Hi
I'm looking for an affordable speedlite for my 80D. I found these two:
Yongnuo YN685
and
Godox TT685C Thinklite
there is noticeable price gap between these two here in local stores!
This is interesting. Most of the only prices show only a $5-$10 gap between new copies of the YN-685 and the TT685C. Are you sure you're not looking at a YN-586EX or a used YN-685? The YN-568EX does not have any built-in radio triggering capability.
I want to know is there any huge differences between these models? is one of em any better than other?
The main difference is which radio triggering system the flash uses.
The Yongnuo YN685 is in Yongnuo's YN622 triggering system, while the TT685C is in Godox's X triggering system. The Yongnuo 622 system is great, but is limited to other TTL/HSS 622 gear; for example, you cannot just add a YN-560IV to your wireless flashes without turning off all TTL/HSS/remote power control capabilities in the YN-685. And if you switch to a different brand of camera, then the TTL/HSS features won't work. And Yongnuo only really makes speedlights in terms of strobes.
The
Godox X system integrates it's manual-only and TTL lights so they work together with full function. And the system can support TTL/HSS for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, and µ4/3 with the same lights as radio slaves: you just have to have an on-camera transmitter that matches the brand of the camera; so you could share the same speedlight off-camera between a Canon and a Nikon body even in the same shoot. And they make an entire range of strobes from speedlights to bare bulb flashes to studio strobes. So, for future expansion, Godox is far better.
But. The YN-622 system is slightly better feature-wise for Canon shooters: you get zoom control by group and remote wake-up. Godox doesn't do wake-up, and you only get zoom control by group with an XPro transmitter and the TTL speedlights. OTOH, with Godox, you can add a $65 TT600 manual-only slave and get HSS.
The YN-685 can only be a radio slave; the TT685 can be both radio slave and master.
The YN-685 has no optical slave capabilities; the TT685 has both "smart" (wireless eTTL: the same system your 80D's pop-up flash can communicate) master/slave, and "dumb" (S1/S2) optical slave modes.
The YN-685 has no li-on version; Yongnuo is only making them for their RT and 560/60x systems. Godox makes Li-on versions of both the TT600 and TT685 (V850II and V860II, respectively). Li-on packs increase the battery life by a factor of 3, and can speed up full-power recycle by 0.2-0.3 seconds.
Also, small consideration, but the YN-685 is bigger and bulkier than a TT685C.
You might want to think of the TT685C as more of an analog to Yongnuo's YN-600EX-RT II or Jinbei's Caler 600EX-RT, only without using the Canon RT system.
