Not long ago, Profoto updated their Profoto Connect Pro transmitter with new firmware. It includes a lock screen and new TTL improvements for Nikon cameras. So I decided to update our review. And after even more time away from the product that I willingly spent money on, I’ve become more and more sour about the brand.
The updated text of the Phoblographer’s Profoto Connect Pro review is below. But if you want to read the full review, please click this link. Is it worth the price of nearly $400? Maybe.
Update: March 2026
The Profoto Connect Pro got new firmware. Here are the details:
New Firmware Update. What is new?
- Improved TTL behavior for Nikon cameras.
- Lock screen functionality added (Press and hold the middle dial)
The kind of odd thing is that you have to use the Profoto app to install the firmware. To be honest, I never used Bluetooth on the Connect Pro. So why would I start now? The only reason is that I have to update the firmware. This is annoying because on any set in 2026, there are way too many bluetooth devices in any one room. In fact, I took the Profoto app off my phone a while ago because I never used it. If you have the standard Profoto Connect, I understand why you’d use it. But otherwise, it makes no sense at all.
On top of that, my unit is for Leica L mount cameras. Air 1 still works with legacy lights like my B10 and Air 2 can show absolute power readings like with newer lights. But if I wanted to mount it onto Nikon cameras, I’d have to use X-Sync – to recap, that’s because my Profoto Connect Pro is Leica mount. X sync turns it into a universal remote and removes TTL.
Profoto, in their product overview on Youtube, says that this is only shown in Canon and Nikon versions of the remote, but that’s simply not true.
I put the Profoto Connect Pro into the Nikon Zf’s hot shoe – and all the problems that I’ve been talking about for over a year with the Nikon Zf and flashes, lo and behold, magically didn’t go away! Hence, I still think that the Nikon Zf is a pretty busted camera when it comes to using flashes. And while they’ve given it other superpowers, Nikon will really just do everything else besides the one damn thing any of us want.
I tried using my Profoto Connect Pro for Leica SL cameras with the Nikon D850 instead while in x-sync. And while it won’t get full shutter sync above 1/250th, it still works. Essentially, the Nikon Zf has flash capabilities that still aren’t as good as the older Nikon D850.
In previous communications with Profoto, the company was very aware of the Profoto Connect Pro and their units in general having issues with the Nikon Z8. I didn’t have a z8 on hand to try. But in my communications with Nikon in the past year, it’s been hinted to me many times that a successor to the Z8 isn’t all that far away. That’s to say that Nikon will either finally get it together or not bother because they already have your money. To that end, sometimes I wonder how they’ve survived so many big problems from the Z6 and Z7 launch, the failed action cameras, and the failed point and shoot cameras not even coming to market.
In many ways, Nikon is the grown child in the workplace we all grumble about but support.
Finally, I tried it on the Leica SL2s again. After one initial calibration hiccup that took all of making another exposure, every function worked flawlessly. This is pretty standard with Profoto lights and even happens when the strobe needs to dump power output or something. For further clarity, I tried it with a Panasonic 35mm f1.8 attached. And if it works with that lens, then it will obviously work with a Leica lens too, right? The cool thing about the L-mount alliance is that all the exposure and focusing data passes through the mount easily. So that means that TTL flash information theoretically shouldn’t be suffocated.
But I just had to be sure. So I tried the SL2S with the 28mm f2 SL APO, the Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 Art DG Version 1, and the Viltrox 16mm f1.8. It worked just as it should with all the lenses.
Isn’t that nice? The L-mount alliance makes it easy for Viltrox and then Viltrox lenses work just as they should. Canon, Nikon, and Sony should learn from this.
Hey Nikon, are you reading this? More importantly, are you reading this and internalizing what we’re saying?
Just be sure to never put it on your Leica Q3 or else it’s bound to get stuck.
I then decided to try the new lockscreen functionality. Essentially, you long press the center button of the wheel and it will lock the screen. I can’t tell you how valuable this is when you’re doing event photography and other “photographers” end up coming with their flashes. The bigger problem is that lots of folks never change the channel on their flashes but I am always on channels no one else is – yet still the flash units will interfere with mine at least once.
Anyway, sometimes the camera and transmitter are bumping about and things get changed. The lockscreen prevents that and is unlocked by pressing the center button and then turning the dial. It works, and it’s quite a nice addition.
Aside from all this, Profoto has left a really sour taste in my mouth. For years, they’d tell us about products and have very open dialogue with us. Then someone leaked info (not us) and the company started to treat the press so much worse. Additionally, the owner of SLR Lounge – who at the time was trying to be an objective publication – was named a Profoto Ambassador of sorts. All the while, the site was actively reviewing products from other manufacturers. If that isn’t a violation of unbiased journalistic ethics, I’m not sure what is! Profoto also only seemingly wants to work with influencers on launches. And what’s more, they even promoted the use of AI. When we wrote that article, the CEO of the company wrote us the most pointless marketing email I’ve ever read.
10 years ago, I never thought that I’d say this: but I’m probably going to be moving my entire flash system over to Godox eventually. I don’t care to spend money on brands that don’t care about their customers. The market is too ripe with options for me to continually dump coins into wishing wells that never return the favor.