HSS photography with X-T2

Hi,

can you suggest me a few possible products/solutions to do HSS photography with the Fuji X-T2? Here are my requirements:

- I am no pro, it not absolutely looking for top-notch flash gear

- Will mostly use it for outdoor photography to "enhance" the ambient light

- Simple, very simple to setup and use

- Possibly lightweight and not cumbersome

- Ideally the system can be reused with other camera (I have Nikon)

Thank you in advance for your comments

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/149089857@N03/

Godox TT350F and VS350F - small speedlites with HSS

Godox TT685F and VS860iiF - better for heavy duty HSS

Godox X1TF of XProF and AD600 - HSS commander unit with off camera studio flash


Getting one of the commander units let's you use any of the other camera brand speedlites by Godox. I think you can somewhat use a speedlite as a dumb fire commander in manual mode with other camera brand speedlites and flashes, too.

[No message]

As Gavin said - Godox is your goto - for Fuji and Nikon use

Use the pro commander for your camera manufacturer to drive the other flash units wirelessly

Full HSS and TTL on Fuji X-T2 - very reasonably priced, and a fully integrated system, so you can add units as you like to grow from a small start.

Buy from a credited reseller for 2 yr warranty - Adorama in the US for example.

I have shot with the small stuff - like the TT350F, as well as the large stuff like the AD600 units.

Both ends of the Godox spectrum, both worked well with the Fuji.

The TT350F is ok really close in, but is underpowered for any serious outdoor work

Here it is providing HSS TTL fill on the GFX (same as the X-T2)

• Fujifilm GFX 50S GF110mmF2 R LM WR
• ƒ/2.0

• 110.0 mm

• 1/140

• ISO100

Larger speed light models with better guide numbers will give you more power/range and the same functionality. I don't own any but the TT685F would be the model to look at.

Note that you buy a specific hotshoe style for your camera, so to use the speed lights on various models, you'd need to buy a Nikon and a Fuji Version, or buy a Nikon and Fuji wireless Godox trigger, and trigger the one speed light model from there, giving you cross compatibility.

The triggers are the Godox XPro-F and Godox XPro-N - about $70 ea.

Godox also make a speed light with no hot shoe (for want of a better description) the Godox AD200. A stand mount speed light you can trigger wirelessly and fit with a range of accessory light modifiers. More powerful than speed light, less powerful than a strobe head. Priced accordingly.

The larger battery powered strobes like the AD600 are excellent - 600W, with the same wireless TTL and HSS capabilities. They can take a huge range of modifiers to allow you to grow the system. They are fully controllable from the Godox XPro-F.

Here with a mid sized Godox Octa on location, using the cheap remote head to allow me to keep the heavy strobe unit separate, low down on the stand to add stability:



Providing a result with the GFX like this:

• Fujifilm GFX 50S GF110mmF2 R LM WR
• ƒ/2.0

• 110.0 mm

• 1/1500

• ISO100

Again running TTL and HSS, same as it would with the X-T2.

You can scale up further by combining multiple AD600 units into a 1200W remote head, giving 1200W of TTL HSS power for studio or location, all at a very reasonable price.

Here driving an Elinchrom Litemotiv 190 deep octa with mount adapter:



Producing amazing controllable light for portrait work:



The point being you can start at $80, and go up from there, all with the same wireless and TTL/HSS integration.

Awesome system - it's replaced all my other flash units in the last year.

Hope that helps?

System components below:



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Your time is limited, so don't waste it arguing about camera features - go out and capture memories

Ooops - sorry, pressed the button too soon. Yes, I agree here with the Godox 350F. I just bought it new on fleabay a week or so ago. Here in Australia it only cost me just over $100. That is very cheap, because here camera and electronic gear always costs us a premium. I have tried this a few times on my Fuji X-T2's and it works fantastic. I just go into my camera settings and underexpose the flash (not the camera), by 1 third or 2 thirds of a stop (depending on the lighting), and it does the rest perfectly. The other Godox flashes would be too big for what I do. It just stays on top of my camera that hangs around my neck with the 16-55. Even this setup is not too heavy. I only ever shoot people and street, so my flash is there now and I can turn it off and on at a whim. This really has answered all of my flash problems that I have had since I sold my Nikon D700 years ago (had a built in flash). I highly recommend this little flash. I keep it on HSS and it syncs with my camera right up to 1/8000 - marvellous stuff!! All of the images are well balanced and you can't even tell that flash has been used!

Sutto

philipsuttonphotography.com

Thank you Chris, I appreciate.

Thanks Gavin.

Like you I am not an expert in flash photography and I just started playing around with some of this HSS stuff. FYI Cactus is also available and I think is a pretty good product as well. Your choices are Godox and Cactus. My friend has some Godox stuff but I simply chose Cactus because they are easier to get a hold of and they respond back when you email them. Godox never responded my emails and that's why I chose Cactus. That was a personal choice.

For ref - you buy your Godox through a recognized distributor, like Adorama, and get your 2 yr warranty and full local tech support via them.

Godox is the manufacturer based out of China - they have no end-user customer support model - that's why you go via the distributors.

Batdude said:

... Your choices are Godox and Cactus.

Click to expand...

Cactus V6II. The Cactus V2 and V5 are manual-only triggering systems.

... and Jinbei/Orlit RT.

... and if the Air 10s ever arrives, Nissin.

But if you're on a budget, Godox is the lowest-cost with the widest array of gear options, and is most likely what you're going to settle on.

Cactus is the stronger choice if you have a lot of legacy TTL speedlights that you don't want to sell and is your only choice if you shoot Pentax for TTL off-camera flash. But they've only just added a single bare bulb flash option, and have no studio strobes in their system.

Godox has the AD600 and AD600 Pro, as well as all the corded monolights in the QTII, QSII, DPII, SKII, and GSII series in their triggering system, and both the AD200 and AD360II bare bulb flashes. Not to mention speedlights (in both AA and li-on versions) you can also use in TTL/HSS on camera. Cactus's RF60 and RF60X are single-pin flashes, so are only TTL/HSS as radio slaves. On the camera hotshoe, they're manual-only.

Batdude said:

... Godox never responded my emails and that's why I chose Cactus. That was a personal choice.

Click to expand...

Of course, some of us went with Flashpoint rebranded Godox gear from Adorama and have no problem getting responses from Adorama's Godox support folks ([email protected]). Just saying.

kli said:

Batdude said:

... Your choices are Godox and Cactus.

Click to expand...

Cactus V6II. The Cactus V2 and V5 are manual-only triggering systems.

... and Jinbei/Orlit RT.

... and if the Air 10s ever arrives, Nissin.

But if you're on a budget, Godox is the lowest-cost with the widest array of gear options, and is most likely what you're going to settle on.

Cactus is the stronger choice if you have a lot of legacy TTL speedlights that you don't want to sell and is your only choice if you shoot Pentax for TTL off-camera flash. But they've only just added a single bare bulb flash option, and have no studio strobes in their system.

Godox has the AD600 and AD600 Pro, as well as all the corded monolights in the QTII, QSII, DPII, SKII, and GSII series in their triggering system, and both the AD200 and AD360II bare bulb flashes. Not to mention speedlights (in both AA and li-on versions) you can also use in TTL/HSS on camera. Cactus's RF60 and RF60X are single-pin flashes, so are only TTL/HSS as radio slaves. On the camera hotshoe, they're manual-only.

kli said:

... Godox never responded my emails and that's why I chose Cactus. That was a personal choice.

Click to expand...

Of course, some of us went with Flashpoint rebranded Godox gear from Adorama and have no problem getting responses from Adorama's Godox support folks ([email protected]). Just saying.

Click to expand...

Interesting information and I had no idea Adorama was responsible for supporting the customer (me) for any flash/setup questions and if I would have known that maybe I would have made a different choice. Oh well, but thanks for the input.

Godox 560 seems to be a good choice

Will work on any camera with a dedicated trigger

baobob said:

Godox 560 seems to be a good choice

Will work on any camera with a dedicated trigger

Click to expand...

Wouldn't recommend the TT560. Not only is it manual-only, it has no radio trigger built-in. It's an older model that isn't part of the newer 2.4 GHz X system. Also, without an LCD display on the back, it's probably as much of a PITA to figure out what the manual power setting is as it was on the YN-560 Mark I. It also uses +/- buttons, rather than a control dial, which can be something of a pain.

Not all Godox gear is in the Godox X system. Only the following lights are:

• TT350 / V350
• TT600 / V850II
• TT685 / V860II
• AD200
• AD360II
• AD600/AD600M, AD600 Pro
• Mark II AC-powered monolights (QTII, QSII, GSII, DPII, SKII so far)

If you must have a super-cheap ($65) manual-only single-pin flash, the TT600 is a much better purchase, since it has the X radio transceiver built-in, and can do remote power control and HSS as a radio slave for any of the five supported camera systems (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, and MFT).

The convenience of a built-in trigger must, of course, be weighed against the fact that it only works in one system. But you never have to remember to bring the trigger (and batteries for it) along with you, it remove a step in the set-up processing (attaching the trigger) and makes for an inherently simpler and more stable setup (by not needing to be sandwiched between the stand and flash or cabled to the flash). If you also add the cost of a trigger to the cost of the TT560, then the TT600 is also cheaper.

I would recommend the Godox AD200 and X1 trigger.

For HSS you want plenty of power. Especially if you want to add a diffuser as well. A single AD200 is about 4 or 5 times the power of a speedlight flash. And you could always combine two AD200s into one unit with the AD head.

Getting the lighting off camera dramatically improves the look you'll get. A simple stand with perhaps a sandbag to stop it blowing over in the wind isn't that hard or complicated to use.

This was my first ever session with such a setup and it worked first time out of the box with no fussing around or dramas...













With mirrorless you can get the background exposure to where you want it before you even take the first photo. Then the strobe unit lights your subject to whatever level you want. It will open up a new world of creativity to your photography.

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kiwi2 said:

I would recommend the Godox AD200 and X1 trigger....

Click to expand...

XPro-F is nicer than the X1 transmitter. Plus you'd get TCM.

kli said:

kiwi2 said:

I would recommend the Godox AD200 and X1 trigger....

Click to expand...

XPro-F is nicer than the X1 transmitter. Plus you'd get TCM.

Click to expand...

True. But as the OP would like to be able to use the lighting equipment with their Nikon as well, they may like to keep costs down by going for the cheaper units.

OP, just get the X1 (or XPro) remote for Nikon and you'll able to use the complete lighting setup with your Nikon camera as well.

You also have excellent support for your Cactus products both from cactus-image.com and the U.S. distributor at omegabrandess.com. Both companies also respond promptly via their Facebook pages:

https://www.facebook.com/Cactus.Image/

https://www.facebook.com/Cactus-USA-1785839954800995/

Gavin Stapleton said:

Godox TT350F and VS350F - small speedlites with HSS

Godox TT685F and VS860iiF - better for heavy duty HSS

Godox X1TF of XProF and AD600 - HSS commander unit with off camera studio flash

http://www.godox.com/EN/Products.html

Getting one of the commander units let's you use any of the other camera brand speedlites by Godox. I think you can somewhat use a speedlite as a dumb fire commander in manual mode with other camera brand speedlites and flashes, too.

Click to expand...

+1 for Godox. Make sure you get the Xpro instead of X1T, its much better.