Compatible flashes for Nikon Z7

cardiff_gareth

cardiff_gareth

Messages
2,734
Name
Gareth
Edit My Images
Yes
Getting really confused with flash guns that'll work on the Z7.

I don't need TTL, I've never shot with it, but I do want full manual shooting power and high speed flash. If a gun shoots TTL then that's a winner if my wife wants to use my camera to take images.

I was looking at the SB-700 but I heard its manual mode only and no HSS. The amount of Nikon speedlights really confuses me with what will work, and what won't. Even online its a minefield with conflicting information.

I do have some Godox SK400ii studio heads that I used to use with my old Pentax K1ii and the Godox X Pro trigger.

With this in mind, I was looking at the X Pro trigger for Nikon. There is a gen 1 and a gen 2 X Pro trigger. Are both compatible with the Z7?

Also the flashguns. There is the TT685ii, the V860iii and the V1.

I presume these are fully compatible with the Z7? Would be good to have the flashgun also able to link up with the studio heads if the triggers also work with the mirrorless Nikon?

Whats everyone's thoughts? I'm not sure the V860iii or V1, which share the same power output will be overkill, but the modelling light will be useful in low light for AF.

Or have I missed another flash by a different brand that'll also give me what I need?

Thanks in advance!
 
I’m finding your requirements a bit odd.

I’m no expert on exactly what guns do what for Nikon.

But I know a bit about speedlights, and high speed sync requires a bit of trickery you’d generally only find in TTL speedlights, or triggers that can mimic those signals.

Before I leap in to put my foot in it, what exactly are you going to be using HSS for?
Asking because the name confuses people who often think it does something it doesn’t.
 
SB 800 does all that and can pick them up for approx £50 used if you keep an eye out. Link fantastically two or three together via optical slave. Will control studio strobes at 1/8000 as well. Dont know if CLS is on Z system and AF assist may not function due to different spectrum.

A lot of light for not much money.
 
Phil V said:
I’m finding your requirements a bit odd.

I’m no expert on exactly what guns do what for Nikon.

But I know a bit about speedlights, and high speed sync requires a bit of trickery you’d generally only find in TTL speedlights, or triggers that can mimic those signals.

Before I leap in to put my foot in it, what exactly are you going to be using HSS for?
Asking because the name confuses people who often think it does something it doesn’t.
Click to expand...


Cheers for the reply Phil

Usually I'll use flash for either illuminating interiors, balancing window ambient light with artifical light, still life, or fill flash for portraits both outdoors. With my old Pentax camera, I had the AF540FGZ II flash gun which gave me HSS, which I used for portraits in bright light when the exposure triangle with flash added to the mix, didn't allow for flash at the cameras max flash sync speed and in doing so, would over exposure the image.

I know HSS isn't really a high speed single flash burst but more of a short rapid continuous burst of artifical light.
 
cardiff_gareth said:
Cheers for the reply Phil

Usually I'll use flash for either illuminating interiors, balancing window ambient light with artifical light, still life, or fill flash for portraits both outdoors. With my old Pentax camera, I had the AF540FGZ II flash gun which gave me HSS, which I used for portraits in bright light when the exposure triangle with flash added to the mix, didn't allow for flash at the cameras max flash sync speed and in doing so, would over exposure the image.

I know HSS isn't really a high speed single flash burst but more of a short rapid continuous burst of artifical light.
Click to expand...
Thanks Gareth
So you understand that HSS isn’t a quick single flash.
But to take things a step further a manual only flash simply gets triggered when the first curtain clears the sensor (or film), so for the timing of the pulsing HSS, the flash needs to be triggered as the first curtain starts its journey. And for that to happen, it needs to be triggered by one of the other pins of a ‘fancy’ hotshoe.

So HSS kinda requires the ETTL circuitry.
 
Barney said:
SB 800 does all that and can pick them up for approx £50 used if you keep an eye out. Link fantastically two or three together via optical slave. Will control studio strobes at 1/8000 as well. Dont know if CLS is on Z system and AF assist may not function due to different spectrum.

A lot of light for not much money.
Click to expand...

Thanks Barney.

CLS is something I've heard several times, I need to read up on it. Nikon is a whole new system for me so it's a new learning curve for me!

I'll take a look at that flash. I read that when trying to control the flash on camera (Z7), the "i" menu wouldn't acknowledge the flash and thus you couldn't access certain flash fearures when using the SB700, so it could only be used in manual mode only.
Now I know the SB800 is different, I'll take a look at that.

One of the reasons I need to get a flash for this camera and get my head around it, and how the camera operates with flash is because me and my wife are heading out to Spain in October for our 20 year anniversary. We've not told any family or friends, but we're planning on having a ceremony in a castle overlooking the beach to renew our vows to one another. I'm too tight to pay the grand they want for professional imagery, so I'm bringing my Z7, tripod and I'll shoot them myself.

My thought process with the Godox was to shoot off camera flash, and I'd also pack a spare light stand and a small softbox, but the Nikon with a small Stofen diffuser will do.
 
So, as above an older TTL flash will do perfectly, either a Nikon as mentioned by @Barney or a clone from Yongnuo, Godox etc.

But if Canon are anything to go by, an older Nikon speedlight probably won’t break the bank
 
Phil V said:
Thanks Gareth
So you understand that HSS isn’t a quick single flash.
But to take things a step further a manual only flash simply gets triggered when the first curtain clears the sensor (or film), so for the timing of the pulsing HSS, the flash needs to be triggered as the first curtain starts its journey. And for that to happen, it needs to be triggered by one of the other pins of a ‘fancy’ hotshoe.

So HSS kinda requires the ETTL circuitry.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes, you're right. I retract my statement saying I don't shoot with TTL :ROFLMAO:

Does the SB800 offer TTL with the Z7 then?!
 
Phil V said:
So, as above an older TTL flash will do perfectly, either a Nikon as mentioned by @Barney or a clone from Yongnuo, Godox etc.

But if Canon are anything to go by, an older Nikon speedlight probably won’t break the bank
Click to expand...

This is the confusion, as the more you read, the more conflicting it becomes with older flashes. Today I was on a certain online auction website and I asked about a Godox V860ii-N someone was selling and if it was compatible with the Z7. This is a dedicated Nikon TTL flash. He said he had upgraded from a Nikon SLR to mirrorless and has a Z6ii and it doesn't work on anything but manual mode, even after updating the firmware.

Hence me now asking about flashes before hand, as I don't want to buy what I think is a bargain, only to find out the camera says no thanks! I don't want to buy twice if that makes sense.
 
cardiff_gareth said:
This is the confusion, as the more you read, the more conflicting it becomes with older flashes. Today I was on a certain online auction website and I asked about a Godox V860ii-N someone was selling and if it was compatible with the Z7. This is a dedicated Nikon TTL flash. He said he had upgraded from a Nikon SLR to mirrorless and has a Z6ii and it doesn't work on anything but manual mode, even after updating the firmware.

Hence me now asking about flashes before hand, as I don't want to buy what I think is a bargain, only to find out the camera says no thanks! I don't want to buy twice if that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Ooh I’d not heard of 3rd party flashes getting caught out by newer Nikon cameras (always a possibility). My mk1 TT685 still functions as expected on my R6’s.
But I’d expect the classic SB’s to work fine.
 
I am a bit confused by the op's requests. ASking for high speed as in 1/8000s or high speed repeat flashes?
I have the Nikon speedlight SB900. I is ok for normal use if prepared to pause between shots for recharging and continuous use could over heat
The sb5000 now has an onboard cooling system. The cons are nikon flashguns work by line of sight. Not the ideal if usuing as a remote flashgun. tgherefor a wireless trigger transmitter and wireless receiver will over come this

I have a strange mixture shown below but works

The camera is a panasonic G9 with a GotoxXT2 (0) wireless radio transmitter for the Nikon Sb900 asnd the Gotox flashgun
The SB 900 has a Gotox X1 (n) receiver activated from the one on the camera
and the other in the middle again receives a wireless radio signal as it is a Gotox V860iii flash gun

P1070306.jpg

bit odd I know but changing gear some kept and some moved on . The thing is it all works when channels and groups are in sync

it doesn't stop there. what is tghe point of remote flashguns if you have to do it from the camera. So what is needed is a wireless remote shutter trigger and remote receives

P1070307.JPG
so above shows two transmitters ( only need one) and two receives to work two cameras at the same time. Ok takes a bit of setting up and best done before any shoot but it works.
 
Last edited:
Probably not big enough for your needs, but I use Godox TT350N on my Nikon Z8, ZF & ZFC and never had any problems. Just remember with Godox, if you go on an auction site to buy they have a camera designation letter after the model number. N for Nikon, C Canon S Sony etc...

If your down near Swansea your more than welcome to try my flash on your Z7 to make sure it's compatible.
 
I have a Godox V860iiN from my DSLR days. Just tried it with a Z9 and a Zf and it works just fine in manual and TTL
If I use flash I set the ambient manualy and let the flash sort out the rest (With a bit of +- comp' to taste.)
I've never tried HSS as I'm now of an age where if I learn something new I forget where I live, but I suspect it would be fine.
 
Last edited:
So is the "operating system" of the Z9 the same as the Z7 then? I'm asking that, as the flash that Graham mentioned I was going to buy online, but the seller told me it wasn't compatible with his Z6ii and it'd only work in manual mode only, so I've avoided them.
 
cardiff_gareth said:
So is the "operating system" of the Z9 the same as the Z7 then? I'm asking that, as the flash that Graham mentioned I was going to buy online, but the seller told me it wasn't compatible with his Z6ii and it'd only work in manual mode only, so I've avoided them.
Click to expand...
Can't see why it wouldn't work...I don't know what the online chap's doing but I suspect that if it "wasn't compatible" it's because he has an in-compatible unit...ie not an "N" version.
 
I have decided to sell my Nikon SB 900 with box- diffuser- filters and a godox receiver for nikon as shown. Just add a godox transmitter and you have the perfect wireless remote flashgun that doesn't need line of sight.

below is what i intend to sell in the for sale section. Hardly ever used so like new. Reason for selling is I now no longer have nikon cameras having gone over to panasonic and using Godox flashgun instead.




View: https://youtu.be/eONJDUD1CoI
 
Last edited:
Just catching up on this now. Last night I pulled the trigger on the Godox TT685II-N and the X Pro II trigger. Thought it made sense to go Godox as my studio heads are also Godox and keeping it all together means they all play nicely together if I ever needed them to.

Debated the V860iii but for what I need for now, I don't need a modelling light, and the power output I'm sure was the same between the two.
 
cardiff_gareth said:
Just catching up on this now. Last night I pulled the trigger on the Godox TT685II-N and the X Pro II trigger. Thought it made sense to go Godox as my studio heads are also Godox and keeping it all together means they all play nicely together if I ever needed them to.

Debated the V860iii but for what I need for now, I don't need a modelling light, and the power output I'm sure was the same between the two.
Click to expand...
The Godox TT685ii is a great flash in my opinion. Ive used it on camera in TTL and Manual, and off camera in lots of different sized modifiers, and always been very happy with it. Only difference is I use it on Sony mirrorless bodies with an X3 transmitter.
 
Swanseajack said:
Probably not big enough for your needs, but I use Godox TT350N on my Nikon Z8, ZF & ZFC and never had any problems. Just remember with Godox, if you go on an auction site to buy they have a camera designation letter after the model number. N for Nikon, C Canon S Sony etc...

If your down near Swansea your more than welcome to try my flash on your Z7 to make sure it's compatible.
Click to expand...

I was just looking for this answer - as I am looking for a compact option for my system (D500, D850 and Z8) and doesn't take Li-ion (so can go in hold, not cabin), sometimes the SB910 takes too much space.
 
Just bought the godox it-32 it may well fit your needs certainly works well on the Z8
 
cardiff_gareth said:
Just catching up on this now. Last night I pulled the trigger on the Godox TT685II-N and the X Pro II trigger. Thought it made sense to go Godox as my studio heads are also Godox and keeping it all together means they all play nicely together if I ever needed them to.

Debated the V860iii but for what I need for now, I don't need a modelling light, and the power output I'm sure was the same between the two
Click to expand...

I don't think in practice there is much difference between the TT685 and the V860 in power.

I'm happy enough keeping several sets of AA batteries for the the two old TT685 units I have. As has already been mentioned in another post - they are a bit less hassle than Li-ion powered flashes in some travel circumstances. If I had to replace them I would be torn between the latest TT685 and V860 but probably go with the TT685 family again.
 
Dryce said:
I don't think in practice there is much difference between the TT685 and the V860 in power.

I'm happy enough keeping several sets of AA batteries for the the two old TT685 units I have. As has already been mentioned in another post - they are a bit less hassle than Li-ion powered flashes in some travel circumstances. If I had to replace them I would be torn between the latest TT685 and V860 but probably go with the TT685 family again.
Click to expand...
I too am a happy TT685 user, but what might make me switch to the Li ion version would be improved recycle times.

I’ve got loads of spare batteries, but those burst rates are very attractive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top