Anyone have one or used the Godox 1200 watt battery pack? I'm in the Profoto system but looking for more power for outdoor photos. The price and power combination looks great on the Godox.
I am in the same boat with Profoto and have heard good things about the 1200 but I bought a used 7b kit in mint condition. I've had great luck buying used gear and recelling the 7b battery for $80 ensures that I won't have an issue in the near future.
When we moved from Profoto to Godox, we picked up a 1200W pack along with multiple AD300s, etc. Works great no issues, lots of features. Will probably acquire a 2nd in the near future. For the Broncolor-like feature set and low-cost batteries, AC adapters, heads, tubes, etc., it's hard to bear. The TTL ability for a 'quick 1st shot' approximation under certain circumstances is nice as well.
We had B1s, etc., but our high-power packs were Profoto 7B B2 Pro 1200Ws packs. Multiple B2 Pros w/multiple SLA batteries just became a slog on location shoots. The cost of LiO upgrade batteries (our packs were modified by Profoto to take LiO batteries or SLA) made upgrading imprudent.
The Godox is fan cooled, but note that the fan is on low speed all the time. It's not rigged to a temp sensor. You have to be listening for it to hear it, but it's there.
One unsung benefit of Godox is that the Bowens speedrings they use take up far less room to pack than Profoto and are just as secure. Adorama (and I assume others) also a low-profile Bowens insert which makes packing even better. Most low-end Bowens rings are far clunkier and longer than they need to be.
To me, high dollar, high power lighting is just not necessary when doing outdoor photo shoots.
For outdoor work I depend on the Sun and use reflectors as my secondary light sources. I can get a lot more power than 1,200 W/S from the Sun. But I may use up to 200 W/S speedlite if the subject's face needs highlighting. Working with the Sun as a primary light source takes on a little different learning of the lighting aspects for a shoot, but it is much less expensive and a lot more portable. It's also constant light, already up there, and waiting for you at the chosen location. You just have to pick a day when the Sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing at gale force. Then be willing to reposition the reflectors a few times as the Sun moves across the sky during the extended shoots. WYSIWYG, since it's constant lighting, but it's much easier to get it pointed where you want it, and see when it needs repositioning. With 5 way reflectors, you can use scrims on them to control brightness or a large scrim to diffuse the light when needed. Do your color correction with the camera's white balance capability, but shooting a foldable gray card at the beginning of every shoot will allow further correction if it should be necessary in POST..
Save your money and buy some 5 way reflectors of different sizes, and some tall portable light stands that have good bases so you can weight them easily with rocks, sand bags (filled on location), or whatever is readily available for weight, but be sure to replace these rocks, sand, gravel, etc. to their original positions after the shoot. I also take parachute cord so I can tie down my light stands, if necessary. My tripod has a 1/4-20 threaded bottom end stud on the center column that I've added an eye-nut, so I can hang my camera bag or sand bag using a D snap ring to attach it, if it's a windy day.
I hope you will see from this that you just don't need large heavy flash equipment to overpower the Sun to get good outdoor photos. There is more than enough available light already there, if you learn how to direct it where you want it.
Conner999 wrote:
When we moved from Profoto to Godox, we picked up a 1200W pack along with multiple AD300s, etc. Works great no issues, lots of features. Will probably acquire a 2nd in the near future. For the Broncolor-like feature set and low-cost batteries, AC adapters, heads, tubes, etc., it's hard to bear. The TTL ability for a 'quick 1st shot' approximation under certain circumstances is nice as well.
We had B1s, etc., but our high-power packs were Profoto 7B B2 Pro 1200Ws packs. Multiple B2 Pros w/multiple SLA batteries just became a slog on location shoots. The cost of LiO upgrade batteries (our packs were modified by Profoto to take LiO batteries or SLA) made upgrading imprudent.
The Godox is fan cooled, but note that the fan is on low speed all the time. It's not rigged to a temp sensor. You have to be listening for it to hear it, but it's there.
One unsung benefit of Godox is that the Bowens speedrings they use take up far less room to pack than Profoto and are just as secure. Adorama (and I assume others) also a low-profile Bowens insert which makes packing even better. Most low-end Bowens rings are far clunkier and longer than they need to be....Show more →
The Profoto speedrings definitely take up some space. The Parasnap modifiers from Adorama seem to be a little more compact for Profoto than the standard rings. I've thought about making the full switch but I do love the magnetic clic gel attachments for the B10/B10 Plus lights. Right now I have 4 B1X lights that I use with larger modifiers and then 2 B10s and 1 B10 Plus in my portable kit. Adorama is also throwing in a ring flash right now with the 1200. Is there anything you miss after making the switch?
I much preferred exposed-tube Profoto gear and started to lose my love for Profoto when they went flat-face on everything but their high-end packs. Small flat-front lights have their place, are smart in some cases and we own a couple, but I want to have the choice w/o being restricted to selling a body part to do so.
The Clic system is nice and makes sense with the magnetic front, and I expect more makers will go that route over time with lightweight modifiers. Old school softboxes and rings are 'so last century' ;>
When Godox gear started to become higher quality and people's reviews reflected that, we picked-up a used AD200Pro on a lark and came away very impressed and started exploring a move.
Will a high-end Profoto/Bron pack outlast one from Godox? You'd be safe to assume so, but how many Godox packs is that one Profoto/Bron pack worth? Also, will you have moved on to a different pack that's smaller, lighter, more advanced during that lifespan? Probably. Also, as packs became digital, most of the features (TTL, flash duration display, true-colour, multi-flash, etc) are firmware-driven not hardware.
There's also the cost of unique heads like a stick flash head, etc., or just simple adapters, plastic doodads, wireless remotes, etc. I don't mind paying big $ for a high-end light, but it I don't like paying big $ for something I know would be maybe 1/5th the cost were it not for the name on it.
Godox (so far) have also created a nice ecosystem with their units. A lot of batteries can power more than one model, their smaller units can use the smaller Godox mount (smaller diameter Bowens), or Bowens. Some can use Profoto & Bron modifiers to ease transitions/mixing systems and they innovate quickly and at a palatable price.
So, so far, no regrets.
stuuke wrote:
The Profoto speedrings definitely take up some space. The Parasnap modifiers from Adorama seem to be a little more compact for Profoto than the standard rings. I've thought about making the full switch but I do love the magnetic clic gel attachments for the B10/B10 Plus lights. Right now I have 4 B1X lights that I use with larger modifiers and then 2 B10s and 1 B10 Plus in my portable kit. Adorama is also throwing in a ring flash right now with the 1200. Is there anything you miss after making the switch?
neoshazam wrote:
I have it, I love it.
I need to shoot/use it more.
So mine arrived and it looks great but I'm having one problem. I charged the battery and the charger says full but when I click on the battery display it says it's not fully charged and when I put it in the pack the meter on the display also says it's not fully charged. Any thoughts? Build quality and everything else looks great. I'm excited to try it out. The bag coming with extra dividers so you can use it as a camera bag was a bonus.
Does anyone know what the recycle time is like at 1/2 power (i.e. 600WS)? I can see according to the specs that it is 1.9 sec at full power but am interested in how fast it recycles in comparison to the AD600Pro at comparable output levels. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated as I've not been able to find anything online.
Can the 1200 battery be charged in the pack? I was hoping to see if it's a faulty charger or battery that is my issue so I don't have to send everything back.
stuuke wrote:
So mine arrived and it looks great but I'm having one problem. I charged the battery and the charger says full but when I click on the battery display it says it's not fully charged and when I put it in the pack the meter on the display also says it's not fully charged. Any thoughts? Build quality and everything else looks great. I'm excited to try it out. The bag coming with extra dividers so you can use it as a camera bag was a bonus.
I don't have that issue so unfortunately I'm not sure how to help.
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stuuke wrote:
Can the 1200 battery be charged in the pack? I was hoping to see if it's a faulty charger or battery that is my issue so I don't have to send everything back.
No, but you can get an ac adapter if you're gonna use it on AC power which is a nice too.
Now the Adorama price is $989 and it includes the ring flash head as well as the standard head. If I weren't getting ready to retire I'd order two of them.
