I've been in to photography for about 15 years, and only ever used OCF a few times. Too lazy, I think. But my daughter, who has been appropriating my gear and has picked up some paid gigs [unlike me, ever], wants to do a bit more. She'd be shooting portraits of mostly high school kids and younger. No babies. She'd potentially also want to do sports team photos with 10 - 20 people. I realize one strobe doesn't solve for that, but maybe that potential need would drive a different initial purchase decision?
Seems like the Godox SK400II is a good place to start. Less than $300 for the basic set up, with extras [beauty dish, soft box, transmitter, etc.].
Any thoughts on that or other suggestions? I/we don't really want to spend more than $300 all-in to start, recognizing that the plans of teenagers can change rapidly.
I have two SK300's and 4 MS300's. I would expect SK400 that you are considering to be about the same as the SK300's that I have. I prefer the SK300 a tiny bit over the MS300's that I have, because they seem to be built a little bit better. They are a couple of inches longer but about the same diameter. This size difference hasn't been important in my studio use. They have all worked very well and about the same regardless of model. I just prefer the SK300 a little bit more because they just feel like they seem to be better made.
I have 2 X Pro transmitters and one X2Tc to trigger and control my lights (X2tc usually used in the field with speedlites). In my small 18 X 26 X 8' high studio , I haven't ever felt that I needed more than 300 watt/second lighting, except when using a spotlight type lens. They are usually running at about 1/4 power into 24 and 32" softboxes. The focusing spotlight lens addition for a monolight that I bought seemed to really reduce the light output and a 300 watt/second monolight at full output just wasn't enough. I ended up buying a DP1000III to drive this lens (I think I may have over bought), but it sure puts out plenty of light when needed. I use it mostly to simulate a stage spotlight on my model or to project patterns on the backdrop, and it does both of these very well with power to spare. It has only rarely been set higher than 1/2 power. The DP1000III is made much like the SK series monolights, but much larger.
Just make sure the kit has stuff you think is really what she wants. When I look at kits, I often find the stand is too flimsy or the footprint too narrow, the softbox is too small, and the trigger may or may not be what I really want. If you like glow modifiers (they seem good to me and reasonably priced), check out the equivelent flashpoint light from adorama. I think you get a replacement warranty of some kind you might not get with godox, but I don't know the details.
I am now totally converted to Godox lighting, both for my studio and field lighting. The Godox X communication system is great and has never let me down in 2 years of use. Their operating frequencies are within the WIFI band, making the Godox X Communication system less likely to have RF interference than my older flash control equipment.
The X2T Godox transmitters will handle up to 5 groups of lights and it is TTL capable. It's a little smaller than an X Pro transmitter and has a much lower profile. I found the X1T to not be very user friendly because the control locations made it difficult to adjust with the left hand whild holding the camera with the right hand. The X2T is a much more user friendly design with the controls much easier to use since they relocated the controls to make it more user friendly and adjustable with your left hand. The hot shoe on the top of the X2T let me mount my old transmitter and continue to use my old lighting equipment along with the Godox equipment, until my budget allowed me to fully switch to Godox. I found X2T to be very reliable, easy to adjust, and less likely to be broken while doing work outside my studio because it's lower profile does not catch on things as easily.
The Godox X Pro transmitters have two group modes. For up to 5 groups they are TTL capable. If you need more than 5 groups (up to 16), changing the group mode setting in the transmitter to allow the additional groups turns off the TTL capability of all groups. In my studio I frequently use more than 5 lighting groups and only rarely use TTL anyway, so this hasn't been a significant problem for me, but the brochures and manual for the X Pro don't seem to say this and it caused some confusion for me when I first tried setting up my X Pro transmitters. The X Pro displays 5 group settings at a time, and when using more than 5 groups, two buttons below the display become active to allow scrolling the display up and down to show and adjust the additional groups.
Your $300 budget is a bit tight, but can be a close fit if you go with two AC powered SK300II monolights and a X2T transmitter. But you will need umbrellas, light stands and other GOBO items too, and with these, $300 just isn't quite enough.
I almost never do outdoor shoots, so my field kit is just an X2T, 5 speedlites, the added battery packs, umbrellas, light stands, and a 10' wide portable backdrop and stand. This can handle a basketball or baseball team in two - three rows if they are on steps or the front row is seated or kneeling. 4 speedlights and umbrellas on stands has been adequate for these shots, and no power cables are needed. Office and professional shots are usually done with just two speedlights and umbrellas on stands and I can usually find a wall suitable for a backdrop, but I have a 5' gray backdrop in the kit if I need it.
For your daughter's present needs, an X2T transmitter should be ideal.
Quick update here. Decided to go with a Godox TT685 speedlight to start, based on some immediate needs for on-camera flash. Part of that decision is my understanding that it can interface with other Godox gear. Is that accurate?
mpix345 wrote:
Quick update here. Decided to go with a Godox TT685 speedlight to start, based on some immediate needs for on-camera flash. Part of that decision is my understanding that it can interface with other Godox gear. Is that accurate?
Thanks.
I have the TT685 .. but my feedback will tie you your OP where you mentioned "teams". Will this be outdoors also, and more than one person? That flash is okay for one person, but not if there is sun.
Recently I bought SK300 ii for indoors, but only because it will be a secondary light in my back left strip box.
Outdoors, I've been using for years, two Flashpoint 360s which are almost on par with the SK400ii except that the 360s have battery packs and are portable, whereas the SKs would need a vagabond mini or something outdoors.
For teams, I would choose a 600, but someone could get two Sk400ii and a vagabond mini for about $500 and that would work indoors or outdoors with AC or DC.
Yes. I sold all my Bowens gear about six years ago and have recently got the bug to set up a small studio again. I started with three of the SK400II's and will add a couple of 300II's for the background. I am surprised by how much I like them, have used several generations of Bowens over the years.The X-Pro S (Sony) is a no-brainer as it really adds useful features and is relatively inexpensive. Quite a lot gear for the money compared to the old days, not sure how durable they would be for a lot of on-location shooting though. YMMV
Not every light that Godox sells can interface with their X communication system yet, but they seem to be headed that way. When deciding on a new light, just look to see if it works with the X communication in the description. Or, you can buy an X receiver and use it to trigger a light that does not have the X receiver built in. Buying items that have the receiver built in is, of course, the better alternative. but this method lets you use other brands of equipment by just using a Godox X band receiver to trigger it.
The Godox X2T has a top mounted hot shoe, and when transitioning to Godox I found that I could stack my old transmitter on top of the Godox X2T and trigger both systems at the same time. I think the X1T can do this as well, but the ergonomics of the X1T was not at all to my liking. I very much like the ergonomics of the X2T because I can hold my camera with my right hand while making X2T changes with my left hand. The only limit for the X1T or X2T is the group limit of 5 max. My X2T now resides in the case with my speedlites because I have never needed more than 5 light groups in the field. I now have X Pro transmitters to use in my studio, since they can be easily set for either 5 or 16 groups (5 groups show on the display, but when set for 16 groups, you can scroll up or down and see to adjust 5 groups at a time on the display. You loose TTL capability when setting for 16 groups though, but I rarely use TTL in the studio anyway, as I prefer using my light meter.
With the Godox App on your cell phone, you might be able to control an X2T transmitter via Bluetooth, so you can change your monolight and speedlite settings from your cell phone. The cell phone then changes the settings in the X2T via Bluetooth, which then changes the light settings via WIFI. All 5 groups are supported. The App also has the capability to trigger your camera from the cell phone if a sync cable is attached between the X2T and your camera sync trigger input, but this does not work for all cell phones, yet, and as of this note, it doesn't work in my Blu Vivo + phone. I haven't needed this anyway, as I have several other ways to trigger my camera that are wireless.
When considering my next choice for lighting, I looked long and hard to find a reasonably priced system that was also flexible. One of my deciding factors was the ability to continue using my old strobe lighting equipment while I made the transition. The hot shoe on top of the Godox X2T helped me decide on Godox because it was the only system that seemed to allow me to do this. Getting off of the 150 mhz band was also important because it is a Marine Telecommunications band and not legal in the USA to use for this purpose. There was also too much interference from the Marine communications to use it for this reliably, but the 150 mhz band is legal for this use in some other Countries. The WIFI band is what the Godox X System works on, so it is much cleaner, interference wise and is legal for this everywhere to my knowledge.
I decided early on when making my decision to replace everything, to use the Bowens mounting for my soft boxes and bought the speedlite-to-Bowens adapters to use speedlites with the soft boxes. I also bought all of my studio lighting with the Bowens mounts, so now everything fits and works well together. No adapters at all for me now, but adapters do exist. I've seen somewhere, an adapter for Profoto soft box to Bowens mount. There are likely more adapters available for other combinations.
Just a couple of points for anyone who might be interested in these strobes:
1. SK400ii goes down till about 1/16, if you need it to go down further (given they are quite bright) then consider other options.
2. There is no HSS, so if you plan to shoot above 1/250 or something , you may have to reconsider something else. So is the recycle time which is 1 second or less.
But that is all I can say limiting on this otherwise excellent pair of studio strobes which are compatible with most godox triggers with agreeable consistency.
Check this out for a broader comparison of various Godox strobes
If you plan to shoot high speed machinery or some kind of indoor action sports, then the lack of High Speed Sync might be an issue for you. For my portrait and product photography needs I have never wished that my studio 300 w/s lights (SK300ii and MS300) could work with HSS or go lower than 1/16 power. If I should want less light and/or HSS I will go with my speedlites, which can work with HSS and with less light output can also be set to lower power levels and increments. Again, I haven't needed this for what I'm shooting in my studio.
For times when I do need a lot of light from one source, I have a DP1000iii. I think this monolight will almost melt the backdrop at full power. It is super bright. I mostly use it with a focusing lens kit (not Godox, but they now offer one) that can accept GOBO patterns and colored filters, for when I want to project a pattern on the backdrop or bright stripes of light similar to the Sun through a Venetian blind, multi pane window light shadows, etc. I can even project blue/white stars on the backdrop with it. This, and all of my GOBOs are Bowens mount, so everything that I have works well together.
