Tag Archives: professional

New GODOX Lights – Successful First Shoot

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Had a portrait shoot to do on location and thought I’d give my new battery powered studio lights a proper “battlefield” try out.
I could have managed quite easily with my mains powered kit but really wanted to see how these new lights would work out in the real world.
Pleased to say they performed really well. No complaints.I did have a little concern about “sync speed” and I cover this in detail in my equipment review but that was easy to sort out.
It’s wonderful not being tied down to mains electricity and have all those wires trailing around the place – something to really consider if there are children running around, especially on location.
My new “beauty dish” (silly name – nice light) worked well (see picture above) and I came away with a smile on my face.
Clients have come back with a  Hero-gram too, so that’s nice !

New Kit – Flash from China No2

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Well before going too far with my review I should mention a BAD THING that I discovered whilst photographing the new Godox Lights.

Taking the battery pack off the generator I noticed that things were not quite right and there was a slight rattling inside.

Quickly found two screws were falling out of their holes and the other two were very loose:bad_thingSo how does that come about ?
I can’t believe that the journey from Hong Kong to UK was so bumpy that it shook the screws loose.
My feelings lead me to think that this is a quality control issue – yes, that is worrying but everything else looks just fine … so far.
Let’s put this down to one tired workers oversight.

There are so many signs of considerable thought going into the design that I refuse to be dismayed by this lack of attention.

But while I’m having a moan here is something else that caught my eye.
The kit is supplied with a handy and robust black, nylon shoulder bag which will be very useful when the unit is being used on location.
But lets have a look at this in operation …

Shoulder Bag Open

Shoulder Bag Open

Shoulder Bag Closed - sorta.

Shoulder Bag Closed – sorta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The covering flap will not close properly when the flash head is connected to the power pack.
That can’t be right ! :  given the sort of weather we have in the UK , this is a potential problem.
I must state though, at no time does Godox say the unit is waterproof and in fact they explicitly warn against getting things wet. However this is not a good bit of design.

Unless I can find a good reason to the contrary I shall cut an opening in the flap to accommodate the power lead.

New Kit – Flash from China

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Well as I posted earlier I have ordered two new flash units from China.
Communication with the vendor was difficult due to my complete lack of Chinese
Saying “can I have a number 3 and a number 12 “, does not count as speaking Chinese !
However he finally managed to understand what I wanted and from then onwards it went really well.
Paid by PayPal and he despatched on a Monday morning (21 Oct) from Hong Kong –  it  arrived at Heathrow on Tuesday (22 Oct)  so I picked them up at lunchtime.
Now what about that for service !
That’s better than First Class UK inland Post.

Several colleagues have expressed an interest in these units so over the next few Blog Posts (and when I have time) I shall attempt to do a full review of the kit.
So this is what you get in the box:

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Godox 600 XEnergiser Portable Battery Flash.

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Godox 600 XEnergiser Portable Battery Flash. Unpacked

One Flash Head and Handle
A Bowens fit reflector (seen Mounted on the Flash Head)
A protective travel cap for the flash for when the reflector is not fitted and a simple diffuser to fit over the front of the standard reflector. (Neither seen in the above picture.)
Battery Pack (12.8V 8AH) + Flash Generator (seen clipped together above)
Black Nylon shoulder Bag for the Power Pack
Charger Unit (mine was supplied with a 13 amp UK plug).A Godox Remote Control comprising a transmitter and a receiver ( more about this later)
All packs into a solid black aluminium travel case with room to spare for some small accessories. Nice !

I have wanted a truly portable flash system for years now.
Independent, go-anywhere, lights, even where there is no mains power.
More power and flexibility than a Nikon on camera strobe.
There are several options out there as I have mentioned before.
They are good, they are heavy and they are very expensive.

I have bought in total 3 battery powered, high power, independent flash units,
plus an Octabox,
a beauty dish,
some honeycomb relectors,
and a handful of other gadgets for under £1200 GBP.

The unit in the box above cost $425 !!  – £265 at today’s rate of exchange.
First impressions tell me it is not perfect, but close enough to put a big smile on my face.
So far I am more than happy despite some minor shortcomings.
I’ll go through the operation, the good bits and the bad, and how well it performs in later posts.
So, watch this space !!

Royal Baby Photos 2

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Picture Michael Middleton

Picture Michael Middleton

This story is going to run and run isn’t it ?
Well it is August – traditionally silly season.
Today’s Guardian followed up the story with an item by Roger Tooth. Roger is head of photography at the Guardian – surely one of the best Fleet Street jobs left.
Mr Tooth, who knows about these things, critiscises the above picture on 6 individual counts.
I am listing them as they are good advice to all you budding Royal photographers.
But we are missing the point here … Continue reading →

Royal Baby Pictures

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Today in the Guardian: The first official photos of Prince George have been released. Lying peacefully in the arms of the Duchess of Cambridge, the newborn, who is third in line to the throne, seems to be sleeping. The Duke of Cambridge looks on proudly with a protective arm around Kate. The pictures were taken by Kate’s father, Michael Middleton, in the garden of the family home in Bucklebury, Berkshire, earlier this month. In one of the photos, the royal couple are joined by their black cocker spaniel Lupo, and Tilly, a golden retriever belonging to the Middleton family.

Picture Michael Middleton
Picture Michael Middleton

So what do we think ? Good Pix ?

Continue reading →