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All looks good to me, as a new buyer it seems to do plenty, I'm not sure I'd need to upgrade to one, but I can already feel my bank card calling!!Big debate is that it now only does about 360 full power pops. Well if the flash is 0.7 stops better then you actually have about 600 pops at the same power as with the standard AD600 and Profoto only has about 220 pops.
This to me addresses a lot of the failings of the original AD600 that people complained about but I bet there will still be moaners.
Thinking out loud, with reliability in mind, I wonder about that new recharge time - 0.9 down from 2.5secs. That's a huge improvement, great news but bordering on too good to be true - way faster than anything similar, and arguably faster than it needs to be. The battery runs at a claimed 28.8v, up from 11.1v, and that compares to the Profoto B1X at 14.4v and a claimed 1.9secs recharge time.
Profoto had a recall on the first batch of B1X batteries, and there must be a downside to Godox ramping up performance like that - increased liability to overheating for a start. A 1.5secs recharge time would still be very competitive.
Thinking out loud, with reliability in mind, I wonder about that new recharge time - 0.9 down from 2.5secs. That's a huge improvement, great news but bordering on too good to be true - way faster than anything similar, and arguably faster than it needs to be. The battery runs at a claimed 28.8v, up from 11.1v, and that compares to the Profoto B1X at 14.4v and a claimed 1.9secs recharge time.
Profoto had a recall on the first batch of B1X batteries, and there must be a downside to Godox ramping up performance like that - increased liability to overheating for a start. A 1.5secs recharge time would still be very competitive.
Maybe it’s tested by the same dept that do car mileage economy figures or the emissions guy from VW......[emoji23]
I've found Godox to be generally pretty honest but here are a couple from my latest bunch of tests: Profoto claimed 1.9, actual 2.2secs; Phottix claimed 2.0, actual 3.0secs.
The mains powered Godox QT-600 II with the same IGBT-regulated power also has a claimed recharge time of 0.9 secs, so we may be in luck
It's official - FlashHavoc http://flashhavoc.com/xplor-600-pro-godox-ad600-pro-ttl-strobe-announced/
And available for pre-order from Adorama at $899USD, up from $750 for the current model https://www.adorama.com/fplfx600ptb.html
The existing AD600 TTL and Manual version are apparently going to continue, at least for now - according to FlashHavoc.
The head protector-cum-reflector is a good addition, very like the Bowens XMT (made by Godox) as is the flash tube shape, and Godox has also added a little diffuser panel.
I was wondering what they were going to do with all those parts left over from the Generation X kit...
Not sure I like the frosted diffuser glass dome thing, wouldn't it be better if the whole thing was frosted or not at all?
I was wondering what they were going to do with all those parts left over from the Generation X kit...
Not sure I like the frosted diffuser glass dome thing, wouldn't it be better if the whole thing was frosted or not at all?
Not sure where this idea came from as all photo gear is built in 1 area except Bowens who started in a totally different city which nobody could understand so to the best of my knowledge Godox did not make the Bowens gear, at least not in their main factory but happy to be corrected on that.
Mike
Not sure where this idea came from as all photo gear is built in 1 area except Bowens who started in a totally different city which nobody could understand so to the best of my knowledge Godox did not make the Bowens gear, at least not in their main factory but happy to be corrected on that.
I'd give them the benefit of the doubt on that. They've obviously thought about it, and my guess is it'll work well - helping to fill a softbox right to the edges and reduce the hotspot that pretty much all softboxes have to some extent (even those that claim otherwise).
I'd guess though, that it's more to do with the substantially uprated modelling LED. Like most, the current LED produces a very hard light and with a softbox this projects a clear pattern of the inner-diffuser and it's elasticated fittings onto the front panel. The little frosted front should fix that.
Area 1.... ? Not heard of that. Several flash manufacturerers are located in Shenzhen, which is China's technology hub, and Godox is one of those. There are very good reasons for this, a good supply of skilled engineers, who of course bring ideas, skills and knowledge with them when they change jobs, a good suppy of electronic components, firms that make very good tooling, immediately next door to Hong Kong, etc. But flash manufacturers are in lots of other places too, including Shanghai. Bowens chose to go to somewhere pretty obscure, no doubt for an equally obscure reason. Their physical distance from the Godox factory, where 'their' latest flashes were made, isn't really relevant because Chinese infrastructure is excellent.Not sure where this idea came from as all photo gear is built in 1 area except Bowens who started in a totally different city which nobody could understand so to the best of my knowledge Godox did not make the Bowens gear, at least not in their main factory but happy to be corrected on that.
Mike
The only real downside that I see to this apparently excellent new product isn't directly related to the actual product, but to Godox's policy of constantly updating their range, just like Canon - second hand values plummet.
What I meant is that the constant introduction of new, improved models means that the second hand value of previous models is much lower than with manufacturers who don't follow this policy.Isn't that a good thing for end users? "Oh noes what do I do, the market is flooded with all these amazingly well specced dirt cheap monoblocks... but I really wanted to spend 2-3 times more to get a new version with a frosted dome."
Not that the pro update is just a frosted dome but we're very much into incremental improvements here on.
What I meant is that the constant introduction of new, improved models means that the second hand value of previous models is much lower than with manufacturers who don't follow this policy.
I'm not saying that it was a good thing, but as an example, because for many years Bowens failed to bring out any substantial improvements to their range, second hand flash heads kept their value very well.
For professionals, this doesn't really matter because money spent on new tools is written off as part of the cost of business, but for the amateur market (which Godox aims at) the situation is very different.
For Amateurs it's both good and bad news - for someone looking to 'dip their toes' into strobes, it means they can pick up decent spec kit at bargain bucket prices - which is great.
For someone wanting to upgrade, it's a problem, as they'll get less when they try to sell their 'old' models - but the only reason they will be selling their old strobe and getting a new one is because Godox (or similar) have released a new, improved model, and they want the added features - and it's difficult to justify complaining that the advent of the new version you want has caused the resale value of the old model (that you no longer want) to drop
The short answer is that I just don't know, but I strongly suspect that Godox supply Andorama with parts FOC and that Andorama covers the labour costs. It may well be that they sometimes replace, and repair later.A bit OT, but are we seeing a new business model being trialed by Godox in the US with retailers Adorama? Adorama offers a three year warranty, but reading between the lines of posts on US forums, it seems like they don't actually repair much, but simply replace it with new.
How can Godox afford to do this? Well, there isn't the very substantial cost of running a US service department for a start, and provided the units are pretty reliable in the first place it should only be small numbers. Then the faulty units are shipped back to China, repaired at the factory, and maybe resold on the domestic Chinese market. But what happens after the warranty expires, or with accident damage not covered by warranty? Could they still simply replace those items for a fixed cost of say £200 (or whatever)?
I have a hunch the numbers might just stack up, in which case Godox can cut out the traditional distributor that is currently playing a key role in keeping prices low. From our point of view, this arrangement would be a massive incentive for Godox to maintain high standards of reliabililty, and if I was a working professional needing to get my kit back urgently, paying £200 for a guaranteed replacement unit by return of post would be very appealing.
Just thinking out loud here
The short answer is that I just don't know, but I strongly suspect that Godox supply Andorama with parts FOC and that Andorama covers the labour costs. It may well be that they sometimes replace, and repair later.
Your theory that they may be sent back to Godox in batches, who then repair them may also be true,but it's unlikely that repaired units are then sold in China because although this product sells wellin both Europe and the USA, they hardly sell at all in China.
In fact, Godox are now starting to go down the distributor route, very belatedly, one per country. And margins aren't fat, they are extremely tight, because reputable businesses that pay VAT and other taxes and that have overheads, have to compete with Ebay sellers that evade tax, have no overheads and don't hold stock. In the U.S., it's Andorama who have the distribution. I believe though that it's still all about sales volume, with customer service very much on the back burner and at the discretion of the distributor.It's more a hypothesis really Garry - how things might work without going down the traditional distributor route. That's the key to it, cutting out the local distributor and the fat slice of margin that they take. In today's new business landscape the only thing that can't be worked around or handled some other way is local servicing.
It's not about whether Chinese photographers would like the flashy new products if the price was right, it's about whether they actually see any point to having them.but your comment re the Chinese domestic market reminds me of the two shoe salesmen who went on reconnaissance to Africa. One came back and said it's hopeless, nobody wears shoes. The other came back and said there's a fantastic opportunity, nobody wears shoes! I think Chinese photographers would love a pair of flashy new shoes if the price was right. Maybe a better way might be to ship the repaired units back to the US where they could be given to customers as refurbs rather than brand new replacements.
I can see a lot of OCD types getting hacked off with the group letter on the display.
Not big enough?!
I'd like something that changed colour according to group. Or is that my OCD getting the better of me?
Rob Hall has put up some notes about his tests. Seems that the light is better spread with the new design compared to a hotter centre with the older design. He reckons that there is the same amount of light, just spread differently
Mike