Yongnuo lowering quality?

[Federico Nov]

One year ago I bought two YN 560 IV and 6 months ago a YN 685 and YN 560 TX / YN 622C TX

I did not have any problem with them and I'm thinking to buy other couple of YN 685.

in a South American forum (I'm from Argentina) I recently read quite some users complaining about YN speedlight failing, while Godox Speedlights should have a better built in quality.

I have always known that YN products are decent but still cheap alternatives compared to Nikon/Canon speedlights but I wonder if they have recently lowered down the quality.

 

[kli]

One year ago I bought two YN 560 IV and 6 months ago a YN 685 and YN 560 TX / YN 622C TX

I did not have any problem with them and I'm thinking to buy other couple of YN 685.

in a South American forum (I'm from Argentina) I recently read quite some users complaining about YN speedlight failing, while Godox Speedlights should have a better built in quality.

I have always known that YN products are decent but still cheap alternatives compared to Nikon/Canon speedlights but I wonder if they have recently lowered down the quality.

I doubt it. What's always happened with the cheap Chinese companies, like Yongnuo (and Godox), is that the low-low prices have to come from somewhere. And that somewhere tends to be in QA (quality assurance) procedures to ensure consistency of built and components. Most of the units come out great, but there's a higher chance that the ones that come out not-so-great (or the bits that go in that are not-so-great) don't get caught. Because, let's face it, cheaper components probably also mean suppliers cutting costs on QA the same way.

Yongnuo/Godox are probably no better or worse than they've been in recent years (although very early on, Yongnuo really had terrible QA, as evinced by the Strobist's 2010 review of the YN-560 Mark I--they got a lot better after that). It's just that those who get a lemon are likely to complain about it loudly on line, while those who get a good one are probably too busy going out and shooting with it to bother with posting online on messageboards. And in the end, the companies wouldn't stay in business if they were churning out more bad units than good ones.

Throw in brand-identification/fanboism and if someone, say, has decided to spend the time and money to swap their Yongnuo gear out for Godox gear, then they're more liable to say that Godox gear is simply better than Yongnuo gear to justify their expenditure, rather than better for them.

To me, Godox is a better choice if you're building a lighting system from scratch than Yongnuo not because their build quality/copy consistency is better, but because their manual-only and TTL flashes are integrated into the same radio triggering system. It'd be like being able to trigger and remote power control both your YN-685 and YN-560IVs from a YN-622-TX with HSS on all three, and still have TTL/HSS/power control on the YN-685. You can do that on the Godox side of the fence with an X1T transmitter, a TT685 and TT600s. And they cost roughly the same as the Yongnuo equivalent gear. A TT600 is $70, a TT685 about $120, and the X1T is $50.

And you can add larger-than-speedlight strobes: the barebulb AD200, AD360II, and AD600 which all do HSS/TTL, and the plug-in studio strobes, the QTII series (which does HSS and remote power control), and the QSII and SKII series (which only do remote power control).

And Godox supports Sony and is rolling out support for micro four-thirds and Fuji X. So if you add or switch to mirrorless at some point in the future, you don't have to rebuy your lights to do OCF TTL/HSS. You just get a different X1T transmitter.

If you never plan to leave your dSLR system, and you never plan to use anything but speedlights, then the only difference with Godox is HSS with the manual-only lights. But that's still quite a bit for some folks.

See also: Flash Havoc overview of the Godox system.

 

[Federico Nov]

One year ago I bought two YN 560 IV and 6 months ago a YN 685 and YN 560 TX / YN 622C TX

I did not have any problem with them and I'm thinking to buy other couple of YN 685.

in a South American forum (I'm from Argentina) I recently read quite some users complaining about YN speedlight failing, while Godox Speedlights should have a better built in quality.

I have always known that YN products are decent but still cheap alternatives compared to Nikon/Canon speedlights but I wonder if they have recently lowered down the quality.

I doubt it. What's always happened with the cheap Chinese companies, like Yongnuo (and Godox), is that the low-low prices have to come from somewhere. And that somewhere tends to be in QA (quality assurance) procedures to ensure consistency of built and components. Most of the units come out great, but there's a higher chance that the ones that come out not-so-great (or the bits that go in that are not-so-great) don't get caught. Because, let's face it, cheaper components probably also mean suppliers cutting costs on QA the same way.

Yongnuo/Godox are probably no better or worse than they've been in recent years (although very early on, Yongnuo really had terrible QA, as evinced by the Strobist's 2010 review of the YN-560 Mark I--they got a lot better after that). It's just that those who get a lemon are likely to complain about it loudly on line, while those who get a good one are probably too busy going out and shooting with it to bother with posting online on messageboards. And in the end, the companies wouldn't stay in business if they were churning out more bad units than good ones.

Throw in brand-identification/fanboism and if someone, say, has decided to spend the time and money to swap their Yongnuo gear out for Godox gear, then they're more liable to say that Godox gear is simply better than Yongnuo gear to justify their expenditure, rather than better for them.

To me, Godox is a better choice if you're building a lighting system from scratch than Yongnuo not because their build quality/copy consistency is better, but because their manual-only and TTL flashes are integrated into the same radio triggering system. It'd be like being able to trigger and remote power control both your YN-685 and YN-560IVs from a YN-622-TX with HSS on all three, and still have TTL/HSS/power control on the YN-685. You can do that on the Godox side of the fence with an X1T transmitter, a TT685 and TT600s. And they cost roughly the same as the Yongnuo equivalent gear. A TT600 is $70, a TT685 about $120, and the X1T is $50.

And you can add larger-than-speedlight strobes: the barebulb AD200, AD360II, and AD600 which all do HSS/TTL, and the plug-in studio strobes, the QTII series (which does HSS and remote power control), and the QSII and SKII series (which only do remote power control).

And Godox supports Sony and is rolling out support for micro four-thirds and Fuji X. So if you add or switch to mirrorless at some point in the future, you don't have to rebuy your lights to do OCF TTL/HSS. You just get a different X1T transmitter.

If you never plan to leave your dSLR system, and you never plan to use anything but speedlights, then the only difference with Godox is HSS with the manual-only lights. But that's still quite a bit for some folks.

See also: Flash Havoc overview of the Godox system.

Wow!!! Thank you very much for your great reply.

I'm actually using the above 3 YN speedlights and a Godox 300W strobes. I mix them up using the strobe in slave mode / Manual mode. I use 685 in TTL only during events.

I'm waiting for another Godox 300W shipped from China and planning to buy another YN685. With two HSS Speedlights I'll try some HSS in studio. Something simple to start with.

These kind of products are really perfect for me right now. I'm able to practice with multiple light sources in my home (small) studio, increase my skills and avoid bankrupt.

I use strobe as main light (at minimum setting) and YN as fill/rim (from 1/8 to 1/64 generally). I get f/8 with that and I can avoid to work in 1/1 that is not really good for their durability.

The quality of light is really OK for me. I' really don't feel the need of anything better then that. My skills need to be improved instead.

Anyway If I could have know this Godox compatibility, I would have probably buy Godox.

Thank you

 

[kli]

... I'm actually using the above 3 YN speedlights and a Godox 300W strobes. I mix them up using the strobe in slave mode / Manual mode. I use 685 in TTL only during events.

I'm waiting for another Godox 300W shipped from China and planning to buy another YN685. With two HSS Speedlights I'll try some HSS in studio. Something simple to start with.

The main problem is that your 300Ws strobes probably can't do HSS along with the speedlights.

The Godox SKII series 300W strobe has an X receiver built-in. But it cannot do HSS (for that the cheapest option is probably the QT400II), just remote power control. The Godox TT685 is only a little more expensive than the YN-685, has an X-receiver built in, and does HSS/TTL on-camera and off.

The difference is if you add TT600s (which are the Godox equivalent of the YN-560IV/-660) is that you'll have HSS on them as well, not just the YN-685s. And if you're using a 622 trigger on the Godox 300W strobes, if you were using the X1T transmitter, you'd have remote power control over them as well as the speedlights.

It may be worth considering replacing the Yongnuo gear with Godox, rather than getting deeper into the Yongnuo system. The speedlights on the Godox side cost roughly the same or only a bit more than their Yongnuo counterparts.

In the meantime, you could use optical slaves and just set the power manually on the flashes to use a mix of the gear.

Anyway If I could have know this Godox compatibility, I would have probably buy Godox.

That's how a lot of us long-time Yongnuo owners feel.

 

[Federico Nov]

... I'm actually using the above 3 YN speedlights and a Godox 300W strobes. I mix them up using the strobe in slave mode / Manual mode. I use 685 in TTL only during events.

I'm waiting for another Godox 300W shipped from China and planning to buy another YN685. With two HSS Speedlights I'll try some HSS in studio. Something simple to start with.

The main problem is that your 300Ws strobes probably can't do HSS along with the speedlights.

The Godox SKII series 300W strobe has an X receiver built-in. But it cannot do HSS (for that the cheapest option is probably the QT400II), just remote power control. The Godox TT685 is only a little more expensive than the YN-685, has an X-receiver built in, and does HSS/TTL on-camera and off.

The difference is if you add TT600s (which are the Godox equivalent of the YN-560IV/-660) is that you'll have HSS on them as well, not just the YN-685s. And if you're using a 622 trigger on the Godox 300W strobes, if you were using the X1T transmitter, you'd have remote power control over them as well as the speedlights.

It may be worth considering replacing the Yongnuo gear with Godox, rather than getting deeper into the Yongnuo system. The speedlights on the Godox side cost roughly the same or only a bit more than their Yongnuo counterparts.

In the meantime, you could use optical slaves and just set the power manually on the flashes to use a mix of the gear.

Anyway If I could have know this Godox compatibility, I would have probably buy Godox.

That's how a lot of us long-time Yongnuo owners feel.

mmm really interesting... It's a bit tricky...

I have this very basic strobe: Godox with no receiver nor HSS. I use it in optic slave mode, up to SS 1/200

I have YN 560 TX and YN622N TX.

YN 685 doen't have optic slave function but I can control it with YN560 TX or YN622 TX.

It looks like Godox TT685 has both radio and optic capability. But will it HSS sync as otpic slave?

If it does, I can use is it straight away in combo with YN685 / YN622tx for some HSS practise.

If its doesn't I'll have to use it as optic slave up to SS 1/200 and wait later on when I'll have an X1T transmitter

If YN685 will be still alive (I doubt it because it has already a kind of smoky smell near the diffusor) I'll mount it on a X1T receiver for HSS action.

Am I right kli?

 

[kli]

It looks like Godox TT685 has both radio and optic capability. But will it HSS sync as otpic slave?

Only if you're using CLS. It can be a CLS slave. But its S1/S2 modes are manual-only and can't do HSS, just like on your YN-560s. If you put a 622N on its foot, it should give you TTL/HSS, but 3rd party flash+different 3rd party trigger may not be 100% compatible. (i.e., using an X1R-N on the foot of a YN-685 might also have problems). Google around to see if someone's used either combo successfullt, maybe?

If its doesn't I'll have to use it as optic slave up to SS 1/200 and wait later on when I'll have an X1T transmitter

Yes.

If YN685 will be still alive (I doubt it because it has already a kind of smoky smell near the diffusor) I'll mount it on a X1T receiver for HSS action.

Am I right, kli?

Yes. But. If you don't care about TTL or using CLS, and you just want HSS, the TT600 will also work the same way (S1/S2, HSS with an X1T) and be less expensive. You'd only need an RF603II/RF-605 to fire it from your YN conttollers--no power control, though.

Mixing gear from different triggering systems gets tough.

 

[Federico Nov]

It looks like Godox TT685 has both radio and optic capability. But will it HSS sync as otpic slave?

Only if you're using CLS. It can be a CLS slave. But its S1/S2 modes are manual-only and can't do HSS, just like on your YN-560s. If you put a 622N on its foot, it should give you TTL/HSS, but 3rd party flash+different 3rd party trigger may not be 100% compatible. (i.e., using an X1R-N on the foot of a YN-685 might also have problems). Google around to see if someone's used either combo successfullt, maybe?

If its doesn't I'll have to use it as optic slave up to SS 1/200 and wait later on when I'll have an X1T transmitter

Yes.

If YN685 will be still alive (I doubt it because it has already a kind of smoky smell near the diffusor) I'll mount it on a X1T receiver for HSS action.

Am I right, kli?

Yes. But. If you don't care about TTL or using CLS, and you just want HSS, the TT600 will also work the same way (S1/S2, HSS with an X1T) and be less expensive. You'd only need an RF603II/RF-605 to fire it from your YN conttollers--no power control, though.

Mixing gear from different triggering systems gets tough.

Thanks a lot! Now everything is crystal clear

 

[FF Pro]

I have four Yongnuo speed lights. What you describe is oerfextly within the norm. I have had one of my four go full on power every shot. Full pier no matter what. Known issue. You get what you pay for and you are paying very little.

 

[Federico Nov]

I have four Yongnuo speed lights. What you describe is oerfextly within the norm. I have had one of my four go full on power every shot. Full pier no matter what. Known issue. You get what you pay for and you are paying very little.

 

[FF Pro]

I have four Yongnuo speed lights. What you describe is oerfextly within the norm. I have had one of my four go full on power every shot. Full pier no matter what. Known issue. You get what you pay for and you are paying very little.

 

[Federico Nov]

I have four Yongnuo speed lights. What you describe is oerfextly within the norm. I have had one of my four go full on power every shot. Full pier no matter what. Known issue. You get what you pay for and you are paying very little.