Testing new Godox Witstro Ad360ii.

windrunner

windrunner

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Michael
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So my new flash arrived on Friday and keen to get out and see what it can do I managed to persuade my daughter to stand still for a few minutes :)

This was taken at with a D800, 70-200mm VRi @ F2.8 and 1/3200 so using the flash with HSS through the X1N trigger. Light was on a stand and fired through an 80 x 80cm softbox.

Very impressed with the flash - solid build quality and whilst I haven't done any controlled tests to compare its miles more powerfull then the SB910 speed lights Ive been using for outdoor shoots. The bulb also gives a more even and softer light with less chance of any hotspots that can sometimes be experienced with the speed light. I am by no means a strobe guru and I was able to get decent results as soon as I had figured out how to connect the trigger.

Brookybear by Michael Carver, on Flickr
 
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Beautifully balanced and lit
Lighting wise, excellent; compositionally I'd move your young model slightly off centre.
However, as you say, as a test of the new gear, looks like you've grasped it!
 
Really nice photo, balanced just right.

Just bought one of these myself and impressed too.
 
Thanks

Im still trying to figure out how to get it to fire on rear curtain though - I'm using an X1N trigeer and although the camera flash is set to rear curtain the flash always seems to fire on first. Slow sync is ok though.
 
It's a nice shot, but I don't think this is balanced well lighting wise. It's totally obvious lighting was used (if that was your aim then fine, this is just my opinion, and others above like it). The background, for me, is too dark in relation to your model.

The composition as said above is to central, and shooting from a lower or higher angle would have avoided the horizon cutting across her head.

As a test shot for the kit, great... it works well it seems but no need for such a fast shutter speed - it's not like she's moving a whole lot. Reduce the shutter, let more ambient light in and that will produce a better balanced shot. Done well, you don't instantly notice lighting has been used.
 
Morbid said:
It's a nice shot, but I don't think this is balanced well lighting wise. It's totally obvious lighting was used (if that was your aim then fine, this is just my opinion, and others above like it). The background, for me, is too dark in relation to your model.

The composition as said above is to central, and shooting from a lower or higher angle would have avoided the horizon cutting across her head.

As a test shot for the kit, great... it works well it seems but no need for such a fast shutter speed - it's not like she's moving a whole lot. Reduce the shutter, let more ambient light in and that will produce a better balanced shot. Done well, you don't instantly notice lighting has been used.
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Thanks Ian, appreciate your feedback (y)
 
I wouldnt change a thing myself. I really like this loving the tones and colours here. For me everything sits so well together right down to the the texture and colour of the clothing.

Gaz
 
I think the shutter speed does need to be that fast as it has given the correct ambient he obviously wanted and allowed him to shoot wide open.

Agree on the horizon, something I try and watch for now after kicking myself a few times with shots.
 
Well, If I told you I wanted her head splitting the horizon, the ambient to be a little lower and for her to be bang in the centre of the frame I fear Id be banished from this board for breaking every rule ;)

Just mixing things up a little and I really appreciate everyones feedback and opinions (y)
 
windrunner said:
Well, If I told you I wanted her head splitting the horizon, the ambient to be a little lower and for her to be bang in the centre of the frame I fear Id be banished from this board for breaking every rule ;)

Just mixing things up a little and I really appreciate everyones feedback and opinions (y)
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To be fair you didn't really state what you were aiming for. The 'balanced just right comments' you've received were where my comments were aimed - more towards those comments than your shot, so apologies if that wasn't clear.

What I think is a 'balanced shot', is where the ambient and flash combine to create an evenly lit image. If you wanted your model to stand out and have a subdued background then you've nailed it! [emoji4]
 
Not at all Ian, there is no need to apologies, I appreciate any feedback and opinion.

Although I didn't state it I'm my original post, I suppose the purpose of the test was too see what the flash could do that my speed lights might struggle with, as you can probably tell from the exif data the ambient was pretty bright and I wanted to kill the ambient light whilst shooting wide open.
 
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It's an image I like - and I'll be honest and say that part of that is because you can see artificial light has been used. Perhaps as a test it's pretty useful as well, because if HSS can comfortably overpower the evening sun (ok, the time of evening will help here) at 1/3200 then there should presumably be masses of power left in reserve for more "normal" shutter speeds.

Another thought / question - would it actually be more efficient to use an ND filter if you wanted to shoot wide open? There are a lot of stops to reduce here, but if you were just 2-3 stops over sync would that save "wasting" a lot of that power on HSS?
 
pjm1 said:
It's an image I like - and I'll be honest and say that part of that is because you can see artificial light has been used. Perhaps as a test it's pretty useful as well, because if HSS can comfortably overpower the evening sun (ok, the time of evening will help here) at 1/3200 then there should presumably be masses of power left in reserve for more "normal" shutter speeds.

Another thought / question - would it actually be more efficient to use an ND filter if you wanted to shoot wide open? There are a lot of stops to reduce here, but if you were just 2-3 stops over sync would that save "wasting" a lot of that power on HSS?
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Thanks Paul - I've never really got on with using ND filters especially when shooting into the light like this - problems with focusing and flare. Part of the attraction with this flash was that the battery is pretty hefty - Ive read someplace you can get 400 zaps at full power from a charge - more than enough for me. I also hope to use it for weddings when you don't have the luxury of picking the time for best light. My lens is always weldied to wide open too haha.

The shot above was taken at around 4.30 the sun was higher than you see in the frame - you can see the rim light but no sun in shot (y)
 
windrunner said:
Thanks Paul - I've never really got on with using ND filters especially when shooting into the light like this - problems with focusing and flare. Part of the attraction with this flash was that the battery is pretty hefty - Ive read someplace you can get 400 zaps at full power from a charge - more than enough for me. I also hope to use it for weddings when you don't have the luxury of picking the time for best light. My lens is always weldied to wide open too haha.

The shot above was taken at around 4.30 the sun was higher than you see in the frame - you can see the rim light but no sun in shot (y)
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Yes - that's pretty impressive for something at its price point. The background has that golden tone about it but now I look again it's kind of obvious where the sun is - and it isn't in frame! Nice work as I said - I like the style even if it isn't naturally balanced.
 
Well Im pretty impressed with it so far - fingers crossed its built to last.
 
windrunner said:
... I wanted to kill the ambient light whilst shooting wide open.
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This part I'm struggling with...and maybe it's a difference in terminology used but I'd say you didn't so much 'kill' the ambient light, more like you badly wounded it. If you'd totally overpowered the ambient, your background would be black.
 
Morbid said:
This part I'm struggling with...and maybe it's a difference in terminology used but I'd say you didn't so much 'kill' the ambient light, more like you badly wounded it. If you'd totally overpowered the ambient, your background would be black.
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I'd say it is a difference in terminology and you probably know that.

It's just about under exposing the ambient and 'killing' the bright sunshine.
 
Morbid said:
This part I'm struggling with...and maybe it's a difference in terminology used but I'd say you didn't so much 'kill' the ambient light, more like you badly wounded it. If you'd totally overpowered the ambient, your background would be black.
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Yeah, probably wrong terminology. I just wanted to see if I could use the flash to overcome the daylight.
 
Very nice! I like the balance of ambient and flash, it really brings out the colours in the background. I'd have put the flash on the same side as the sun rather than opposite - it tends to give more natural looking results - but there's not a lot in it in this case as the sun is nearly directly behind.

I don't mind the central position or the head bisecting the horizon but she does look a little low in the frame.
 
I nearly bought one of these a while ago but no TTL put me off, i use manual but always like TTL for certain situations.
I may have to consider one of these new ones now, do you know if other Nikon Speedlights work along side this?

As for the shot, i like it. Lovely tones. I would probably crop it so she's not so central, but that's just me. I look forward to seeing some taken with this :)
 
doublemint76 said:
I nearly bought one of these a while ago but no TTL put me off, i use manual but always like TTL for certain situations.
I may have to consider one of these new ones now, do you know if other Nikon Speedlights work along side this?

As for the shot, i like it. Lovely tones. I would probably crop it so she's not so central, but that's just me. I look forward to seeing some taken with this :)
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I have this and also trigger it with my X1N trigger.

At the weekend I tried to stack my Yongnuo 622TX trigger on top of the X1N to fire my Nikon speedlight oo but it didnt work. I then tried stacking a Yungnuo 602 trigger on top of the X1N and it let me fire the Nikon flash in manual mode.

However I am going to purchase a receiver which will work with the X1N and allow my Nikon flashes to work with it, passing on the TTL and HSS functions too, whilst allowing me to alter settings from camera.

See the link below.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Channels-Wireless-Receiver-Shutter-Transmitter/dp/B016QAK3TU
 
I really like this. As mentioned above, it is apparent that a flash has been used, but the overall effect is great. The larger version on Flickr is especially nice, the overall lighting for me is pretty perfect.
 
Nguss said:
I really like this. As mentioned above, it is apparent that a flash has been used, but the overall effect is great. The larger version on Flickr is especially nice, the overall lighting for me is pretty perfect.
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Thanks (y)
 
Considering one of these myself for outdoor fill.
I like what I see so far.
 
Beautiful shot. love the tones on it as well, the colours she is wearing lend themselves quite well for the overall tonality. Great job.
 
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