Flashpoint XPLOR 600

this was of course discussed many times, but still... how come that Adorama & Godox dare to sell us (__SONY__) this strobe and call it TTL ? here is a simple test - read below :

Test conditions :


- Sony A7R2, firmware version "3.30" + FE55/1.8 lens, firmware version "02"

- no ambient light / no LED model light from the strobe to make sure we are dealing with strobe output only

- Flashpoint AC Adapter Unit for the XPLOR 600 R2 series monolights to make sure we have power for strobe (safer than battery)

- spot metering (not matrix, not center-w, no face detection/eye AF) + camera on tripod + totally static scene (inc. remote camera triggering) = so make sure we have identical conditions, including getting raw data with Rawdigger

- M mode on camera with fixed ISO

- making sure we have enough time for strobe to recharge between shots and we are not getting close to its power output limit (on both max and min power sides of the output range)

- Strobe firmware version "2.3"

- Transmitter firmware version "1.4"

- Shooting distance = at least 2-3 times x "minimum focus distance" for the lens

- Target is a uniform surface (plain styrofoam) with spot metering area completely inside it with a lot of margin around

- Data extracted using Rawdigger, avg green channel (raw data), selection area 400x400 and centered by Rawdigger within the frame, the same position, scene does not change (shooting from tripod, etc).

- FEC on strobe not used/zero
- FEC on camera not used/zero
- FEC on transmitter not used/zero

- no HSS, we are not going in that pandora's box, exposure time will be fixed = 1/250 (x-sync for A7R2)


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Testing will check how changing _only_ aperture from f1.8 to f11 in 1/3 EV steps will affect exposure ( as measured in raw files using Rawdigger ) with TTL - the premise (that is what manufacturer/seller = Godox/Adorama implicitly promise a customer when selling a TTL strobe/transmitter ) is that TTL must make sure that exposure will remain rather consistent ( at least within 1/3 EV margin, no ? ) ... you wish ! see the test results - raw files available

so only from f4.0 onwards we can see something resembling TTL... between F1.8 and F4.0 - total BS.

and for comparison a simple Sony speedlite on camera (same scene)... now that looks like TTL all the way.

I just picked up one of these on the Adorama holiday sale. It is the TTL version and so far I love it but I am having one issue that I am hoping someone here can help with.

So far TTL has been working very well with my Sony A7S, however the one issue is when I put the camera or R2 trigger up or down on the flash exposure compensation the strobe still reads 0 for compensation. I'm not sure if this is normal or not but I would love to be able to dial flash exposure up or down in TTL mode. I have the strobe in TTL mode and it reads the trigger settings fine when using it in manual mode, all adjustments to power work, just not in TTL mode.

Any advice?

*Never mind, I found it in the manual. Apparently you have to set it manually on the strobe, it will not read from the camera*

mourningshadow wrote in post #18229055
*Never mind, I found it in the manual. Apparently you have to set it manually on the strobe, it will not read from the camera*

What you mean? You can set FEC from camera or the trigger.

Well the manual states how to set it on the strobe itself. Any adjustment I make on the camera or trigger to FEC do not register to the strobe.

mourningshadow wrote in post #18229130
Well the manual states how to set it on the strobe itself. Any adjustment I make on the camera or trigger to FEC do not register to the strobe.

FEC on camera (A7R2) works for me and not only FEC - you can also use regular exposure compensation (even if you are in M mode + fixed ISO and exposure comp was left in camera settings from say A mode)... that FEC and/or EC does not show on strobe LCD display of course (if that is what you mean by "do not register to the strobe") - but it works to change the power output ...

mourningshadow wrote in post #18229055
the strobe still reads 0 for compensation. I'm not sure if this is normal or not but I would love to be able to dial flash exposure up or down in TTL mode.

dialing FEC on camera will result in output change on strobe (within power output limits of course), but generally you can combine camera and flash/strobe to go even further up and down... whatever EC you dial on camera will not be seen on strobe's LCD screen

Ok, thanks. Is it also true that FEC dialed in on the R2 transmitter is also not seen on the strobe? This is where I am confused because it seems to me that changes made on the transmitter should show up on the strobe, like it does when adjusting manual power.

mourningshadow wrote in post #18231161
Ok, thanks. Is it also true that FEC dialed in on the R2 transmitter is also not seen on the strobe? This is where I am confused because it seems to me that changes made on the transmitter should show up on the strobe, like it does when adjusting manual power.

The transmitter FEC setting is not displayed on the individual strobes because that's a global FEC setting for all strobes in that group.

FEC set on the individual strobe itself then allows you to vary the output of each strobe even if they are in the same group.


Its a little confusing at first, though they have had to do something to differentiate the 2 settings like this.

Ok, that makes sense, thanks!

Check firmware and do updates

Mike