 lasted me about 15 yrs and changing it was easy
As a side note, the remote fits in the pockets of the MZ camera straps so I have colected a few straps over the years to use with the DSLR
| | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: September, 2015 Location: Calgary, AB Posts: 3 | | Review Date: April 9, 2017 | Not Recommended | Price: $28.00
| Rating: 4 |
| Pros: | Easy to use | | Cons: | Does not fire every time, short range outside | |
This is tiny simple device, and I don't understand why Pentax charges almost $30 for it.
It fires about 70% of the time.
Indoors, the range is about 15-20 feet. I find that outside, the range is about 4-5 feet. I bought it to use it for bird photography, so that I can stand at least 20 feet back from my camera and tripod, so this is of no use to me at all. Outside, I am better off with my wired remote, which fires 100% of the time.
The combination of price, lack of reliability, and short range, means I have to give it a four.
| | | | | Closed Account Registered: March, 2015 Posts: 8,694 | | Review Date: April 12, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Good distance from camera, very easy to use, excellent battery life | | Cons: | None | |
This very basic IR control does its job well. My K-3 has front and rear IR sensors, so using this remote makes photographing in some situations very easy. Setting the 2 second or 12 second timer allows for the photographer to be in the shot as well without rushing to make it into the frame. I highly recommend this unit.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2014 Location: Graz Posts: 264 | | Review Date: September 4, 2015 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: N/A |
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I would be very interested in how it works in detail. Does it send just one pulse of IR light (typical 890 to 910 nm wavelength) to the camera or is there any coded signal?
If it is just one pulse then it is a remote pushing the relaese knob. That means the remote will do a focusing or not equal to the release buttom on the camera and the focus mode setting.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2009 Posts: 88 | | Review Date: November 11, 2014 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Battery life, responsive | | Cons: | Easy to lose | |
I have used it for good 3 or 4 years and I still have not replaced the battery. The button sits in the bottom of a concavity, so the button is not pressed in your camera bag or pocket by accident. Button operation is sometimes a bit of a wildcard. Most of the times the button is very responsive (I have had a few unintentional shutter releases), but at the same time it sometimes lacks proper feedback due to its softness (it is a rubber button) - it is really difficult to release the shutter very precisely due to softness of the button, as you can never be sure when exactly the shutter is released.
Sure, it is easy to slip it into small pockets inside camera bags or keep inside your glove. But at the same time it is also so easy to lose. I have had a fair amount of "mini-heart-attacks" over it. It is not exactly cheap either.
What it really needs is a hole or slit in its body to attach a keyring to, so it would be easier to keep and find. I even considered making some kind of sleeve for it.
For functionality I give it 8 out of 10, but it loses more points in my eyes due to its design flaws (really, why is there no way to attach a keyring?).
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2011 Location: Lost in translation ... Posts: 18,076 | | Review Date: August 28, 2014 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Small & compact (almost too small), acceptable range | | Cons: | Single function, no lanyard loop like WR version | |
Bonjour,
A nice simple remote that goes easily into the camera bag.
Handy to have for tripod work such as macros or home-made family portraits.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: November, 2011 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 817 | | Review Date: January 6, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | No wire to camera, small size | | Cons: | Sometimes have to press more than once to activate shutter | |
Works fine. Sometimes when you press button the shutter doesn't go, suspect I'm not pushing the button down far enough. Nice unit though. Use this with a K-x so it's my only choice for remote operation.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2007 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,249 | | Review Date: September 1, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | compact | | Cons: | relatively expensive, only one feature | |
This is a must accessory for any Pentax DSLR user. Cable remotes are a thing of the past (except for some special functions like intervalometer, long exposures, etc). The official Pentax remote is OK, battery life is rated at 20,000 clicks, it's small and can be fitted in the K10D/K20D grip. I was very disappointed that Pentax removed that feature on the K-5/K-7 grip because it's so small it's easy to lose.
I rate it only 8 because there are cheaper chinese alternatives. And because it doesn't do much more than shutter release, it cannot do half-press AE/AF like the cable release. Or for example be used when connecting the camera to a TV for a slideshow.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2010 Location: Hong Kong / Irvine, CA Posts: 636 | | Review Date: July 13, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | very small very compact, fits in K10D grip | | Cons: | only 1 button | |
this is so small compare to 3rd party remote.
It's a must buy if you have a Battery grip for K10D / K20D.
| | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 5 | | Review Date: March 8, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Simple to use. Good battery life. | | Cons: | Gets lost easily. | |
I ended up carefully putting stripes of reflective florescent yellow tape on my remote because it would disappear into the dark recesses of my camera bag no matter how carefully I'd stow it. I also like to keep it on a lanyard when I'm shooting because it's a particularly easy item to set down and forget.
On the upside, it works like a charm with my camera, the batteries seem to last forever even under heavy use and I've even managed to bounce the signal from a scrim on occasion.
Overall, a very nice item to have in your bag, especially when shooting macro.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2009 Location: Hampstead, NC Posts: 17,291 | | Review Date: February 20, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Bet way to shoot with a tripod, small | | Cons: | no case to clip to camera strap | |
This is an essential piece of gear to go with a DSLR. The remote does what it is supposed to. I don't use a tripod without a remote, but you can also use it with the camera on the ground, etc. I agree with Emily above that it would be nice if it came with a little pouch that clipped to your camera strap so you would never forget it.
One thing to remember, when you get done using the remote, take the camera off of remote mode because in remote mode shake reduction is disabled. I lost a few shots by forgetting to do this.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 3,107 | | Review Date: January 25, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $13.99
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | small, inexpensive, works like it should and as expected | | Cons: | | |
I love this little IR remote. Makes shooting from a distance a breeze as well as self pics. Bulb mode is no problem since you can lock the button down. it is very small, about the width of two pieces of gum and the thickness of two Quarters/euro coins stacked. I keep mine it it's box when not in use so it's easy to identify and find in my camera bag. A must have accessory in my opinion. I got mine for a nice price too! Fits inside a camera battery grip too!
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