For this review, I tested half-dozen Godox flash units, all on loan from B&H. While most know me as a Profoto photographer, this is not a sponsored article, nor is any of the data in this article otherwise biased or paid for. I'yard going to give you my real-world take on my experience with the Godox flash organisation, which includes why I want to give it one more than shot.

Every bit you volition read, I wasn't able to get the radio organization to work consistently. It would be unfair for me to post a complete review given the set that I received. It would also be unfair to ignore my experience. Therefore, permit this article be Function I of my initial thoughts on Godox Flash systems. Stay tuned for Part 2 in one case I receive a new test kit.

The Lighting Gear Tested

  • 2x Godox AD200 TTL Pocket Flash
  • 2x Godox V860IIC TTL Li-Ion Flash
  • 2x Godox TT685C Thinklite TTL Flash
  • 1x Godox XProC TTL Wireless Flash Trigger

Camera Used

  • Canon 5D Mark Four
  • Canon 24-70 f/2.8 Marking Ii
  • Canon 35mm f/1.4 Marking II

I Wanted To Dear Godox

I'thousand going to say from the elevation that I really wanted to honey Godox. It is not because I've any desire to switch from Profoto; I'm very happy with my Profoto gear. Equally an educator, I desperately wanted to love Godox. I need a reliable solution that I tin can wholeheartedly recommend to photographers who aren't yet able to invest in the Profoto ecosystem. I wanted an intermediary step, and even though my experience wasn't ideal, I still believe Godox (and other like Chinese fabricated flashes) is that stride.

Why Godox/Chinese Flashes Should Exist Feared

There used to be a lot of arguments against cheap Chinese fabricated flashes like Godox, Flashpoint, YongNuo, etc. Their build quality was bad. Their color temperature and power output varied, especially when batteries lost power. They'd overheat during regular use, or just finish working birthday. Early wireless radio systems were inconsistent and couldn't be relied upon.

However, most of these bug have been or are being resolved. In the last five years, these flashes have fabricated incredible strides in each of these areas to the signal where today, most photographers volition not exist in situations where they will detect the difference between an inexpensive versus make proper noun flash. The fundamental here is "nigh photographers." Fractionally small variances in color temperature and power will indeed still matter to commercial and editorial photographers; however, in the earth of portrait and wedding photography, most photographers volition non see a departure in "light quality" that would justify the difference in toll.

These inexpensive flashes are pushing major brands to up their game. It forces the major brands dorsum to innovation in order to differentiate their product. In short, it forces them to create value in an industry that has been overpriced and with consumers that have been overcharged for years.

My By Experience With "Inexpensive" Flashes

Over the by five years, I've had several opportunities to test a number of Chinese-branded flashes, such as Yongnuo, Flashpoint, Godox, and other cheap flash units. However, I've always found their reliability lacking. A few years dorsum I tried using Yongnuo Speedlites. I found myself taking multiple spares to each shoot simply because it was common for a flash to end working.

Read my total review on the Yongnuo 560 III's here.

At that place were as well significant inconsistencies with the wink's power and color temperature. Bulbs and the unabridged units would overheat and burn out with typical mid-day use. Li-Ion battery packs would aggrandize and become unusable over time. Flashes and batteries would arrive DOA. Worst of all, they would constantly misfire, making it hard to state the perfect shot and expression without overshooting. In close distances (20-30 feet) they would fire consistently plenty. Only, at 30-100+ feet they'd consistently misfire. This meant that basically anytime I was shooting an environmental portrait or trip the light fantastic toe flooring image, I was struggling.

Just that was then. This is at present.

Today, I accept a lot of friends and acquaintance shooters in our studio who apply Godox and swear by them. They swear past their consistency, the way that they work, and how they constantly fire without misfires, so I was really excited to give it another shot.

Build Quality, Kickoff Impression

When it comes to build quality, these flashes are built significantly improve than what I remember from iii to four years agone. The Godox XProC Remote still feels a bit light and inexpensive in its design, but the flashes themselves are significantly more solid. In addition, the poorly designed menu systems that plagued older designs accept been solved. The Godox menu organisation is very elementary to apply. As shown beneath, we can plough on a flash, and conform power settings by (1) pressing desired grouping button, and so (ii) cycling fashion from off to TTL to Manual, then (3) turning the punch equally desired.

This ways that turning on and adjusting a flash tin can be done with iv total push button presses. The efficiency of menu operations may non audio important. However, when shooting fast-paced events using multiple wink groups, a simpler and more intuitive card system means fewer moments missed. The carte organisation and design probably rival anything outside of Profoto, which has ready the bar at one-2 clicks to toggle ability and adjust flash settings. Simply, exterior of that single comparison, Godox has created an intuitive menu design that will allow well-nigh users to completely skip having to read the manual. This includes its superiority over the menu organization in the Catechism 600EX II-RT. Overall, these new Godox units are well built and very easy to navigate, adjust, and control.

In The Studio Vs. In The Field

After receiving the Godox flash units from B&H, I tested them in the studio and they performed very well. In fact, they were fantastic! When shooting regular portraits from a 10-20 pes distance, everything worked fine, simply then I took them out into the field to shoot two split weddings.

When testing new gear, I e'er bring backups. In this case, I had my Profoto gear along for the ride. Within the first few shots, I saw the flashes immediately misfiring. The setup was quite simple. A flash behind the couple, shooting from about 20 feet away. The couple was placed in a dark area inside the frame. We aimed to rim lite them to make them pop out from the scene.

Hither's the final image we were aiming to create.

Unfortunately, it took several misfires to get to the final image with the correct expression and lighting. You tin can see what it looks like when the wink doesn't properly trigger below.

There were no unusual circumstances that might have negatively impacted the flash unit of measurement's performance, yet I experienced approximately 50% misfires. Nonetheless, this wasn't a large bargain. I was working in close proximity to the couple, and a few extra shots didn't thing also much considering we were about to accept a break in our day. I could have used that fourth dimension to test and switch back to my Profoto gear if needed.

During the break, I wanted to test the units a chip further before trying to push their capabilities during the various wedding events and portraits that were near to accept place. I had my assistant mountain two AD200s with dissimilar colored gels so that I could see if one unit was firing more than another. I was using the Canon 5D Mark IV with the Godox XProC Remote on camera. Looking at the animated GIF below, yous can see how the flashes begin misfiring as I step back, and so begin firing again as I movement forward. None of the images were altered or removed from this sequence.

Equally we stepped back to about 50 feet, we could see the flash on the correct begin to misfire. "Not a big deal, probably just interference," I idea. Albert and I selected an obscure set of channels and tested the same setup again. This time, I wanted to increment the distance and also move over water (which is known to interfere with radio signals). After moving away and diagonally to the other side of the fountain, hither'due south the upshot:

Y'all can run into from the GIF above, once we are beyond the water and almost 100 feet away, the flashes stop firing about completely.

You might exist asking why we would we test this near water. Anybody knows that h2o interferes with radio signals. The reason is uncomplicated. We are constantly shooting near water. On top of that, our bodies are mostly water. Being separated by 100 bodies on a trip the light fantastic floor creates a pregnant challenge for a radio organization to compete confronting. These are situations that we are constantly facing at virtually every wedding we shoot.

No affair, maybe it was simply these item AD200s that were causing issues. Albert and I went back to the case and pulled out the Godox V860IIC TTL Li-Ion flashes likewise as the AA variant to mount onto our stands and exam once again. This time, we used both the remote and another flash to exam the wireless transmission. The results were the same as you tin can see below.

Equally nosotros stepped further dorsum, the misfires increased.

I was terrified by the results. I immediately went back to my Profoto A1 system for the balance of the nuptials to avert risking any potential misfires. Afterward in the evening, I asked the couple and their entire family to come to stand in front of the fountain to watch the fireworks. I couldn't imagine the stress I would experience trying to capture the image beneath while stressing about potential misfires. To me, those days died with the terminate of Pocket Wizards and their horribly choosy cables. There's just no take chances I'm going back to that time where I am constantly in fright of missing a shot like the one beneath due to my flashes not firing.

What Did It All Hateful?

I approached my second shooter, Brandon, who loves his Godox flash systems, and I asked nigh the consistency he'southward experienced with the organization. Brandon explained that while he does feel misfires, it seems to be nix like what he was seeing in my flashes. I thought it was odd as well, considering I had never really heard anyone online talking about these flashes misfiring. To me, one in every ten misfires is worth talking about. Five in x misfires can make your job impossible.

As I mentioned earlier, these units were delivered brand new from B&H. Maybe this particular venue was to blame. Maybe it was merely that nuptials. I don't know. And then, I took it out one more time. We were in San Jose preparing our lights to shoot an indoor anniversary. I decided to give the flashes some other shot. Unfortunately, I got the same verbal results. I tested different channels, units on camera, off-camera, I simply couldn't get the flashes to burn consistently. Once more, I switched immediately back to my Profoto A1s.

The True Cost Of Gear

For a lot of photographers, this may not be a big deal. Most portrait photographers piece of work in close quarters when lighting. They are in that sweet spot between xx-30 feet. Almost photographers are working in-studio or on-location where they've enough of fourth dimension to troubleshoot gear or bandy a wink if needed. For these photographers and situations, you may never even notice your gear misfiring. When there is an effect, swapping a flash or taking a minute to troubleshoot isn't a big deal.

For me and the Chief/Associate Photographers at Lin and Jirsa Photography, even one out of ten misfires is significant and worth noting. The reason is how information technology creates opportunities for missed moments and inefficiency in our postal service-production workflow.

Let me give you an case. Getting the perfect expression and motion in a wearing apparel during a dance floor twist is difficult in and of itself. When a flash is misfiring, in that location'southward a high likelihood that the right shot isn't lit up.

Have a look at the image below.

Capturing this image with the perfect expression and pull on the dress took nearly thirty shots every bit you can see below.

How frustrating and time-consuming would it exist to run across that image, only to realize that information technology wasn't properly lit due to a wink misfire. When this entire sequence was captured in less than a minute during a loftier-pressure window of 5 minutes inside the ballroom, even occasional misfires are a big bargain. The images higher up were lit consistently without a single misfire coming from my Profoto A1s to camera left.

Similarly, when my couple session time has been trimmed from lx minutes downward to x, every infinitesimal counts. The epitome beneath was the concluding shot from a x-infinitesimal couple session before the m archway. It was ready and captured during the terminal infinitesimal while the planner was proverb, "Okay, Pye, fourth dimension to head back."

In these moments, every infinitesimal wasted fiddling with gear is i-five additional photos that could accept been delivered.

On elevation of that, what about the culling and post-production nightmare information technology creates from having to choose boosted images. How about the time it takes to set up and composite images when the flash didn't fire at the right moment?

These are all the points that we summarized in our previous article on 10 Ways to Calorie-free and Shoot the Same Scene.

In that shoot, we had a once-in-a-lifetime moment to capture an image that I'd never seen earlier at a location I've photographed many times. From 500+ feet away, my Profoto B2 was firing consistently with each and every shot.

Tin can you imagine the feeling yous'd take walking away missing a moment due to your gear? Tin you imagine what your clients might say?

This is the cost of misfires and unreliable gear.

Concluding Conversation

I'one thousand non satisfied with my current conclusion, so I'm going to ask for your assistance. I'k going to request a new kit to test one more time. This time, if I tin can get the radio system to piece of work consistently, I will proceed to exercise detailed testing on lite output, recycle time, light quality/shape, etc.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear your honest and open experiences with Godox and similar flash systems beneath. If it was a good experience, share information technology. If it was negative, please share it as well. I'd love to offset an honest chat void of "fanboy/girl" bias.

For me, I honey what Godox is offering on paper. But I can't wholeheartedly stand behind information technology with a glaring issue in the radio organisation reliability. Even if I did receive bad units, what does that say about their quality control? How is it possible to receive multiple faulty units in an club of six units consisting of three unlike models. I however have not had the feel I would need to comfortably recommend these flashes as a solution for working professionals. However, I will update these thoughts one time I've tested some other ready.

No lighting system is perfect. Each will take their strengths and drawbacks. Profoto lighting systems have been the most consistent and reliable over fourth dimension, bar none. For this reason, I used them even before our studio joined the "Legends of Lite" ambassador programme.  Yet, their primary drawback is that the gear comes at a significant price. For those that are more established in their careers, that toll might be an easy pill to swallow to bask the reliability and simplicity Profoto gear provides. For others, the toll is but too far out of reach and a stepping stone is necessary.

Regardless, lighting equipment, like our cameras, are all simply a tool. Pick the all-time tools you can beget. Some tools will make your life easier as a photographer. However, none of them will create meliorate imagery in and of themselves. That office is upwards to y'all, as is the rest of this article and discussion.

Please, post your experiences and thoughts below, and delight, please, delight, go along it civil.