August 27, 2018
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Birthday In A Flash!
When it comes to my camera gear, one of my best investments was without a doubt my flash. Not so long ago, I bought myself a Godox TT685 flash (and X1-N trigger bundle). I even unboxed it in a video here. An external lash was on my wishlist for a while but wasn’t by the means to get one of my own. At least not a new, decent one.
A couple of gigs in and I was ready to click add to cart.
Although this post is not about reviewing this flash, here’s an overview of its features.
| Mount | Shoe |
| Guide No. | 60 m ISO 100 at 200 mm Position |
| Exposure Control | Manual, i-TTL |
| Vari-Power | 1/1 – 1/128 |
| Bounce Head | -7 to 90° |
| Swivel Head | 360° |
| Coverage | 14 – 200 mm (Full Frame) |
| Zoom Head | Full Frame: 20 – 200 mm |
| Off-Camera Terminal | 3.5 mm |
| Recycle Time | Approximately 0.1 – 2.6 Seconds |
| Flash Duration | 1/300 – 1/20000 sec |
| Flash-ready Indicator | Yes |
| Compensation | -3 EV to +3 EV (in 1/3 EV steps) |
| Slave Timing Modes | Instant Sync Skip Preflash |
| Wireless Operation | Method: RF Distance: Up to 328.08′ / 100 m Method: Optical Pulse Distance: Up to 49.21′ / 15 m Mode: Master, Slave |
| Wireless Communication Channels | 32 Channels |
| Wireless Groups | 5 Groups |
| Power Source | 4x AA Alkaline, Rechargeable NiMH Batteries |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 2.5 x 3.0 x 7.5″ / 64.0 x 76.0 x 190.0 mm |
| Weight | 410 g without batteries |
I generally needed a flash to compensate for bad lighting at certain events, but I chose this particular one with off camera, High-Speed Sync (HSS) portraits in mind. I was intrigued by what you can accomplish with these babies and a decent diffuser. It’s amazing! I was bummed to find out after the fact that my camera body doesn’t support HSS, though. Wanna guess what went up on my wishlist? Yip…a new body.
In the past, I would’ve had to borrow a flash whenever I did an indoor shoot or any other where the lighting conditions were horrible. Earlier in my photography journey, I took on a gig where the venue had the worst tungsten lights ever. I had a nightmare trying to get enough light onto the sensor for half decent photographs and with my baby D5600, I had to keep the ISO under 1200 to avoid a grainy mess. That was a teachable moment.
On many occasions, some fellow togs would be kind enough to lend me their speedlights. My availability to shoot literally depended on whether or not I could secure a flash or not. If I couldn’t get one, I just couldn’t do the gig. The risk of turning out subpar results was too great. Almost inevitable. Needless to say, the purchase made plenty of sense.
I got to take my flash for a spin at a birthday party I shot for my sister. We went to a cool Mexican restaurant, called Tilting Heads Taco Café & Margarita Bar in the evening. As with most establishments, they prioritize the mood when it comes to their lighting setup. Hence, an artificial light source is absolutely necessary.
I was absolutely pleased with the results. Here are some images to go by.
The Godox TT685 range is compatible with Nikon, Canon, Fuji and Sony cameras. I got mine from BHphoto.com, but here are some local retailers making them available.
Had any good buys that took your craft up a notch?
