Godox V860IIs or TT350s

[WhiteVsBlack]

Maybe question will be stupi, but:

V860II - GN60/ISO100-200mm

TT350 - GN36/ISO100-105mm

I want to know GN=?, V860II/ISO100-105mm

If the difference will be small I don't see the point to buy more expensive 860II

Don't know how to calculate it.

Or maybe other propositions for sony A7II? TTL+HSS is a must have.

 

[kli]

Maybe question will be stupi, but:

V860II - GN60/ISO100-200mm

TT350 - GN36/ISO100-105mm

You're misreading a bit.

The guide number is given as a distance; so whether it's in feet or meters matters. And that distance is for the flash at a given combination of zoom setting and ISO setting when used at full power. If you take the guide number and divide it by the f-number of the aperture setting you're using, that's how far away a subject can be and still be properly illuminated by the flash.

Given that they're going with lowest iso, highest zoom, and highest power setting, this is the absolute limit of what your flash can do.

So, the numbers are:

V860II - GN 60m @ISO 100, zoom 200mm.

TT350 - GN 36m @ISO 100, zoom 105mm.

More realistically, it's probably going to be about half to two thirds that number in use, because you won't be zoomed in all the time. Zoom on a flash is basically how far forward/back the flash tube in the head is in order to control the spread of light. Zooming all the way in puts the tube all the way back to give the tightest, most focused beam possible, which looks the most powerful, so a lot of manufactures put the GN spec in that arena. In reality, at 35mm zoom, that V860II's guide number will probably be between 35-40 meters.

So, yes. This is a BIG difference.

The V860II is a full-sized speedlight, that runs off a Li-Ion battery pack with the capacity of roughly 3 sets of 4xAAs in it. The TT350 is a mini-flash for mirrorless that runs off 2xAA batteries. The V860II not only can pump out a lot more light per flash, but can do up to 600+ full power bursts off one pack before needing a new one, while the TT350 can only do about 200+ full power bursts before needing a new set of batteries. It's much less powerful.

And power with a flash is like max. aperture with a lens: the more you have, the more you can do.

Or maybe other propositions for sony A7II? TTL+HSS is a must have.

Question is whether you plan to use the flash on-camera or off-camera and whether you just need it for fill or as your main source of illumination. On-camera, a big full-sized flash is likely to be unwieldy and top-heavy. A smaller unit is likely to balance better.

The other TTL/HSS main contender for Sony mirrorless would probably be the Nissin i60.

 

[lehill]

Maybe question will be stupi, but:

V860II - GN60/ISO100-200mm

TT350 - GN36/ISO100-105mm

I want to know GN=?, V860II/ISO100-105mm

If the difference will be small I don't see the point to buy more expensive 860II

Don't know how to calculate it.

Or maybe other propositions for sony A7II? TTL+HSS is a must have.

Normally, there's a table way in the back of the flash owner's manual that gives GN vs zoom head position. This table should be used for authoritative guide numbers. I see that Godox doesn't include this table for either flash.

I used the table for my Sony flash (confirmed with a Canon flash table) and found GN varies approximately by the square root of zoom head position except at the widest zoom (when you use that flip-out screen). So:

GN(105mm, ISO100, V860II) ≈ 60m x (105/200)^0.5 = 43m +/-10%

If you'd like to confirm this approximate relationship, try downloading some Canon or Sony flash manuals.

Godox rates the V860II for 650 full-power flashes on a full charge, the TT350 for 210 full-power flashes. So you're buying a some more power & lot more flashes for your money.

--
Lance H

 

[WhiteVsBlack]

Thanks for your replies they are very helpful
I was digging about different flahes and i found manual for METZ 64 AF-1. It has almost the same zoom coverage as the V860II. At the end of that manual I found tables about ISO/Zoom/GN data.
Metz have got GN=64/ISO100,200mm, but more or less, now i have a clue how it looks like.


ISO/Zoom/GN


Zoom/GN in HSS mode

The guide number is given as a distance; so whether it's in feet or meters matters. And that distance is for the flash at a given combination of zoom setting and ISO setting when used at full power. If you take the guide number and divide it by the f-number of the aperture setting you're using, that's how far away a subject can be and still be properly illuminated by the flash.

I know that that was obvious for me, GN=flash range at full power, or how else we can call it

 

[Asanoth]

Hello,
I have been choosing between these two models as well, as my first speedlight.
I think I will ve mostly using it for nature photo, freezing birds motion, possibly even stroboscopically (multiple flashes per frame), maybe some dark plant details, possibly macro (only have Marumi Achromat 3, not a dedicated lens): this all is at telephoto range, mostly 400 mm f/6,3. I am also considering its use for night nature photography, but am still reading on it in order to do it right if at all (please, lets not discuss it here).
Money is issue, but I am willing to pay 200 EUR now, than 100 now and 200 in a year having found the flash is not sufficient.

At 400 mm (or anywhere above 200 mm), V860 reaches 10 m at given aperture at Iso 100, whilst TT350 reaches only 5,7 m. But I can bump ISO up, right? At iso 400, it is 19 vs 11,4 m and at iso 1600 35 vs 23 m. On D600 I am comfortable all the way to ISO 2500 in low light (43,5 vs 28,5 m). The question is, will my subject ever be possibly 25 meters away? Or even 10 meters? I live in central Europe, where I would not shoot elephants at night or such . This would mean TT350 would be enough, sacrificing faster recycle rate (by quite a lot, as V860 would be used on ~half power than 350). But maybe my assumptions are wrong. Maybe one simply does not take a flash photography at an ISO2500

I also did some reading on Strobist, inevitably leading to urgent need of a stand, umbrella and X2T . This, however, can easily come to another 100 EUR, and this comes to a price I am not comfortable with, but it is still better than 200 + 200 later. They recommend a GN60 flash, not GN36.
I am though mostly occasional travel and outdoor photographer, if a photographer at all, maybe more so a traveller and nature enthusiast with a camera. This leads to a main reason why I am inclined to a 350 - size and weight. My gear is already heavy as it is, 5ish kg 2 lens and 1 body plus their bags, spare batteries and some cleaning: quite a lot of kg for travelling (simple solution would be to go back to APS-C, but, you know ). I would also consider a V350, but it is hard to pick over V860 at nearly the same price.

Based on what I wrote... Could you recommend a speedlight model? Does not need to be a Godox, but I did not find any viable alternative.

Thank you.