Candid Reviewer
- Comment
This Godox TT350F flash is a FANTASTIC companion to my Fuji X-T2 camera. Although I cant yet speak to its longevity, after several days and several hundred photos, Im delighted to say that it is fully compatible with the Fuji X system, including TTL (i.e., auto flash balance) and HSS (i.e., high speed sync). I dont particularly care about TTL support, as I prefer to control the intensity of the flash myself, in manual mode. However, the HSS feature is great because youre not limited to 1/250 shutter speed. Instead, this flash can keep pace and yield good results all the way up to 1/8000 sec! Even better, this is one of the smallest flashes youre going to find and it runs on two AA batteries, so if you want a flash that balances nicely on the smallish body of the X-T2 and is lightweight enough to carry along all the time, this is a GREAT choice. In fact, at $85, its unbelievably good. The controls are simple and straightforward. I like that none of the controls are buried in sub-menus, but instead, are all quickly accessible on the back via the four main buttons (mode, zoom, sync, and slave) as well as the setting wheel which can be used to quickly adjust the flash intensity up or down in manual mode. To power on the flash, you have to hold the power button for a few seconds, which is a nice touch because it keeps the flash from getting accidentally turned on inside a bag if something bumps the power button. Lastly, there is an illuminated flash button to force fire the flash if you want to check the brightness on your subject. Even better, if you prefer to keep your hands on the camera controls as I do, you can map the flash settings to one of your four way buttons on the back of the camera. Then, at a press, you can gain access to the Fuji flash menu where you can change settings from TTL to Manual to Multi-flash to Off, and also adjust the relative intensity of the flash (from 1/16 to 1/1 power, in 1/3 stop increments) using the rear dial/thumb wheel. So nice. The flash head has a removable diffuser as well as the usual pull-out wide angle lens and white bounce card. The latter works great for casting a soft, even light plus a nice little "catchlight" in the eyes of your subject. Indoors, this flash really shines. With the proper exposure settings and the usual considerations that go with flash photography (i.e., paying careful attention to subject distance and shadows), its guide number (GN) of 36 offers plenty of power and adjustability to grab nice, evenly lit shots of people. Outside, the HSS feature also allows for you to use fill flash to brighten a very close foreground subject against a bright background while using a wide aperture for shallow depth of field; however, in that role, the flash will often feel underpowered as it takes considerable light to overpower the backlit/silhouette effect on a bright day. I find that I usually have to set the flash to full power (1/1) in manual mode and still be within 5 feet or less of my subject. With my Fuji XF35mm f/2 lens (50mm equivalent), that means Im limited mainly to head and shoulders shots only if I want a blue sky in the background in mid-day. Nevertheless, its cool that this flash allows for that kind of thing, and it definitely opens up more creative possibilities. If youre looking for an HSS and TTL capable flash in a small, light form factor with the potential to be integrated into a full wireless multi-flash system (which will require more Godox flashes and/or their X1F wireless transmitter/trigger), this is one of your ONLY choices. At $85, it also happens to be one of the most outstanding values, costing less than a fourth of what Fujis own HSS capable flash would cost you. To me, that made it a no brainer. This is an excellent, compact, on-the-camera solution for dim indoor shots and limited fill flash purposes, with future upgrade potential because it can also be incorporated with, or used to trigger, any of Godoxs other wireless system lighting options. I love it! [UPDATE 7-18-17: I continue to love this flash and it has proven to be both durable and functional so far. One of the comments asked why I gave it four stars instead of five, given how much I like it, so I thought I would expand on my original review. A key reason I deducted one star is that many users will desire the HSS functionality of this flash because theyre hoping to get nicely balanced fill flash shots WITH nicely blurred backgrounds outdoors, in bright light, by combining a wide aperture and fast shutter speed. However, this flash does not really have adequate power to capitalize on that advantage in really bright light unless you also pair it with additional flashes and/or are VERY close to your subject. This is not misrepresentation on Godoxs part; theyre up front about the guide number. But its still unfortunate as I wouldve liked to see them cram more power into this flash, even if it meant bumping up the price point a little. Also factoring into my decision is the thumb-screw style hot-shoe lock, which screws down adequately firmly to stabilize the flash, but feels rather plasticky and cheap (i.e., it feels like the weakest point of the entire build). It may hold up over time--only time will tell--but I wouldve much preferred a more robust locking mechanism and ideally a flip-style lever lock as you find on many other flashes. Additionally, the recharge rate seems a little slower with some battery types and/or once the batteries are drained to a certain level. For a 2AA operated flash, it is more than acceptable performance (and on fresh batteries, its quite good--often under 2 seconds), but after continued use, the recharge rate can drop to as much as 5-7 seconds when firing the flash at full power. This is particularly noticeable using Eneloop rechargeable batteries, which work great for the first several dozen flashes on a full charge, but diminish in performance by taking longer for the flash to recharge thereafter. To be clear, none of these is a significant drawback, but since I dont have the option to award 4.5 stars, I rounded down to 4 stars. Nevertheless, I may still be being too tough on this flash; the fact is, its so good that I cant help being more bothered than I usually would be by these very few imperfections. As a reliable, functional, compact flash with TTL for Fuji cameras goes, this is pretty much an impossible deal to beat. As a tool that allows you to really enjoy the benefits of HSS for outdoor, shallow DOF images in bright light, it feels underpowered and thus, limited. Combining it with additional slave flashes may change how I feel about the HSS functionality--and might even persuade me to bump it up to five stars. But as of the time of this review, I can only evaluate the flash on its own as I dont own any other Godox components (although Ive heard such good things, it was a conscious decision to go with this brand so that, eventually, I can expand my flash options in the Godox line).]