If you want to learn about the commercial world of photography, head here www.tinhouse-studio.com/product/the-business-of-photography-v2-0/

@RomanMcClaine

3 ай бұрын

Correct me if I'm hearing this wrong, but if the rental houses carried Godox and the lighting assistants were familiar with them then you wouldn't necessarily choose Profoto over Godox?

I shoot weddings, corporate events, portraits, family sessions, real estate and am very happily content with my (3) GODOX V1, (3) ad200Pro, ad400pro, ad600pro lighting gear. My transmitters are GODOX X2T and XPro. I’ve never had any issues with any of this gear and have no reason to spend 3 times more money for any of the big names with their big price tags.

@LambertFick

8 ай бұрын

The X2T failed me horribly, strait out of the box. The issue was reported, and discussed with Godox SA, poor response and action, so I just opted for a refund. As a rule, if I encounter these poor response issues, I dump the brand immediately. One needs reliability, I dropped Sony ZA, Canon ZA, Nikon ZA, Sigma. Recent developments in the industry with their "advancements" has not impressed me and neither do I entertain it. Renting is the way forward within a business environment, regardless if it's photography or construction. If I have a problem with something that is on rent it gets immediate attention and support, if there is a problem.

@kennypringle4580

8 ай бұрын

@@LambertFick sorry to hear that. I’ve never had issues with GODOX gear.

@ladyethyme

8 ай бұрын

Agreed

@betterburnout

8 ай бұрын

What would you recommend for shooting corporate portraits ?

@fabienb

8 ай бұрын

The X2T has a well documented bug (still unresolved) that freezes Fuji cameras when shooting tethered. Meaning that in the middle of the shot your only way to move on is by removing the battery from the camera, put it back and switch back on. And it's way too frequent to be viable in front of a client. In other cases I have no problems with Godox, but blimey this is a HUGE unprofessional letdown

There’s nothing wrong with Godox/Flashpoint/Westcott/etc. Don’t get the wrong opinion guys. Pro commercial photographers DO use brands like Godox and they get great results doing so. This is his opinion for the work experience he has in his niche and circles of photography and the scale of production he often shoots. Good product insight though. It’s always nice to see other people’s uses and opinions of the same kit.

"Commercial" photography is a tiny subset of "professional" photography. The points made in the video apply to the former, but not necessarily the latter. Confusing the two serves nobody well. As a 20-year event professional, I have been delighted by the affordability, reliability and performance of my various Godox products for many years now. As for support, I buy the Flashpoint-branded products from Adorama, which include a proper U.S. warranty, and they've given me great help in answering questions and ironing out firmware updates.

@rdkirk3834

6 ай бұрын

That's always been true. Historically (at least for the last 50 years that I've been involved, and the 10 years before that which I'm aware of), retail photographers have generally _not_ used the same lighting equipment as commercial professionals. As we got into electronic flash, retail photographers were more often using brands like Photogenic that commercial photographers hadn't even heard of.

@russellwright9961

4 ай бұрын

The very reason why I use Flashpoint products!

I absolutely use my godox lights on professional jobs. I’ve taken them all over the world on multiple 6 figure contracts. They’ve been dropped more times than I count and still keep going. Granted I don’t rent my gear. I travel with it. They’re also not that hard to learn lol. My assistants know them just fine.

I'm a lifelong amateur with no desire to be anything else and I love my three little Godox AD200s. My studio (aka garage) is far too small for anything more powerful. I imagine that they wouldn't last long on a busy pro shoot as one fall would probably kill them. Horses for courses I suppose. Your content is great btw. I much prefer to hear about lights and modifiers rather than cameras and lenses and your direct style works with my aspy brain.

Okay that’s some of the poorest excuses I’ve ever heard. Owning your own gear is far more affordable to every budget than keeping a rental house in business. Two: if an assistant is too elitist to learn the lowly Godox equipment, you might consider hiring someone who is both ready and eager to learn. Aside from some minor differences, Godox is very similar to profoto and every other maker. There are some differences in quality but I’ve seen tests where Godox came out ahead. People are going to choose whatever works for them and choose a brand they like to brag about but also never admit it the full truth. Making lame excuses is also part of that game. I got all kinds of grief when I started just using Sony gear. It was quite the elitist shaming going on. I’ve had the last laugh watching most of them now completely switched over. Use what you want and can afford but slow down with the hypocrisy and hyperbolic nonsense.

@gbwalther3198

3 ай бұрын

Jawohl! 😎😎

@jaimeduncan6167

19 күн бұрын

No, it's not. It's for you. For big commercial work, the renting is free, it's a line in the invoice. So it costs zero to rent Profoto, a price that Godox can't match. Also, you don't want to travel, if you can avoid it, with a bunch of lights you have to check in. You will do it if needed, but it's nerve-wracking. Just imagine the airline breaks or loses a bunch of stuff and you can't get the rest from a rental.

Some 10 years ago, I could see comments from some photographers laughing at Sony, saying that Sony would never get to the same level in making professional cameras as Canon and Nikon. How wrong they were.... I feel that Godox is going through the same criticism from snobby pro photographers as Sony did.

@RomanMcClaine

3 ай бұрын

There are still people laughing at Sony -- but mainly because their cameras still don't feel like cameras but more like miniaturized consumer electronics devices that identify as cameras. 🙂 I hear the A9m3 finally feels like a "real camera" in the same sense that Nikon and Canon bodies have for 40 years though.

The main reason why companies do not rent godox lights is simply because they're easier to purchase and own then pro photo and other higher priced lighting

@jaimeduncan6167

19 күн бұрын

Also is easy, culturally, legally, and time zones to deal with a European Company. Also renting a 900$ flash makes more sense than renting a 200$ flash. Renting a 10000$ gear makes more sense than renting a 1200$ set.

"From unreliable gear to bad customer service," Personally my Godox gear has proven to be more reliable than my previous Profoto gear (you also say in the video that your AD1200 has been great and used on week long shoots with no issues). Also the customer service from Essential Photo has been great when I've needed it. Profoto has much better modifiers, not to mention the mount system is far better than the S Mount, but you pay a premium for that.

it's awesome seeing how things differ between countries, here in South Africa, we mainly use Godox lights, good value for money, where the other brands are so expensive due to import tax and things like that making them items that you would never be able to afford

@LukeGarcia-kw6zk

3 ай бұрын

Here in Brazil you can't even find Broncolor or Profoto to buy, only for rent. And even if someone decided to sell it here, they'd hardly have a market, it's extremelly expensive for the brazillian reality, except maybe BIG budget shoots.

@jaimeduncan6167

19 күн бұрын

Interesting.

I love my Godox 1200 and use it all the time for my portraits but totally get what you're saying. Makes sense.

I own a fair bit of godox kit and I’m quite happy with it. But I only use it on smaller budget jobs so that’s a fair point. I had a nightmare scenario with studio-owned / rented profoto gear and now I never show up to a studio without a small backup kit of godox just in case because it’s cheap enough to own and fairly easy to pack a ton of lights into a couple of smallish bags.

Such great insight! I really don’t understand why so many people in the comments are defending their use of Godox. Did they even watch the video? 😂 I’m nowhere near your level yet and I pack all my own gear so Godox and Neewer are great for me for now but, like you said, the commercial industry is quite different! I’ll need to adapt as I grow. Always appreciate your honesty, Scott! You’re the least snobby commercial photographer I’ve ever seen on KZread and I always find great value in your content.

@dymone4894

8 ай бұрын

The reason they are defending their use of Godox is not because of the video content but because of the video title. It doesn't say "Why Pro Photographers Do Not Use Godox for Commercial Work", it says "Why Pro Photographers REFUSE GODOX" as though to say that it is an inferior product that no professional photographer would ever use, even if their lives depended on it. Context is everything. Obviously if he is planning to buy a bunch of Godox lights he is not refusing to use them, he just does not have them available for use when he is relying on rented gear.

@fgallego711

8 ай бұрын

Very lovely food profile =)

@The_Idea_of_Dream_Vision

8 ай бұрын

I have watched the video and yes I will defend godox. Not everyone watching these vids is in America. There are no rentals of those prophoto or Bron color in my country but godox is everywhere.

@lindseymoss

8 ай бұрын

@@fgallego711 wow, you checked out my portfolio? Thank you so much! 😊

Wow, I just found your channel yesterday and, no huge offense to other youtube photographer people, but it's rare to see anyone showing this much of their process, talking about their work in the way you do, and to actually know what they are doing and working in a proper studio with proper gear in real time and the results are top quality. It's inspiring to share as much as you have and I thank you for your openness, we commercial photogs are often so cagey with our setups and secret sauce. At this point my main profoto gear almost lives in the cases (I do a lot of travel but on location for commercial and editorial work, not in studio much, so I have a lot of b1s and stands/modifiers that work well outside. In my home studio I use a lot of godox and I have godox speedlights that I use on some of my personal cameras. It's funny as I have been using the godox speedlights for a few years now and I still have no idea how to navigate the menus, so I shoot on my actaul jobs with profoto A1s for speedight. The only tricky cross pollination I am doing now is I have a godox battery powered ring I bring out occasionally, and I fire the ring via hard wire and then trigger my profoto system via transceiver and its worked well so far but was sure finicky at first. Looking forward to diving into more of your videos!

Scott.... I aspiring and finding your videos like having a brother, who is honest and enthusuastic about sharing with younger sibling to get it right.. basically .. appreciate you .. its like phillip bloom in his early days 2007ish.. knowlege just raising us all up.. I appreciate it - very much

Thanks for the perspective 😊

Been super impressed with these when using them with you!

Here's I'm thinking you're going to talk about owning Godox products, but you didn't. The main takeaway from this video is that you don't like using Godox for pro shoots because rental stores don't usually have them. Which is true. Profoto is what I see mainly being rented. But, outside of renting equipment, Godox has been phenomenal during my shoots for less than what Profoto would cost. Plus I own all my gear. I don't really like to rent gear because rentals can be a hit or miss. Sometimes you can rent equipment that don't work like they should. Or there's something wrong with the gear you've rented that the rental tester missed when testing it out before renting it out. So rentals are not always the best choice in my experience. And I'm located in New York City, so we have everything in this city. And there's no shortage of renting Godox equipment here. And there are other places you can rent equipment like 3rd party rental sites like Sharegrid. So there are alternatives to renting Godox equipment if you want to rent Godox equipment. Plus like I said, I own all my equipment, and travel with what I need to travel with. I rather have my equipment that I know very well, equipment that have their settings set up just they way I like them to be set up, so I don't have to go into the settings right after renting something. But, that's just me.

Scott, you hit the nail on the head. I am pretty sure there are many of us that operate in this fashion, especially with the airlines jacking up rates and the possibility of breakage, it's just much easier to work with a rental house out of town. And yes, I still love my godox/Flashpoint pro lights here in town. Cheers!

I never have an issue in what equipment I need to use as I own most of my KIt. I only need to rent special equipment ! Been doing photography since the age of nine!

I’m coming from a newspaper staff position where the studio had neither Profoto or Broncolor lights … the lights had been there attached to ceilings, and what not for a long while and worked quite fine… what would you recommend as a starter Profoto kit… 2 lights… “affordable”… 😉

Very true. I remember back in the day(before 1990's) it was Norman, Speedotron or even Dynalite (mostly fashion shooters).

Wow. This was eye opening. I didn't realize . . .

As a hobbyist I use only Broncolor but exclusively second hand stuff. I like how durable and intuitive the stuff is and even second hand Broncolor becomes affordable if you have patience for a good deal… Have you ever thought to rent your own gear to yourself for improving the income?

Hi my fiend I’m a photo assistant from Spain, I can tell you that 80% of the photographers I work with don't know Godox and neither the clients and producers…

I'm a pro photog in the sub 3k price bracket he mentioned that uses a lot of godox/flashpoints for my work but I occasionally assist bigger jobs and this KZread video speaks the absolute truth. I love my Godox/Flashpoint stuff and it works great for everything I do, but I know that I will rarely if ever see it on big sets for the exact reasons he discusses.

I have 2 Ad100 2 v1, 3 AD200 , 2 Ad400 , 2 AD300, 1 AD600 and all the accessories. Use them all the time. No problems

It's largely a matter of efficiency and cost effectiveness. I love Godox "at home" or in out of doors work, but, if I have to travel, I'll rent as much as I can from the nearest rental house if possible. And that's mainly because I refuse to buy anything that I will probably use once or twice. It doesn't make sound economic sense to buy certain equipment.

Why are people getting so defensive about Godox…? I don’t think you said a single bad thing about their gear. It’s just industry trends and standards. Perfectly reasonable explanation.

Fascinating insight. There are similar economies in IT. There’s a reason you’ll not see an Apple managed desktop for example and it isn’t because they don’t work or can’t do the job well enough. It’s all costs per unit, managed costs per month and familiarity.

You’re exactly right. It’s all about what’s available to rent and what the crew is familiar with. Same goes with cameras and anything else.

I completely disagree. I am a professional Headshot Photographer, generate six figures USD in business income and do thousands of headshots every year from individuals to large corporations. I use my Godox gear at every job and it performs flawlessly every time! I bring backups to every piece of gear I bring (cameras, lenses, lights) except stands and backgrounds and never have to use my backup lights. what I do is rotate them from job to job so they can actually get used, otherwise they'll sit the case new for a long time. Also never once has any company I do jobs for has asked me what brand of gear I use. It really means nothing to them. What they care about is the end result of the job and how quick the turnaround time is. As for renting gear, yes, profoto and broncolor make more industrial heavy duty product as they'll be handled by people that do not own them

@jamespitman3357

6 ай бұрын

ive only ever had clients who either like the pic or dont - nothing else ever - over 15yrs

@gbwalther3198

3 ай бұрын

Yeah? How about a client saying, "Oh, by the way...Did you use solar lighting?" "I'm only into natural lighting, don't ever use the ProFoto or Godox!" lol 😎😎

he's not wrong, even Robert Hall (a godox savant) admits that godox user interface can be different for the exact same model. you cannot have your trained professional staff familiar when the user interface behaves different from batch to batch (this was X1T) and nathan cool, noted that the colour temperature changed from frame to frame, due to the godox reverse engineering nature of their 'product development' GODOX dont have an answer for any of the 'quirks and features'. having quirks and features rules them out for professional use. I am not professional, and sometimes they dumbfound me by JUST NOT WORKING.

Probably a regional thing. In my city Godox would be the go to for the reasons you mentioned. A lot of places have godox gear, so its easier to find accessories plus its easier to repair/replace if it breaks. Know another photographer who was shooting with Profoto B1's and when the battery died on one of the lights it took him a month to get a replacement. Probably why few rental houses also stock Profoto and Elinchrom gear, as much as they are reliable once they break its hard to get them fixed/replaced right away. The only reason I would go with profoto is the modelling lamp, its so bright that it makes easier to shape light without firing off dozens of test shots. Wish godox had brighter lamps but they are decent for the most part.

@driftlessgeardemos

6 ай бұрын

Yeah bowens and speedotron were the mid tier go to brands when calumet in the states was around but that’s all shifted with their closure and godox showing up. All the major studios I’ve worked in/for have a mix of lighting systems. No source is too scrappy.

as a automotive photographer, i own 7 of AD1200pro. most current jobs usually now just give you a budget and doesnt allow you rent much. i would say NOT all assistants are familiar with bron & PF. my asisstants needs to be able to do grip and handle ARRI HMI, tungsten. skypanels, nanlite, aputure, titans and the list goes on. the rental rates in china for AD1200pro is USD$40 per day. having tested AD1200pro with a sekonic color meter, color consistency more consistent than Pro 4b.all my 7 sets are 5550-5650k regardless of power settings 2.0 to 10.0. matching the color consistency of bron. the freeze speed may not match a SCORO, but it has got better shutter sync trigger than bron. able to sync up to 1/500 with phaseone before radio latency becomes a problem for the X1/X2/Xpro triggers. in terms of continous shooting, 8-10FPS is the limit. it's almost match a pro10! THERE IS NO WAY a pro4B can match up to it. NOT to mention. AD1200pro as got a power option to use AC as a continous power source. AD1200pro isnt meant to be a rental product. it's meant to be owned. it's cheap enough to be owned.

As a commercial photographer, I do the same thing -- Profoto rentals for all *produced* commercial/advertising jobs where I get to hire lighting techs and the most experienced 1st and 2nd assistants. However, if the "commercial" shoot is small enough that a producer isn't required, I have enough Godox equipment (including some backups) and grip to get the job done, including pocketing the lighting and grip fees (yay). The pressure is low enough that the 1st assistant doesn't need to be as quick as on Profoto lights, but the 1200s are extremely straightforward anyhow. Only drawback to Godox is the build quality (mainly the contact points on the batter chargers, which are extremely easy to snap) and of course that the resale value is terrible!

@TinHouseStudioUK

8 ай бұрын

Yes that’s exactly how I do it too. Win win 🎉

Does the rental landscape allow any use for Elinchrom lights?

Glad I watched the whole video. I was defending my Godox's etc. and then realized your point. Almost like a trick...hahah

I'd argue that with the increase use of LED lighting for video, most rental houses do in fact carry bowens mount modifiers as all LED lights use it. As far as the trigger is concerned, nothing plugging a pocket wizard into the pack won't take care of.

100% agree, photography is no different from any other trade, if you are a builder, you’re not gonna use tools from Lidl. 😂😂😂 I am hobbyist photographer, I did tried cheap Chinese stuff to begin with and they never worked, especially in the moment when I need them to work😂😂 I learned over the years that less is more, get one but good thing and you achieve way more with it.

I'm a pro photographer that's used ProFoto and Godox interchangeably and I genuinely wish Godox and other light companies would just copy Profoto's interface designs. I am so tired of the over complicated, feature-laden nonsense companies like Godox pack in their lights and triggers. I need them to be on or off and have power adjustment. That's IT. I don't need multi mode flash sync extra whateverthehell features. For the 5 people that have ever successfully used those features, I'm glad they exist. But I would literally pay extra to never have to deal with them. I think a large part of the reliability issues lights outside of the "pro" gear sphere have stem from all the extra stuff. For me, if I'm shooting an event, I'm bringing my Godox kit. But if I'm shooting in a studio and the client has the budget, I'm renting Profoto gear simply so I don't have to explain to anyone how to make the lights brighter.

Commercial work is what I want to get into. (Any tips on how to do that?) I just live in such a mediocre area (midwest U.S.) that getting my work seen by anyone isn't easy. So I own a set of 4 neewer strobes for studio work. Learned how to use profoto strobes in school though, so that's a plus!

@TinHouseStudioUK

8 ай бұрын

Best buy hardest advice is once you get good, move to New York

Definitely was not the answer I was expecting as I figured Godox would be a dime a dozen! Great info, great video as always!

@TinHouseStudioUK

8 ай бұрын

Glad to help!

In my local market, not many photographers have profoto, no one has broncolor. Pretty much everyone shoots godox. Most assistants here know how to work godox lights. Which is great because budgets here are too low for profoto unless youre one of the 5 photographers in the area getting booked by the few worldwide names we have here.

I’d love to upgrade to Profoto but for the time being I like to use my Godox….I mean “Flashpoint” flash I got for free when I purchased the A7III from Adorama 3 years ago. Still does the job for me though I do like the lighting that comes out of Profoto and Westcott lights & flashes. EDIT: I spoke too soon, the mount of my Godox/Flashpoint flash just broke and now I need to buy a replacement one but B&H/Adorama are closed on Saturdays. Karma got me.

I wouldn't touch it ever -UK Pro 35 years in the game - commercial, studio, location, weddings, done the lot - when you rely on quality and completing the job competently time and time again you cannot use inferior tools. However, when I started out I could not afford the 'pro' gear others were using but made it my mission to never compromise and now I don't - if the shot is rubbish - its on me!!

The underlying question is why do rental companies offer only Broncolor and Profoto? Part of it is the market-driven demand factor, but partly it is also TCO (total cost of ownership) driven by mechanical durability, availability of spare parts and possibilies to repair. Rental gear gets a lot of abuse. In our studio we use Profoto and whenever something breaks, it gets repaired and in the meanwhile we get a loaner. That kind of support is part of the purchase price.

For a few years, I used Phottix remotes and triggers. I had a number of issues. I switched to the less expensive Flashpoint, (Godox sold through Adorama) and haven't had any issues.

I work with Godox often, and I'm happy with that. But it's true, when I work for a client and they ask, I always rent Profoto.

in the commercial portrait situation im in, clients usually come to me, or I do load up a van and go to location for a client who isn't an agency, so I own my stuff, and for the money Godox is everything I need and then some. also out here in the middle of nowhere rent houses aren't really a thing, if they do exists its not reliably available. However, if I showed up to a set and one of the grips didn't have any experience on godox or didn't have the base knowledge to figure it out, that's really a them problem, not godox, Id expect an industry pro to have at least a baseline knowledge of even obscure brands and mastery of the major brands.

i only seen two photographers using broncolor in my lifetime. and i’ve been a photographer for many many years in tx and ny. the first time i’ve seen it being used was for an Addidas ad shoot here in texas. after working all morning setting up, when the broncolor power pack came out to be plug up to test, the 4 assistants and i stood over it all confused as to how to use it because it had too many buttons 😂 we had to get the photographer to come show us lol! we’re only used to profoto gears or older gears from the past. but i heard they’re the best with consistent lighting and color control

Would you please mention how such large-scale gear is rented? I understand that you can rent gear from a rental house, but there are some nitty-gritty things that I am thinking of. If you rent $20,000 worth of lighting gear (which looking at Broncolor retail prices would take no time at all), how much of a deposit are you expected to put down? I have a spot where I rent lenses, and they put the replacement cost of the lens on my credit card as a hold. So, if I want to rent a Sony 400 mm lens, they hold $1500 on my card. Do rental houses generally put big holds on your card, or do they have a different means, such as a deposit? Also, how does rental gear typically get delivered to you? How far in advance do you typically make a reservation? What do you do if crucial gear isn’t available to rent? How is the gear delivered? Are you picking it up and getting it out in your vehicle directly from the rental house, or does it get shipped in?

You mentioned that if the shoot is happening in your studio that it's generally not a high budget shoot. Where are you doing higher budget shoots and why not in your studio?

@blubravery

8 ай бұрын

On location. His studio is built to work. Sometimes for e commerce you may have to use an all white studio, or need a whole lot of space. It's males more financial sense to have a smaller studio to do your personal projects than the overhead of a warehouse type studio.

@TinHouseStudioUK

8 ай бұрын

All high budget shoots happen in London so we travel down and rent a suitable studio space and kit. Main reason is that all of the talent are in London and its a bit rude me getting everyone to travel to me, rather than just me travelling to them. But when jobs are smaller we might use non London folk and my studio is cheaper by the day to use than a london one. We can also skip kit rentals etc and use my own kit and charge out a smaller fee etc.

@kawabunga660

8 ай бұрын

@@TinHouseStudioUK Makes sense, thank you for elaborating! Thank you for sharing your experiences.

I'm not offended by anything you say. I love my Godox. I think it's great that they're trying to mimic Profoto - it's great for us lower-budget photogs. That being said, you have a much more large-scale business model than most, and you rent everything. You even have the luxury of showing up at a shoot without a camera - good for you. Not sure if I would trust Godox on a six-figure shoot either, even if it were available from rental houses. Of course, I don't have many six-figure shoots, so there's that.

Totally get it. Curious if owning Profoto strobes and some basic Profoto modifiers is cost efficient. I bought three Profoto D1 strobes and five Profit light modifiers. Worth the purchase price. They are work horses.

The only difference I noticed between Godox and Profoto is some better colour consistency on Profoto and of course the menu/UI on the compact flashes. But beside of this the Godox lights are just fine. Never had any issues. And if your assistants don´t know how to use Godox lights then you should should book other assistants! Godox lights are pretty much self explanatory. When I was using Profoto on a job the first time I learned how to use them in 5 minutes and Godox is even easier to use considering the remote trigger.

Interesting perspective.

I love your videos. So much great information. I knew about Broncolor in the 80's, but never purchased any. I did commercial photography years ago and moved to Portraits and Weddings. I quit doing weddings. After watching Scott's videos I decided to get back into commercial, product photography. I purchased a used Broncolor Opus A4 flash kit. I'm looking at getting a used Scoro pack and 3200J flash head. Don't know if that will happen. I love the way the Broncolor packs work. I couldn't afford Broncolor new, but used I can afford. I want to try using reflectors again. As per Scott's suggestion - I'm working on a portfolio of images I want to make and then create a web portfolio and print portfolio and take show it to potential clients. I can't wait to play with the Broncolor light kit and see what I can create. I like purchasing good equipment that will last me a lifetime and work well with less problems. For my portrait work I still use some Photogenic flash units from the 1960's.

I’m an amateur who only uses a godox strobe (ad400) perhaps once every month or two over the last two years and the stand handle broke (the screw to secure it on the baby pin somehow cross threaded itself?) and now I have to replace the whole part. Also the thing sags when you put a decent size modifier on it. So my personal godox units at least have been a bit flimsy.

I agree and see the same thing. However, it is pretty ridiculous considering that if you know how to operate a Profoto pack, it should take you all about 5 seconds to figure out how to work a Broncolor or Godox pack. The biggest challenge is modifiers, so I always keep a few extra speed rings around so I can adapt anything if I need to.

@jean-claudemuller122

6 ай бұрын

I don't think so, each system is different, high end Broncolor packs have 3 different individual outputs with full control on power and separated color temperature fine tuning. A lot of professional work is done in rental studios that have their flash system + technical assistants that can drive these systems with closed eye, when there would be a technical issue they also have spare gear for replacement within a few minutes.

@driftlessgeardemos

6 ай бұрын

100%. I’ve used all the major brands and they take all of five minutes to sort most controls with a few Easter eggs you’ll rarely need.

I use godox for commercial works. I have attachments for both Profoto&Broncolor, so to use their modifiers. I like the radio controls on Godox system, they are simple and easy to use.

Been using Godox/Flashpoint for about 8 years. But, with that said, I am looking to upgrade in the next year or two, and I will be going to profoto.

Every studio I have ever walked into here in the USA had Broncolor for the most part, some Profoto some a combination of the two. Everyone knows how it works and how to fix it if there's a problem. In my home studio, I use Flashpoint (Godox branded for Adorama.) But as you said, they stay put and I don't take them with me for jobs outside of my studio. Broncolor is also good for splash photography with a short flash burst, Profoto is second in that category.

I’ve never thought about renting equipment for a photoshoot. 😅 I need to get some bigger jobs!

I’ve definitely used godox gear on major photo campaigns. I can afford to have backups of back ups of backups of backups and the light quality and modifiers are great.

yep as a hobbyist photographer I was able to find Godox tt350f flash for $65 new

Godox offers great value. But one thing that isn’t talked about enough - my Godox AD600 and Ad100 Pro both overheat after 40-50 full power flashes. This overheating aspect is even mentioned in the Godox user manuals. My Broncolor lights can be fired at full power non-stop all day. For fast paced fashion shoots where you’re firing rapidly to get ‘the shot’ I have found Godox to be much too prone to overheating at high power settings. I usually only use them when I’ll only need 1/8 to 1/4 power at most, and then they are pretty good.

He's completely correct. Long John Silver stands do have a picture of a pirate on them.

This is such a first world problem kinda like Nolan wouldn't need to own a 70mm IMAX recorder, but even as a hobbyist I'll probably never buy a Godox again (have had many in the past as well as Metz, Nissin, Panasonic and Sony), I don't have very good experience with the current one because of the quality control, and being a hobbyist means I want to photograph for fun, surely the saved couple of hundred dollars aren't worth the inconsistent experience.

Must be quite a shock to the system when the low-med tier pro has to transition from godox to broncolor. I remember trying to figure how to work my friend's elinchroms and though I accept they're perfectly good lights not being fluent with them and their quirks just drove me insane that day.

Thanks for the video. In my world it's similar to the audio standard Sennheiser MKH 416. Perhaps not the best but that's not the point. The work can be matched in any industry studio.

I use Godox, started with V1 and after one season I was having major misfiring problems, at the point I couldn’t trust it to use on events, then I sent it back and got full refund on Amazon, so I bought the portable one with the receiver, works fine, but I do feel like it’s not consistent, it works for what you pay, but I’m definitely going to try the profoto

Yeah, like I have 20k to invest in a set of lights because I can rent with 200/day some more, while I could get instead a whole set of godox lights with 5k and buy extra lights instead of renting. I recognize the quality and durability of the Profoto, but that is valid when you have really high budget projects and you earn enough in a year to make the change! And if I have a very well paid project, what stops me to actually buy more godox lights and save me from long term renting costs? You are talking about renting like it is for free. It depends what you are renting in fact.

Loaning is another way I doing it. With 3 of my photographer friends using Godox system, we loan the lights to each other when required.

Question: I'm starting up my photography business and building up my lighting and trying to get the most affordable but quality lighting gear. I've been considering the Goddox v1-C as my on-camera flash/controller as well as getting a StellaPro reflex. As someone who does some professional work, would you say those lights would be quality enough for someone of my level even if I'm trying to produce professional work?

@SystemParanoia

8 ай бұрын

1:05 - 1:15

@ThisDudeTrippin

8 ай бұрын

@@SystemParanoia yes, thank you for the assistance. I'm asking the question because my specific question wasn't answered clearly in the video

@omnirhythm

8 ай бұрын

Actually it answers your question perfectly. All it takes is being objective towards your own skill level and you'll easily deduce what you should be getting. If you don't have everything else in the same high end as Profoto and Broncolor, meaning a high-end monitor, camera and lens, as well as skills and charging fee for each job you take, then there's absolutely no reason to spend money on those. Get some Godox lights, a few different sized softboxes, some good Manfrotto softbox tripods (the 1004 BAC Master is a great choice) and other holders for flags and scrims so you have flexibility in which projects you can take on. Unless you have tons of money to burn, in which case go all out :) @@ThisDudeTrippin

@cloud-bytes

8 ай бұрын

I’d not hesitate if I was using them for weddings, portraits or similar. I have 2 x v1’s and one x-pro Ii trigger. Work very well with great power and longevity of battery. However if I was doing the kind of work mr tin hat does ( spoiler, I couldn’t ) I’d certainly look at following his advice. He knows things.

I have mixed reviews. I've got an amazing AD200 that I use a lot, never fails. But I went through 4 on-camera flash from Godox 'til i found one that worked. It's been working great for 2 years, but the other 3 failed in months. Next ones will probably be a different brand.

Excellent video. Same story goes for almost all industries. There are always a few "premium charging" brands that actually have the greatest marketing power (and are usually US owned - not always US made of course:) ) and they work REALLY hard to get their brands on rental houses, schools, societies. "elite users" etc. so that whenever a big job comes up they are the ones who are the "industry standard". Apart from photography i am also in music industry and same thing applies for "avid" software and hardware for example..Digidesign / Avid is considered the "instustry standard" in music production and almost all big studios use their software (and yes their tied up hardware components so that you can't easily get out of the wagon). Therefore music schools teach Avid stuff, they buy overly discounted Avid hardware etc etc...and guess what, whenever you go to a studio, if you don't know Avid stuff, they dont get you as intern and later on as an engineer... Of course as you guessed, software like Cubase, Studio One, Ableton etc are more than capable, in fact cheaper to run, and in most cases much more modern and lightweight on your system and they have tons of more unique functionalities compared to the "industry standard"...Same story everywhere..

I'm glad it had nothing to do with quality because I need a good starter set and I want to keep my budget under $600 USD. Was able to get backdrop with stands on temu for less than $50.

In the U.S. it is best to buy the Flashpoint branded from Adorama. Adorama does deal with returns and problems well. I was just in Vegas for a workshop and the only kit I could rent was... GODOX. I do have some Flashpoint/Godox and it's pretty easy to use. It also takes Bowens mount, just like the whole line. the 400/300 are "Mini-Bowens"? But all flashes do talk to their R2 remotes. Godox/ Flashpoint is popular because of it's cost and it performs pretty well. I've now done a few location jobs using the Flashpoint and it did the job really well. The batteries seem to run a good long time and the equipment was overall very consistent. And these were location gigs with some challenges and it went better than using my "go to" kit, which is White Lightning. What I also like about the Flashpoint/ GODOX is the extension heads for the 400 and 600. They stole it from RiME LIGHT Korea, but it works great. Pretty much using the main body of the Monolight as the power source as well as ballast for your stand and then a much lighter weight head on top of the stand.

I asked a rental company I use why they didn't do Godox. The reply was that Godox aren't robust enough to stand up to rental, multiple, non-owner users. People don't take care of rented stuff as well as they take care of their own stuff, which is probably true. I own Godox along with Bronnie, I take care of the Godox and they are fine, although I worry a bit when assistants start chucking them around, but Hey Ho they're cheap!

@TinHouseStudioUK

8 ай бұрын

Yeah they would break very fast as rentals

@gr-os4gd

8 ай бұрын

So true; there's a reason for the expression, "Beat it like a rented mule."

Also the godox menu systems are a pain in the arse when you’re trying to move quickly on set!

I’m fairly certain Godox is like a de facto standard for event photography. But for commercial studio work then it could be the rental studio doesn’t use Godox and have legacy profoto gear and modifiers.

My ad400pro has been just awesome. I do however use broncolor for my modifiers as I find the godox one (except the newer reflectors) are poorly built and a pain in the ass to set up and take down. Also light isn’t as nice.

if your line of work requires you to Rent lights for your jobs. You wont find GODOX anywhere outside of a company like Sharegrid. But you prefer to own and travel with your own gear. Then what ever you use is fine. Hope you understand. Godox is not bad.....Just not available at Major rental houses and probably never will be!

Historically (at least for the last 50 years that I've been involved, and the 10 years before that which I'm aware of), retail photographers have generally not used the same lighting equipment as commercial professionals. As we evolved into electronic flash, even top retail photographers were more often using brands like Photogenic that commercial photographers hadn't even heard of.

Great fun video, Bravo Scott 😎 The "light-signatures" emitted from the smaller style of flash-tube designs in "pack-heads" and "monolights" always yield very much harsher, always lacking signifcantly in the mid-tone contrast range, when compared to that of the elongated, exposed, u-shape flash tube design that is used in the the Briese Para.2 system! Any time you find yourself in here Scarborough Scott, You & Team, always most welcome to pass by and do a studio shoot with our in-house Briese focus.2 115 S-H parabolic flash lighting system The light-signature is truly otherWorldly!! Best wishes, Richard Alan Mulford 😎

Interesting. Thanks. toronto canada

Light is the eye of the beholder and your creativity defines your artistic craft not the gear.

I was looking to get into profesional portret photography and a godox set wuld be less than one profoto flash and since I own 2 speedlights and a remote from them I dont think renting such equipment is for me.

I'm certain that you are absolutely right if one lives on an Island--where everybody knows everyone's business--the more snob appeal, the better. "Stuffy Old England," so they call it. Even in the Wild West of the USA, we have similar problems--take Los Angeles for instance. I did spend a couple years at CalArts eons ago. Anyhow, let me tell u about a product shot for a legal case which I did in Alaska. An airplane engine fell out of an airplane while it was under flight. What did I use to "get the shot,?" (1) A vintage camera, a Zeiss Contarex with Planar lens. (2) The backdrop: A blue Tarp on the pavement. 3. Manfrotto Tripod and (4) Available Natural Light. By the way the Law Firm won a huge settlement for the client when the case wrapped up. So my conclusion in reference to Godox Lighting Gear: Just come shoot your pics in Alaska. Nobody here cares. At least those who really matter. 😎😎

Only reason is that it isn't consistent white balance but that can be fix in post

If Canon can produce $1000+ speedlites that have a +-50-75k shift, I’d happily spend the money. In the meantime, Godox is awesome. I’d prefer Godox over ProFoto because of the colour stability, just because Broncolors are sooo expensive

When I started in commercial photography forty years ago I built a light kit based on Speedotron and was very happy. When I bought a Sinar P2 the rep made me a deal on a Broncolor system that I couldn't refuse. The colors I captured with the Broncolor system were noticeably better than the Speedos. It wasn't until I actually started using better (and more expensive) lights that I saw the limitations of the lesser system. There is usually a reason why one brand costs less than another.

I use my own Godox for small jobs. If I need to use Broncolor, I just rent them. No conflicts.

Great Video

@TinHouseStudioUK

8 ай бұрын

Thanks!

I wonder how much of it is theater as well. Sure, looking fancy and pro doesn't change your ability to do the actual work, but if a company is paying you thousands and thousands of dollars, I imagine they don't want to see you using consumer, or prosumer kit (if they know what that looks like). Yes, the priority is absolutely getting the job done right, but whether it should or not, I have to imagine that appearances matter too. It's the same kind of situation as if you hire a contractor and they show up in a rusty beat up Ford with everything piled in the back vs. them showing up in the well maintained company truck with everything tidy and organized. They could do the same quality work in the same time, but you'll feel a lot more comfortable watching the company guy doing his work.

Great POV..

I had never thought about that. Like I knew for like shooting video work, sure a lot of the pro movie studio lighting equipment you would rent. But me as just a photographer, I lug all my gear with me when I'm shooting on location or if I'm renting an hourly studio. I don't have much gear, but they're all MY gear and I bought them with money I earned....from my day job. Nobody ever pays me for my photography, sadly. Nobody here where I live pays for commercial photography, it seems. And if they do, they're cheap they dont want to spend more than $100 for headshots even!

This has been a really interesting, and helpful, video. I shoot products from a tiny studio inside a creative agency's office, and for the past few years I've been using 3x Bowens monolights. They've been great for most of what I do but recently we've also been doing more casting/fitting shoots with live models, plus a few out-of-house bigger studio product shoots, and often the Bowens heads are coming up short. So, I've recently been looking at upgrade options for our own in-house kit and the Godox AD1200s seem to be ideal. I've been considering Profoto and Bowens, but I suspect the finance dept at work will push back because of the cost (we'd only be able to afford monolights anyway, and I'm preferring the idea of the separate heads with the AD1200s). Additionally, I've used Profoto kit on three shoots to date but there have been serious reliability problems on two of those occasions. Perhaps I've just been unlucky, but it is still a bit off-putting.