Godox Xpro trigger - quality? Is there an alternative?

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Bebop

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I was using my Godox XPro (Canon) trigger this week, on my OM1 camera and had some issues. It became obvious that the battery contact is not making good contact with the battery. The camera was positioned with the lens directed at the floor, so gravity was not helping.

I didn't want to try and bend the contacts at the time as we had booked a room for the shoot, we had a lot of images to take, and I didn't want to risk snapping it. I discovered that if I removed the trigger, gave it a little shake and set it up again, it would work for the next few shots. I was focus stacking and came home with 1300 shots, so as you can imagine, it was all a bit tiresome and a little embarrassing. Not a paid job thankfully, just helping a friend out.

I wondered if anyone else had suffered similarly... I'm guessing most people don't use their triggers whilst the camera is pointed at the floor... but also if there was any other trigger that might be more reliable that would work with the Smartflash studio lights.

I'll have a go at bending the contacts, and I may invest in an Olympus dedicated Godox trigger - I wondered if any other might model be a better buy? I think there is a more whizzy one now.

Any thoughts welcome... apart from take a back up trigger :ROFLMAO:
I'll get in touch with Lencarta where I purchased it and see if they have any advice too. Otherwise the set up has been faultless.
 
There is now an X Pro ii (same shape as the X Pro) and an X2 (same shape as the older X1).
I couldn't comment on their ability to keep the batteries firmly in place as the trigger changes orientation - one option I've seen in the past as a 'jury rig' option is to use a bit of card or thin foam placed on top of the batteries so the cover exerts a bit of pressure on them to hold them secure - it's quick and easy to try?
 
Faldrax said:
There is now an X Pro ii (same shape as the X Pro) and an X2 (same shape as the older X1).
I couldn't comment on their ability to keep the batteries firmly in place as the trigger changes orientation - one option I've seen in the past as a 'jury rig' option is to use a bit of card or thin foam placed on top of the batteries so the cover exerts a bit of pressure on them to hold them secure - it's quick and easy to try?
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Many thanks. I'll give that a try (y)
 
One of my XPro transmitters was dropped, and after that it occasionally had battery connection problems. I fixed it by carefully bending the battery contacts so the cells fit into the contacts a little tighter. Yes, it's easy to break them, so be very careful. You don't need to bend them much.

There is a new version of XPro trigger available now, the XPro II, and it offers improvements in several areas, especially the modeling light controls. The X2T transmitter is another alternative that offers features not included in the XPro I version that are now included in the XPro II as well, but it has a 5 group limit, where the XPro I and II can be set up to control either 5 or 16 groups. Although the appearance of both XPro versions are nearly the same, there are a few subtle differences in the body shape. The XPro II has it's upper left corner clipped at 45 degrees, likely to make it easier to tell which version it is. The bottom side shape battery compartment cover is a bit different with a channel for the Focus Assist light to shoot through, and the hot shoe clamp is now the "Quick Lock" design like first came out on the X2T as well. I didn't like this when first using an X2T, but now after using it a while, I have grown to like it and wish all hot shoe locks were of this design. It's On or it's Off. There is no "Is it tight enough?" any more.

Charley
 
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CharleyL said:
One of my XPro transmitters was dropped, and after that it occasionally had battery connection problems. I fixed it by carefully bending the battery contacts so the cells fit into the contacts a little tighter. Yes, it's easy to break them, so be very careful. You don't need to bend them much.

There is a new version of XPro trigger available now, the XPro II, and it offers improvements in several areas, especially the modeling light controls. The X2T transmitter is another alternative that offers features not included in the XPro I version that are now included in the XPro II as well, but it has a 5 group limit, where the XPro I and II can be set up to control either 5 or 16 groups. Although the appearance of both XPro versions are nearly the same, there are a few subtle differences in the body shape. The XPro II has it's upper left corner clipped at 45 degrees, likely to make it easier to tell which version it is. The bottom side shape battery compartment cover is a bit different with a channel for the Focus Assist light to shoot through, and the hot shoe clamp is now the "Quick Lock" design like first came out on the X2T as well. I didn't like this when first using an X2T, but now after using it a while, I have grown to like it and wish all hot shoe locks were of this design. It's On or it's Off. There is no "Is it tight enough?" any more.

Charley
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Many thanks Charley.

The differences are interesting. At most I've used 3 groups so far, and I can't imagine needing 5 in my very amateur use.

My lights are packed away at the moment. I suppose I don't really need them to try out the two suggestions - packing the compartment, and tweaking the contact. The test button might be enough.

It's so weird the way it worked for say 3 stacked shots (of 10 shutter fires each) and would then fail, even though it was on a tripod and nothing apparently moved. On the previous shoot, I thought my batteries kept failing - they were Eneloops and weren't lasting at all. I now suspect they were fine and it was the contacts.
 
Get an X2T as mentioned above. You really ought to have a back up anyway.

A slightly cheaper alternative (and non TTL) would be an XT-16 Tx. Make sure that it isn't an FT-16 (433Mhz) though. They are very easy to mix up.
 
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Thank you both @DemiLion @wookie6262. I would get a back up if it was a regular occurrence, but it isn't. I haven't used TTL with my lights at all, so that doesn't worry me, although it might be handy if I ever get a Godox flash for on camera use.

I think I might just have been unlucky with the XPro, or maybe the contacts didn't like the continued use at the 90º angle. (It has been 3 full days use like this in the last few months).

I'll have a play in the next day or two and see if I really need to buy another one. I'll check out the X2T and the XT-16, thanks.
 
Few photographers ever need to control more than 5 groups of lights, so the benefit of having an XPro transmitter really doesn't buy you much. The benefits of the XPro I and II over the X2T are more for those doing studio or very large group and large scene lighting shots. If you have lights with modeling light capability, the XPro II now has better control capability of the modeling lights, allowing you to set them at different % levels and turn each one on or off separately from the camera position.

The lower profile X2T will very well do most anything that you will ever need. It is TTL and HSS capable, has a pass-thru hot shoe on top for an on camera flash or another brand of transmitter for controlling other lights as well as Godox/Flashpoint lights, or for just attaching an on-camera larger flash, though when you learn the benefits of off camera flash, I don't know why you would want to use on camera flash again, unless it's your only light source.

I made the transition from my old unreliable lights to Godox by stacking the old transmitter on top of my X2T and running both brands of lights together at the same time. Doing this helped convince me that Godox was the choice for me, and it severely cramped my budget, to replace all of my field and studio lights with Godox/Flashpoint just as fast as I could that year, 4 years ago. It even works with the Godox App so you can make lighting changes in the X2T from your cell phone via Bluetooth, and leave the X2T still attached to your camera. This is another feature more needed for studio work while using a light meter to set the flash power levels. You only need your cell phone and light meter to do it now. You don't need to remove the flash transmitter from the camera and take it with you to make these changes now. The XPro II now has this ability too, but this is another feature that is likely better used in the studio.

I also like the Hot Shoe Lock on the X2T. It is a simple locked or not locked function and there is no tension knob as most hot shoe attachments have. I was happy to see that this feature is now on the XPro II as well.

Charley
 
Something that I missed in your first post here, and nobody else seems to have caught it either - "I was using my Godox XPro (Canon) trigger this week, on my OM1 camera".

Why a Godox XPro transmitter for a Canon camera being used on an Olympus Camera? Godox makes an XPro model designed specifically to work with Olympus cameras for a reason.

This alone could be causing problems for you. It's a shame that the camera industry never standardized the hot shoe design between camera brands, and this is frequently why we have problems using flash models that aren't designed specifically for the camera brand being used. A lot of communication takes place between the camera and flash through the hot shoe connections. A miss-match here may trigger the flash OK, but reliability, especially with other flash functions will likely suffer.

Charley
 
CharleyL said:
Something that I missed in your first post here, and nobody else seems to have caught it either - "I was using my Godox XPro (Canon) trigger this week, on my OM1 camera".

Why a Godox XPro transmitter for a Canon camera being used on an Olympus Camera? Godox makes an XPro model designed specifically to work with Olympus cameras for a reason.
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Because if you are using purely manual and don't require anything that needs OEM settings such as TTL or HSS, then triggers are pretty
much generic, with the notable exception of Sony.

Hence I can happily use my X2T, XT-16 and XT32 Canon units on my Fuji with no issues at all.
 
@CharleyL Sorry for the delay responding. I run Canon and Olympus systems. I would usually use my Canon with my lights but in this instance I was doing in camera focus stacking, so the Olympus was the camera of choice. So far I haven‘t seen the need to buy the dedicated Olympus version.

I use on camera flash and TTL for things like event and cup presentation photography. I had managed to confuse myself though ... if I was using on camera flash and TTL, I probably wouldn’t be using a trigger.

Anyway @CharleyL and @DemiLion thanks for your thoughts. I do find the XPro intuitive to operate, and in my fairly infrequent use, that’s a bonus. An app the other day would have been handy as it was difficult to see what I was doing on the trigger, but it is an extra thing to think about.

I‘ve managed to bend the contacts. The batteries felt more secure afterwards and I couldn’t replicate my previous issue, so hopefully it will be okay now.

If I do have another similar session, I will buy (an Olympus) XT2 or XT-16 and keep the (Canon) XPro as backup.
Thanks all for your input.
 
DemiLion said:
A slightly cheaper alternative (and non TTL) would be an XT-16 Tx. Make sure that it isn't an FT-16 (433Mhz) though. They are very easy to mix up.
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Seconded, these are the most reliable triggers in my bag - with the exception of the no-name universal mains powered job. And I have a _lot_ of triggers. The XT16 doesn't do HSS either if that's a thing for you.

Of the fancier triggers I like the XPro best 'cos it's got a better UI than the X1T & X2T and I'm less likely to adjust it with my forehead - but it doesn't have a passthrough and that's real problem. And it's problematic when used with the XTR receiver on an AD360. I've never bothered with the phone app, it's just one more piece of tech to go wrong.

For all of the 'one trigger system to rule them all' hype I think Godox still have a little way to go.
 
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juggler said:
Seconded, these are the most reliable triggers in my bag - with the exception of the no-name universal mains powered job. And I have a _lot_ of triggers. The XT16 doesn't do HSS either if that's a thing for you.

Of the fancier triggers I like the XPro best 'cos it's got a better UI than the X1T & X2T and I'm less likely to adjust it with my forehead - but it doesn't have a passthrough and that's real problem. And it's problematic when used with the XTR receiver on an AD360. I've never bothered with the phone app, it's just one more piece of tech to go wrong.

For all of the 'one trigger system to rule them all' hype I think Godox still have a little way to go.
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Thank you. I’m still in the baby class on my lighting journey with studio lights, but I don’t think mine are capable of HSS. I have used HSS with my Canon flash on camera, but it’s not a consideration at the moment.

I do have an XTR receiver and that has worked well with my XPro trigger and a Canon 430 flash.
 
DemiLion said:
I've honestly never had a problem running either my AD360's or Safari II's over the 2.4Ghz system.

What issues have you had?
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After firing once the power setting on the AD360 sets itself to 0. I *think* it's 100% reproducible with the XPro but it might also be an issue with the X1T, X2T triggers. I don't think I've seen it with the XTR16.

It seems to be more of a problem if the transmitter is set to a different group to the receiver (but on the same channel) - but I haven't completely pinned it down yet.
 
juggler said:
It seems to be more of a problem if the transmitter is set to a different group to the receiver (but on the same channel) - but I haven't completely pinned it down yet.
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I don't have the XPro but running it on a different group would certainly cause problems - no matter which head unit you are using.
 
DemiLion said:
I've honestly never had a problem running either my AD360's or Safari II's over the 2.4Ghz system.

What issues have you had?
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I had a *really* weird one on my Safari-II (on the 2.4Ghz radio) a couple of weeks ago.

This light, and a couple of AD200's deployed (one using a cement mixer as a reflector dish but that's another story :p ). The trigger is an X-Pro v1 - current firmware. AD200's working fine, no flash from the Safari. Check the channel, check the group matches the one I'm using for it on the X-Pro The knob is a little off so I nudge it and press the test button on the trigger. AD200's flash, still no flash from the Safari. Power it off, power it on, test from the X-Pro, no flash from the Safari. Pull the radio receiver and plug it back in. Still no flash when test button pressed on trigger. Always flashes ok using test button on the pack.

But!! It's executing power adjustments from the trigger, and turns the modelling lamp on and off. Still won't flash when I press the test button on the trigger though. AD200's still flashing. To test all combinations no matter how improbable, I press the camera shutter button. The Safari flashes! I press the test button on the trigger. No flash. We were racing the dying skylight after sunset, so I resumed shooting at that point, and the Safari worked fine for the rest of the shoot (still no response to test button on the X-Pro though...)

I haven't done any more tests on it since but must do that before the next outing.
 
Scooter said:
I had a *really* weird one on my Safari-II (on the 2.4Ghz radio) a couple of weeks ago.

This light, and a couple of AD200's deployed (one using a cement mixer as a reflector dish but that's another story :p ). The trigger is an X-Pro v1 - current firmware. AD200's working fine, no flash from the Safari. Check the channel, check the group matches the one I'm using for it on the X-Pro The knob is a little off so I nudge it and press the test button on the trigger. AD200's flash, still no flash from the Safari. Power it off, power it on, test from the X-Pro, no flash from the Safari. Pull the radio receiver and plug it back in. Still no flash when test button pressed on trigger. Always flashes ok using test button on the pack.

But!! It's executing power adjustments from the trigger, and turns the modelling lamp on and off. Still won't flash when I press the test button on the trigger though. AD200's still flashing. To test all combinations no matter how improbable, I press the camera shutter button. The Safari flashes! I press the test button on the trigger. No flash. We were racing the dying skylight after sunset, so I resumed shooting at that point, and the Safari worked fine for the rest of the shoot (still no response to test button on the X-Pro though...)

I haven't done any more tests on it since but must do that before the next outing.
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How very strange. I wonder what would happen if you swapped the groups over?

Do I need to add a cement mixer to my wish list? :ROFLMAO:
 
Scooter said:
I had a *really* weird one on my Safari-II (on the 2.4Ghz radio) a couple of weeks ago.

This light, and a couple of AD200's deployed (one using a cement mixer as a reflector dish but that's another story :p ). The trigger is an X-Pro v1 - current firmware. AD200's working fine, no flash from the Safari. Check the channel, check the group matches the one I'm using for it on the X-Pro The knob is a little off so I nudge it and press the test button on the trigger. AD200's flash, still no flash from the Safari. Power it off, power it on, test from the X-Pro, no flash from the Safari. Pull the radio receiver and plug it back in. Still no flash when test button pressed on trigger. Always flashes ok using test button on the pack.

But!! It's executing power adjustments from the trigger, and turns the modelling lamp on and off. Still won't flash when I press the test button on the trigger though. AD200's still flashing. To test all combinations no matter how improbable, I press the camera shutter button. The Safari flashes! I press the test button on the trigger. No flash. We were racing the dying skylight after sunset, so I resumed shooting at that point, and the Safari worked fine for the rest of the shoot (still no response to test button on the X-Pro though...)

I haven't done any more tests on it since but must do that before the next outing.
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I've had similar, can't remember the details.
 
DemiLion said:
I don't have the XPro but running it on a different group would certainly cause problems - no matter which head unit you are using.
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Surely you should be able to have all the flashes on the same channel but on different groups so you can control the power of each independently?

In which case all but one of the heads *won't* be on the same group as the transmitter.
 
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