Recommended : Godox Off Camera Flash Control

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When many folks think about flash, they think about red eye and hot spots and harsh shadows. While these are potential flash outcomes, they do not have to be if you do a couple of simple things, the most important being get the flash off the camera.

Given when we are, there are no needs any more for cables or for infrared controllers. The route is radio. Period. Discussion over.

When we look at radio, we discover that many flash manufacturers treat off camera radio as if it’s all made from Unobtainium and price it accordingly.

This is nonsense.

Let’s say that you have a camera from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sony, Fujifilm or Pentax. Let’s say that you have a flash of some kind that when in the camera hotshoe, talks to the camera using the maker’s own TTL (through the lens) flash metering system. But when you take the flash off camera, you drop back to the Seventies and all manual mode with a sync cable.

Let’s not do that. That ship sailed, rusted and sank.

What you want is a radio pair of transmitter and receiver. The transmitter goes in the camera hotshoe, The flash goes on the receiver. The two boxes talk to each other and you have both manual and TTL flash controllable ENTIRELY from the transmitter on top of the camera.

Godox X Pro Transmitter

The image above is the Godox X-Pro N transmitter. The N means it speaks Nikon iTTL. The units are available for all the different camera brands I mentioned. What you see is a small device, powered by simple batteries that allows you to control your remote flashes right from the large and easy to read display. Listed are the important features that you need to know about

  • 99 unique IDs to choose from to prevent interaction with other radio systems

  • 16 groups available

  • 32 channels available

  • 328’ range that does not have to be line of sight

  • Supports Flash Exposure Compensation

  • Supports Flash Exposure Lock

  • Supports High Speed Sync if the camera does

  • Supports Rear Curtain Sync if the camera does

  • Sells for $70 USD

I’ve used, owned and tested numerous systems. This is the most cost effective, easy to use and RELIABLE system that I have found to control Speedlights. It also works with all of Godox’s strobe units because they have receivers built in, so that’s an added bonus.

Godox X1R Receiver

This is the X1R receiver. The unit pictured is for Canon but the same device is available for all the different brands that I wrote about earlier. It can mount to a bracket with a cold shoe, you can screw it to anything using a standard ¼-20 stud and it runs on AA batteries. Listed next are the most important features to know about.

  • 99 unique IDs to choose from to prevent interaction with other radio systems

  • 16 groups available

  • 32 channels available

  • 328’ range that does not have to be line of sight

  • Supports Flash Exposure Compensation

  • Supports Flash Exposure Lock

  • Supports High Speed Sync if the camera does

  • Supports Rear Curtain Sync if the camera does

  • Sells for $40 USD

Your flash does not have to be a Godox nor does it need to have a receiver built in. This device does all that work for you. Get one for every flash that you own and you are ready to become a multi-light photographer.

By simplifying connectivity and severing the hard connection between flash and camera at the hotshoe, you have control over direction of the light. This allows you to focus your efforts on getting better at lighting by removing the techno junk from the equation.

Wait, I Don’t Have a Flash

What? A flash is the single most important accessory to a camera as far as I am concerned! Don’t worry. Order up a Godox TT685 TTL flash for your camera brand. It has about 250ws of power (similar to top end Canon and Nikon speed lights) and as the receiver built in already so you don’t even need to buy an X1R if you are using the TT685

The image above shows the version for Sony, but just like the transmitters and receivers, versions are available for all the camera brands that I listed. I was hired to stress test these guys and they came out winners. And you can buy one from B&H for $110 USD. You could get four of them for less than the price of one Canon 600 EX II RT. That is a fine flash, but the Godox does what it does for considerably less.

Firmware Updates

Godox units support firmware updates, but be aware that you need a Windows machine to do them if you have older units. With the G3 build there are both a Macintosh and Windows based firmware updater.

Conclusions

Getting the flash off camera is the first step to better lighting with flash. Until you can do that, you are very limited in terms of managing light direction. Use this inexpensive radio system to open your path to better light. To be clear, I receive no compensation or equipment for this review. I am not a bought and paid for influencer. I actually use the gear that I write about and tell you the real world truth.

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I'm Ross Chevalier, thanks for reading, watching and listening and until next time, peace.