what_the_f4
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I’ve spend many hours researching ‘suitable’ equipment and ‘technology’ for outdoor portrait photography and am still unsure which would be the best option to go for equipment wise. My budget is around the £1,000 mark, though of course happy to bring the cost down. I’m shooting with a Nikon D750. I am learning on the job at the moment and so I have likely made certain incorrect assumptions, please bear with me, I am certainly no expert.
The kit I’m looking at basically consists of a flash, a softbox/beauty-dish (my personal preference being an umbrella style octabox or similar) and a radio trigger to allow for flexibility when line-of-sight may be an issue.
My criteria are:
I’ve narrowed this down to either the Nikon SB-700 or the Godox Witstro AD200. I appreciate there is a big power difference between the two, the SB-700 has a guide number of around 28, versus the Godox of 52 and whilst I realise there is no easy method to convert a guide number into watt seconds because they are measuring two different things, my assumption is that that the SB-700 is around the 80w to 100w equivalent (but could be totally wrong). So the Godox appeals because it is more powerful for around the same price.
The Godox AD200 will only work with the Godox X1N transmitter but I’ve read mixed reviews about the reliability of the X1N unit. It also lacks a zoom on the Fresnel head, though unsure how important this is when using a softbox.
Softbox/Beauty dish
The choice of flash potentially influences my choice of softbox/beauty dish. Again, I realise there are a myriad of soft box options available, however, I’m looking for the convenience of a foldable umbrella style octagon (or similar) and the flexibility of adding a beauty dish in the softbox. The Westcott Rapidbox 26”, despite being very overpriced, seems to get rave reviews from everyone and what I particularly like about it is the option to add a beauty dish and a 40 degree grid, which is also completely overpriced, but I’m not ruling it out as it would still fit within my budget.
The downside of the Westcott Rapidbox 26” is that I couldn’t mount the Godox AD200 in it so I would need the Rapidbox XL 36” (or equivalent) as this has an S-Type fitting built in but is more expensive.
Radio Trigger
I’ve read so many articles about radio triggers, the pro’s and con’s etc., and the different technologies used, i.e., High-Speed Sync, Hypersync and Hi-sync. To me it sounds as though Hypersync and Hi-sync are potentially better options when it comes to conserving power but are more difficult to get right and I also assume that only Elinchrom make a hi-sync transmitter and that their transmitter only works with their own lights because the receiver is built into their lights in the same way that the Profoto Air TTL-N only works with the Profoto lights?
If I opted for the Godox AD200 then I believe my only option is the Godox X1N transmitter, although I did read on one forum that it would be possible to use a Pocket Wizard with the Godox (but I’m assuming that is not actually the case).
I could obviously use the Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 with the Flex T5 or a pair of Flex T5’s in conjunction with the Nikon SB-700 or any of the other transmitters/receivers/transceivers out there, though again there seem to be pros and cons to each.
Overall there doesn’t appear to be a ‘perfect’ combination, at least in my mind, but I’d be interested to hear from people as to their thoughts and any alternative options/combinations that would provide the best setup and which meet both my criteria and budget. I’m a big believer in you pay for what you get, within reason, and see little point in buying cheap/knock-off gear if I only end up having to replace it a few months down the line. I also realise ‘choice’ is personal and that there will be many differing opinions, but that’s fine.
The kit I’m looking at basically consists of a flash, a softbox/beauty-dish (my personal preference being an umbrella style octabox or similar) and a radio trigger to allow for flexibility when line-of-sight may be an issue.
My criteria are:
- i-TTL and manual control of multiple off-camera flash units directly from the transmitter
- Quick and easy setup
- High-Speed Sync or equivalent
I’ve narrowed this down to either the Nikon SB-700 or the Godox Witstro AD200. I appreciate there is a big power difference between the two, the SB-700 has a guide number of around 28, versus the Godox of 52 and whilst I realise there is no easy method to convert a guide number into watt seconds because they are measuring two different things, my assumption is that that the SB-700 is around the 80w to 100w equivalent (but could be totally wrong). So the Godox appeals because it is more powerful for around the same price.
The Godox AD200 will only work with the Godox X1N transmitter but I’ve read mixed reviews about the reliability of the X1N unit. It also lacks a zoom on the Fresnel head, though unsure how important this is when using a softbox.
Softbox/Beauty dish
The choice of flash potentially influences my choice of softbox/beauty dish. Again, I realise there are a myriad of soft box options available, however, I’m looking for the convenience of a foldable umbrella style octagon (or similar) and the flexibility of adding a beauty dish in the softbox. The Westcott Rapidbox 26”, despite being very overpriced, seems to get rave reviews from everyone and what I particularly like about it is the option to add a beauty dish and a 40 degree grid, which is also completely overpriced, but I’m not ruling it out as it would still fit within my budget.
The downside of the Westcott Rapidbox 26” is that I couldn’t mount the Godox AD200 in it so I would need the Rapidbox XL 36” (or equivalent) as this has an S-Type fitting built in but is more expensive.
Radio Trigger
I’ve read so many articles about radio triggers, the pro’s and con’s etc., and the different technologies used, i.e., High-Speed Sync, Hypersync and Hi-sync. To me it sounds as though Hypersync and Hi-sync are potentially better options when it comes to conserving power but are more difficult to get right and I also assume that only Elinchrom make a hi-sync transmitter and that their transmitter only works with their own lights because the receiver is built into their lights in the same way that the Profoto Air TTL-N only works with the Profoto lights?
If I opted for the Godox AD200 then I believe my only option is the Godox X1N transmitter, although I did read on one forum that it would be possible to use a Pocket Wizard with the Godox (but I’m assuming that is not actually the case).
I could obviously use the Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 with the Flex T5 or a pair of Flex T5’s in conjunction with the Nikon SB-700 or any of the other transmitters/receivers/transceivers out there, though again there seem to be pros and cons to each.
Overall there doesn’t appear to be a ‘perfect’ combination, at least in my mind, but I’d be interested to hear from people as to their thoughts and any alternative options/combinations that would provide the best setup and which meet both my criteria and budget. I’m a big believer in you pay for what you get, within reason, and see little point in buying cheap/knock-off gear if I only end up having to replace it a few months down the line. I also realise ‘choice’ is personal and that there will be many differing opinions, but that’s fine.
