p.1 #1 · Sony/Godox bounce issue - is there an alternative?
I have a godox (V1s) flash I use with an A7RIV.
A lot of my work is indoor events and I like to bounce flash off the ceiling. As many of you are aware Godox has an issue with Sony and dramatically underexposes when bounced. What I’ve read suggests that this is beyond what a firmware update can fix.
Manual flash is a solution, but far from ideal.
What DOES work?
I’ve heard nice things about the on-camera Profotos - but they’re kind of pricey.
Sony OEM would probably work.
p.1 #2 · Sony/Godox bounce issue - is there an alternative?
When using my V1/V100 flashes with the domed accessory, I tilt at 45 degrees so that the camera mostly meters off of the direcxt flash, yet, I still get a nice softening from the ceiling bounce. To be honest, I am not crazy about the flat look of a purely bounced flash.
p.1 #3 · Sony/Godox bounce issue - is there an alternative?
I've shot some boudoir recently and used either bounced flash or just light coming from the window. I used the V100s with my A7V. I'm very happy with mine. The only thing I found Godox to be annoying is whenever I needed to upgrade the firmware---it's always an adventure and I don't get it on the first try.
These images were barely processed----mostly cropped especially the first two. I wish I can show the full length images but I don't want Fred to ban me. I was bouncing light all over---above, to the side, behind me and etc in various degrees/angles.
Sonnar 55. First is 1/125 sec. f/1.8, ISO 250, then 1/125 sec. f/1.8, ISO 640 then 1/125 sec, f/1.8 and ISO 320
p.1 #4 · Sony/Godox bounce issue - is there an alternative?
frankmiller wrote:
I have a godox (V1s) flash I use with an A7RIV.
A lot of my work is indoor events and I like to bounce flash off the ceiling. As many of you are aware Godox has an issue with Sony and dramatically underexposes when bounced. What I’ve read suggests that this is beyond what a firmware update can fix.
Manual flash is a solution, but far from ideal.
What DOES work?
I’ve heard nice things about the on-camera Profotos - but they’re kind of pricey.
Sony OEM would probably work.
Have any of you found an alternative?
Thanks!
Bounced light will be much softer with fewer specular highlights compared to direct flash. But I've never noticed any under exposure issues.
How high are the ceilings you're bouncing into? Color? Texture? Even with a low ceiling, your flash-to-subject distance easily doubles when bounced. High or heavily textured ceilings require much higher flash output.
How far off is the exposure? Can you get correct bounced exposure by increasing flash comp? What about manual flash? If those methods don't give you adequate output, then your flash simply doesn't have enough power.
p.1 #7 · Sony/Godox bounce issue - is there an alternative?
I confirmed that the OEM flashes are perfectly capable of TTL metering for prevailing conditions. Example of direct lighting of curtains, then a vertical bounce:
A1, ES 1/200s, f/5.6, F28RMA, custom WB, no ambient. Images are SOOC with scaling. Except for a color shift due to my not-quite-neutral ceiling, gray level is the same. Didn't measure the higher energy required for bouncing but I estimate 2-3 stops.
p.1 #8 · Sony/Godox bounce issue - is there an alternative?
My understanding of this issue is that Sony uses a variable power TTL pre-flash. I suppose this can save energy so you can get more flashes in a burst.
However the godox unit is reverse engineered from canon flash units which use a fixed power pre flash.
Godox has not managed to reverse engineer the Sony flash protocol correctly
