My Lighting Equipment – In Depth

A short while ago we took a deep dive into my lens collection. Wet looked at what I had, what each lens was used for, plus my general feelings of the lenses and where I want to go with them. Today it is the turn of my lighting. So without further ado, we will look at there lights I use for photography and how I use them. 

We will look at them in the order of smallest to largest (most powerful) flash.

Teeny-tiny-micro-flash

We start off with my very smallest flash that I own!

• Godox IM22 (fully manual)

This tiny little flash I briefly reviewed here, is the size of a matchbox, but gives great power output. I originally bought it to experiment with direct in-camera flash to replicate that old flash look. As this flash is fully manual, and can not be manipulated in any way (you can not use it for bounce flash!) it has limited use. 

That said, it is so small, it is useful as a backup flash as it takes up no room whatsoever. It looks great on the Nikon ZF, and it’s a bit of fun, and of course we all need a bit of fun. 

General flashes

I have a pair of flashes for general use, both very similar, but very different sizes and power output. Both are variable of TTL for automatic metering, and both have high speed sync for using the flash with fast shutter speeds.

• Godox TT350N (TTL and HSS)

• Godox TT685N (TTL and HSS)

The Godox TT685 is my “workhorse” flash unit. I use it on both cameras, in all situations. It’s powerful enough to use outside with no problem, against the sunlight (keeping the subjects lit). It’s not too big to worry about using on camera all day, plus it can, and is used as an off-camera flash unit too with the Godox XT2 trigger that I use.

The Godox TT350 is a new addition, and at half the size (and roughly half the power) of the TT685, it’s a great unit for indoor events and weddings, asking with lighting up people. This flash will almost exclusively be used on-camera, and it is fully articulating like the TT685, for easy bounce flash use. It can also be used wirelessly with the XT2 trigger, and we will see how this goes on future shoots.

The big boy

For studio work, for all outdoor work and for anything and everything that needs a powerful light, we have the Godox AD200.

• Godox AD200 (TTL, HSS, Always On)

This flash is unlike any of the others mentioned above. It cannot be used on the camera and only operated wirelessly. At 200 watts, with an insane refresh rate, the AD200 is the big boy that never lets us down. 

While the other lights are great, the AD200 is in a world is it’s own. A flash that many professionals rely on, the AD200 is small enough to take anywhere, with the power to be used for absolutely anything.

Conclusion

The last 18 months has seen me use lighting for photography much more than I ever have before. The importance of these flash units cannot be understated, they have transformed the way I take images of people.

When I first started relying on flash for portrait sessions, I relied heavily on the AD600, however that extremely powerful and excellent light is no longer a part of the workflow as I have found the AD200 more than capable in every situation I put it in. 

Size matters to me, and just like my lenses, all my flashes are small and pocketable so that they do not take to excessive amounts of room.

*** As a side-note, I always gave a Godox XT2 trigger to use the wireless flashes, plus plenty of light stands, diffusers and more that enable me to use the lights effectively and artistically.