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 p.2 #7 · Profoto A1x over my AD200.trying to figure out game plan | |
jmmaher wrote:
Guy and sunghoto,
I am trying to figure out why the change to Profoto over Godox. I certainly like the look and size of the Profoto but things like the statement "I typically change out the AAAs ...on the Air-TTL trigger a couple times for a 8-10 hour day" when the Godox trigger last for months (or at least a long time  . I just can't see having to change out trigger batteries multiple times per day. The connect trigger seems to have little in the way of features, etc.
Honestly I am not trolling. I like the Godox lights and have used them for a number of years. They trigger consistently, have adequate light output for their size, etc. I think the Sony ETTL may be a little iffy but then again I have heard the same thing about Profoto's Sony ETTL implementation as well.
I am trying to figure out the justification for the Profoto lights for me. Or at least why both of you switched.
-Jim...Show more →
Hi Jim, no worries your intent is clearly constructive, so happy to provide some thoughts. As some background, I'm a full time photographer, primarily commercial. I do quite a bit of work with strobes and it's not unusual for me to spend 3-4 days a week averaging 8 hours a day, and upwards of 5k shots a day.
First of all, my recommendation to you would be keep the godox. If you're happy with them, there's absolutely no reason to switch. I got my profotos originally because I was trying to solve an issue/problem I was having with my Godox strobes. Light is light, and the profotos do not create better light, regardless of what marketing might claim.
UI/Design: Working studio photographers spend a lot of time with strobes. Having to dink around with confusing menus when you have 14 people on set waiting to move onto to the next shot on the shotlist is stressful. Profotos, especially the latest gen of the A1, B10, B10 Plus don't require a manual to use. They are a joy to use and reduce my stress - which is important when you're often in high pressure shoots.
Rental/service support: I fly to most of my gigs. I can get a set of profotos from pretty much any rental house in major cities across the country. If a job requires more than the 6 strobes I have (I had a shoot last week where we had 9-10 lights running across two sets and I still ideally would have had 1-2 more), or I need more power, or I only want to fly with a camera kit and rent locally, or worst case my lights get stolen/damaged/etc I can easily rent. Service is generally super quick and professional, with centers in/near major photo markets.
Durability: One of my B1s fell from about 12 ft, bulb first onto concrete. It slightly bent the integrated reflector and chipped the glass, but after replacing the broken bulb it worked perfectly. I only replaced the reflector for aesthetic reasons but opening the guts up to do my own service, you see how well built they are internally - good quality spade connectors, large gauge wire, compartmentalized circuitry. Clearly designed to be used hard. I've yet to have a failure aside from battery-related ones (which is going to happen with any battery powered system with enough recharge cycles). I haven't had as much luck in terms of durability with my godox lights - one of my AD200s stopped recognizing the head a few months in for no reason. The modeling light on one of my AD600s stopped working for absolutely no reason. In both cases thankfully I noticed this when I was doing pre-checks at home but it could have been disastrous in the case of the AD200. Also having opened up both the AD200 and AD600 (they told me to just keep the strobes and they'd send a replacement) the way they're designed doesn't look as well suited to long time service.
Misfires/color consistency: As I mentioned, I do a fair amount of high volume work. What initially made me test out profoto was because I was getting a 2-3% misfire rate with my godox strobes with occasional tint shifts (which may have been due to an aging bulb but I did test with two), which doesn't sound like much, but if you're shooting around 300-400 people a day, that actually becomes an impediment to doing my job. The profoto D1/B1/B2/B10 strobes in my experience tend to misfire less, under 1%, and almost no tint shifts. You ask why I'm ok with swapping out batteries - part of that is because I'd rather replace batteries more often and have less misfires. A pack of alkalines are cheap. If you're not shooting several thousand frames a day with strobe, this doesn't matter as much. I also noticed misfires in popular photography spots when I was living in NYC - it's not unusual during the warm months for 3-4 wedding photographers to be doing engagement sessions simultaneously around Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, or in Brooklyn Bridge Park, and many of them are using off-camera flash. In fact I often noticed that other photographers were triggering my strobe! Lastly, color consistency may not matter for general portraiture for a lot of people, but I do a fair amount of jewelry work, where color consistency and accuracy is very important.
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I’ve been shooting Godox AKA Flashpoint for about 3 years now and I’m super happy. Haven’t weighed in here because I don’t want to be seen as antagonistic, but instead just saying the same experience of finding tools that make you love shooting again is the root of my Godox story. If anyone has questions about them, feel free to email or DM me. I find their output very consistent and am experiencing an average of around 0 to .02% misfires. I have a lot of Profoto experience too - they’re decent tools, just not worth the premium to me, personally.