What flashguns for interior shots ?

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Fordsabroad

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I am going to Florida for a week and staying in a friends rental villa for free, the payola for this is that I would like to do a set of internal shots of the villa for them to use in their advertising.
The last time I did this sort of thing was with B&W film and a wet cell flash gun, the power of which was controlled by how many fingers you covered the flash head with!!

I am comfortable with the techniques needed for balancing flash and ambient light but am totally out of touch with modern flashguns,which is where I could do with some advice.
I shoot with a canon 1DXmk 11 and could just buy the latest canon flashes but this would probably be a very expensive hammer to crack a simple nut!! I am not likely to use these flashes enough to justify the price of them. There is a small possibility that I may experiment with flash and wildlife photography later so there could be some justification for buying a powerful unit now.

I estimate that I would need two or possibly 3 flash set up. Most but possibly not all flash positions will be line of site with the camera (IE one or two with flash in the en suit bathroom), studio type lights are not an option because I am flying with them therefore size and weight are at a premium.

Really what I am asking is what reliable alternatives are there to Canon flashes and triggers. I am not after the cheapest option if it is unreliable or overly complicated to set up rather a decent setup that will do the job.

Any advice would be very welcome.
 
Fordsabroad said:
I am not likely to use these flashes enough to justify the price of them.

Any advice would be very welcome.
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This is not something I have done, and it might require further research....

But could you possible get away with one flash gun and long exposures? perhaps with some image stacking / photoshop after.

If it is a valid option, then it could save you on buying flashes.

Feel free to ignore if it's not a viable option :)
 
A perfect setup for manual only, so

The cheapest / easiest option is probably Yongnuo YN560 IV’s and the matching transmitter.

But as above, if you’re buying a flash setup today with the hope it’ll be upgradeable, look at the Godox system, the Manual only flashes aren’t much more than Yongnuo, and I’d buy 2 of them and one ETTL one.

Not only are we talking cheaper than Canon, but better in every respect bar build quality* too.

* I feel I have to point this out, because there’s always someone comes along to tell us that Chinese flashguns are somehow ‘flimsy’, I’ll add that Godox are more or less the industry standard for flash nowadays, with just a couple of premium brands left to challenge them, they beat most of the competition by most measures most of the time.
 
Phil V said:
The cheapest / easiest option is probably Yongnuo YN560 IV’s and the matching transmitter.
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This is one of my flash setups and what I too would recommend for the job you're asking about

Total cost of 3 flashguns and the transmitter is around £200 - I also use these for much of my evening OCF at Weddings too, and have done so for a couple of years without anything going wrong

Dave
 
Thanks for all your input it was very helpful. I have ordered 2 Godox TC685c flashguns and an Xpro c trigger for £206. which was much less than I thought I may have to spend.
 
Good choice. I use three TT685Ss, a TT350S and an XPro-S for my table-top work and have been very pleased with the results.
 
Fordsabroad said:
Thanks for all your input it was very helpful. I have ordered 2 Godox TC685c flashguns and an Xpro c trigger for £206. which was much less than I thought I may have to spend.
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Indeed; the world of quality off camera flash has improved and become affordable in the last few years.
 
Tysonator said:
Hi all,
What is the Godox equivalent to Canon 580ex mkii ?
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PhilH04 said:
TT685c... or the Lithium battery variant which is the V860...
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Though in fairness
+ it has built in radio like the 600ex-rt
- it isn’t quite as powerful
+ the lithium ion battery versions are unique, longer lasting, faster recycling (think 580 with external battery pack)
+ they are part of a brilliant flash ecosystem
 
Phil V said:
Though in fairness
+ it has built in radio like the 600ex-rt
- it isn’t quite as powerful
+ the lithium ion battery versions are unique, longer lasting, faster recycling (think 580 with external battery pack)
+ they are part of a brilliant flash ecosystem
Click to expand...

PhilH04 said:
TT685c... or the Lithium battery variant which is the V860...
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Is this model better than the Young Nuo YN560 IV ?

I am hoping to get some radio transceivers / triggers in the future and I am not if Godox or Yong Nuo is the way forwarded, though rge AD200 looks amazing !
 
Tysonator said:
Is this model better than the Young Nuo YN560 IV ?

I am hoping to get some radio transceivers / triggers in the future and I am not if Godox or Yong Nuo is the way forwarded, though rge AD200 looks amazing !
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For me Godox wins hands down, if simply looking at speed lights there isn't a huge amount in it... The Godox advantage is being a part of a large and probably unique flash ecosystem from small speed lights, through portable battery powered strobes and mains powered studio strobes all with built in control from one on camera transmitter....
 
Tysonator said:
Is this model better than the Young Nuo YN560 IV ?

I am hoping to get some radio transceivers / triggers in the future and I am not if Godox or Yong Nuo is the way forwarded, though rge AD200 looks amazing !
Click to expand...
It’s a completely different kettle of fish, the YN560 is a cheap manual flash, the TT685 is TTL enabled and more importantly, part of the most extensive ‘family’ of photography lighting available.

10 years ago, if you wanted off camera flash, it was either dumb radio, cables, or ‘near IR’ optical triggering.

Then Pocketwizard gave us ETTL radio triggers, quickly followed by others, but all those systems were incompatible with each other. Godox took the technology and ran with it, at first with plug in receivers, but then with built in receivers they started to build an ecosystem which includes the smallest speedlights TT350, right up to the dual head to combine 2 600Ws heads. You can mix speedlights, portable battery flash and studio heads all with the same user friendly reliable trigger system
 
Phil V said:
It’s a completely different kettle of fish, the YN560 is a cheap manual flash, the TT685 is TTL enabled and more importantly, part of the most extensive ‘family’ of photography lighting available.

10 years ago, if you wanted off camera flash, it was either dumb radio, cables, or ‘near IR’ optical triggering.

Then Pocketwizard gave us ETTL radio triggers, quickly followed by others, but all those systems were incompatible with each other. Godox took the technology and ran with it, at first with plug in receivers, but then with built in receivers they started to build an ecosystem which includes the smallest speedlights TT350, right up to the dual head to combine 2 600Ws heads. You can mix speedlights, portable battery flash and studio heads all with the same user friendly reliable trigger system
Click to expand...

PhilH04 said:
For me Godox wins hands down, if simply looking at speed lights there isn't a huge amount in it... The Godox advantage is being a part of a large and probably unique flash ecosystem from small speed lights, through portable battery powered strobes and mains powered studio strobes all with built in control from one on camera transmitter....
Click to expand...

I was going to get Yong Nuo YN600EX-RT II Wireless Flash Speedlite with Optical Master and TTL HSS for Canon, as this seems to work with canon optical flash from the pop up flash on the camera. If I did use the YN transmitters this flash can be used, though I will still need recievers for my 580ex Mkii & 430EX Mkii

So if I brought a Godox TT685 I take I need the TT685C ?
How would I integrate this flash with my 2 current canon speedlites ?
I will need a master transmitter and 2 receivers from Godox ! ?
 
Phil V said:
Yes

But forget the canon optical system unless as a fallback.
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Ok, which transmitter head would need to get ?

Would it be some thing like this ;
Godox Xpro-C TTL Wireless Flash Trigger Bulit-in 2.4G X System 1/8000s HSS for Canon Camera

GODOX X1R-C 32 Channels TTL 1/8000s Wireless Remote Flash Receiver Shutter Release for Canon EOS Cameras
 
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The X pro-c works, as does the X1c, and the x1r-c receivers work with the Canon flashguns I believe.
 
Phil V said:
The X pro-c works, as does the X1c, and the x1r-c receivers work with the Canon flashguns I believe.
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They sure do, with the X pro being much easier to use.... I would definitely look at the pro along with the Canon receivers.
 
I assume you are traveling to Florida so check on what size hand luggage you can take this may restrict what yo can take. Unless you are putting it in the hold.
 
I am indeed going to Florida, hand luggage is 10K which is taken up with the 600mm and body, any other kit is going in the hold, well wrapped and finger tightly crossed.
 
The Godox flashes have arrived and seem to be simple enough to use. What batteries are best, can rechargeable one be used? I will be shooting interior shots with little or no pressure, unlike wedding and event shooters.
Also I do have a canon 420EX flashgun, will this sync with the godox ones. My initial very basic test seems to indicate not but I would have thought it might if using optical syncing as opposed to radio.
 
Fordsabroad said:
The Godox flashes have arrived and seem to be simple enough to use. What batteries are best, can rechargeable one be used? I will be shooting interior shots with little or no pressure, unlike wedding and event shooters.
Also I do have a canon 420EX flashgun, will this sync with the godox ones. My initial very basic test seems to indicate not but I would have thought it might if using optical syncing as opposed to radio.
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I use Panasonic Enloop rechargeable in mine, however the triggers seem happier with ordinary duracells or similar... The 420 will work with an X1RC receiver but only in manual and you have to make all the settings on the gun itself (I have the same with an old 550EX).
 
PhilH04 said:
I use Panasonic Enloop rechargeable in mine, however the triggers seem happier with ordinary duracells or similar... The 420 will work with an X1RC receiver but only in manual and you have to make all the settings on the gun itself (I have the same with an old 550EX).
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This^
Though there are other eneloop type batteries on the market too, they're a game changer. I still charge all my batteries before a job, but I know that if I needed to use a flash tonight none of my batteries are flat.
 
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