Loving my EF-X8 Fujifilm Flash

I have been playing with the EF-X8 Fujifilm Flash that came with my X-T2's and loving it. What a great little flash when you need to kick in some TTL light or main light when in a small shooting space. Surprisingly powerful when shooting wide open and very cool in terms of THAT RAW flash look.

Ben


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Hi Ben,

The EFX8 gets a bit of criticism here for it's simplicity and lack of power, but I find it handy for informal social occasions, a bit of daylight fill, and sometimes for close focusing (semi-macro) work. It's the flash you take when you're not taking a flash. My only lament is that it can't be used on an off-camera cable of any kind - no-one makes one with the extra power pin.

For the macro, it's handy that you can make it sit (unstably) in a halfway tilted down position to shine directly on critters when shooting up close with the 60mm lens. Eg image below.

Cheers, Rod


Huntsman Spider at 1:1 - XT1, 60/2.4, 26mm extension, EF-X8 flash

And it's free too. A lot of people did not warm up to the idea of having detached flash but many grew to appreciate it's intelligent TTL algorithm and usefulness in certain situation.

Hi! I know my reply is more than 7 years late, but @Rod McD , are you still using your EF-X8 particularly for Macro photography? I'm contemplating on selling my EF-X8 copy but I just got the XF 30/2.8 macro and thinking if I should just keep it for macro purposes. Hoping to get your immediate reply soon. Thank you.

I've used mine for close ups. I've not used the 30mm macro but the little flash works OK until you get so close that the lens shadow appears - may not happen with a smaller lens.

It has limited output but as you can easily use 800 ISO or more that doesn't really matter.

a_c_skinner said:

I've used mine for close ups. I've not used the 30mm macro but the little flash works OK until you get so close that the lens shadow appears - may not happen with a smaller lens.

It has limited output but as you can easily use 800 ISO or more that doesn't really matter.

Click to expand...

I don't really use flash for much but I do have an old EF-X8 - and a XF30/2.4 macro - so I gave it a try on my (flashless!) X-E5 just to test for shadow as the X-E5 hotshoe is of course even lower than the SLR-style X-T models. There is no shadow even at minimum focus distance, although I wouldn't use it on its own without some sort of light modifier, but that's just me.

a_c_skinner said:

I've used mine for close ups. I've not used the 30mm macro but the little flash works OK until you get so close that the lens shadow appears - may not happen with a smaller lens.

It has limited output but as you can easily use 800 ISO or more that doesn't really matter.

Click to expand...

Why thank you very much for the tip @a_c_skinner !

John Bean (UK) said:

a_c_skinner said:

I've used mine for close ups. I've not used the 30mm macro but the little flash works OK until you get so close that the lens shadow appears - may not happen with a smaller lens.

It has limited output but as you can easily use 800 ISO or more that doesn't really matter.

Click to expand...

I don't really use flash for much but I do have an old EF-X8 - and a XF30/2.4 macro - so I gave it a try on my (flashless!) X-E5 just to test for shadow as the X-E5 hotshoe is of course even lower than the SLR-style X-T models. There is no shadow even at minimum focus distance, although I wouldn't use it on its own without some sort of light modifier, but that's just me.

Click to expand...

Hi @John Bean (UK) . I may have gotten the answer that I needed. Yep, our camera's the same (X-E5). I was deciding to rid of the EF-X8 to purchase a Godox iT22 to replace (and possibly the Godox TRF riser to enable bounce flash capability with the iT22 connected to it -- ).

BUT since you mentioned that it casts no shadow at MFD, then I may just learn to be content with the EF-X8 since I rarely use flash (opting mostly for natural light or light sources). I'm also not too much into macro photography but I do shoot lots of food close-ups and I think the versatility of the XF 30/2.8 as both a macro and a walker lens would be advantageous especially using it as a near 50mm FF eq. FL lens (I felt bored with the XF 35/2.0 and sold it).

Maybe, if you have the time, could you upload an image taken with your XF30/2.8 and the EF-X8 firing for me to see that a shadow wasn't cast on the subject at MFD? Thanks again.

It doesn't need a photo, he knows what he is talking about and when it happens easy to see.

--
Andrew Skinner

a_c_skinner said:

It doesn't need a photo, he knows what he is talking about and when it happens easy to see.

Click to expand...

Oh I'm sure. It's not that I don't trust him. Sometimes though it benefits the inexperienced to see what others are describing about. That's all. Thank you.

Fathom said:

I was deciding to rid of the EF-X8 to purchase a Godox iT22 to replace (and possibly the Godox TRF riser to enable bounce flash capability with the iT22 connected to it

Click to expand...

It wouldn't be surprising if the EF-X8 is fully compatible with the TRFi riser. After all, they're both Fuji TTL. You may not need a new flash, just the riser.

Antone said:

Fathom said:

I was deciding to rid of the EF-X8 to purchase a Godox iT22 to replace (and possibly the Godox TRF riser to enable bounce flash capability with the iT22 connected to it

Click to expand...

It wouldn't be surprising if the EF-X8 is fully compatible with the TRFi riser. After all, they're both Fuji TTL. You may not need a new flash, just the riser.

Click to expand...

Hi Antone,

Now that's a great idea. I hope someone could do a test on that. If that's the case, I'll just get the riser. Still, would it affect the EF-X8's power as it draws power from the camera battery if there's a Godox TRF riser underneath it?

Fathom said:

Antone said:

Fathom said:

I was deciding to rid of the EF-X8 to purchase a Godox iT22 to replace (and possibly the Godox TRF riser to enable bounce flash capability with the iT22 connected to it

Click to expand...

It wouldn't be surprising if the EF-X8 is fully compatible with the TRFi riser. After all, they're both Fuji TTL. You may not need a new flash, just the riser.

Click to expand...

Hi Antone,

Now that's a great idea. I hope someone could do a test on that. If that's the case, I'll just get the riser. Still, would it affect the EF-X8's power as it draws power from the camera battery if there's a Godox TRF riser underneath it?

Click to expand...

I just tested this, and it didn't work on my X-T5. After removing the riser and attaching the flash directly to the hot shoe, the flash worked.