Expanding current speedlight setup

Hi folks,

getting more and more into flash lighting I wish to expand my set up by acquiring multiple speedlights.

My use is at the moment predominantly outdoor portraits for family and friends with a single 430ex ii and a YN622c system with some light stands and when possible with standard-sized umbrellas/softboxes. Cannot exclude sometime in the future to get into portable 360/600 strobes and/or to set up a proper studio in house.

A straight forward approach would be to add a pair of YN685 but I am thinking to go all godox for easier future upgrade.
Hence my plan is to buy 3x TT685 triggered by a X1t-c and sell the 430ex ii and the current 622-tx + 622c setup. Alternatively I could also consider 1x TT685 (ETTL) + 2x TT600 (manual) for a little saving.

With the above system I expect to access the possibilities offered by multiple lights when shooting indoor and more power outdoor where I can mount all 3 units in a single softbox and in HSS mode (+1.5 stops).

How does this approach sound?

Any time you're looking to switch from Yongnuo to Godox, that's a great plan.

As soon as I got my first AD360 I knew this was the approach to take. Maintaining 622s and all those batteries didn't make sense. A year later I am all Godox. All 622s are long gone. I only need AA for transmitters,. none for receivers either in 360 or speedlites. It all works together.

Get the 860 rather than the 685. The Lithium battery is so much nicer. Faster recycle and long battery life.

Since you are planning to use them outside a lot you may want to think about the AD360 or the just announced AD200.

Both are TTL as are the speedlites. I'd get the TTL version even if you plan to shoot manual all the time. I've found that families and children outside move around enough to make TTL a great advantage.
This was done with an AD600 in TTL mode.

Photo from dmward's gallery.
Image hosted by forum (834446)

Okay, am I missing something here?

I've just used the Canon Speedlites so I have to ask: What is the best brand/type speedlite to use when shooting the stroboist route, and which transmitters/receivers​????

Help please.

Yes, I am seriously considering the ad360ii or ad200 since I highly prefer HSS over NDs.

My considerations/doubts are:
AD360ii - the separate battery may kill portability + requires more time to setup. My use is occasional & for fun. Most of the time outdoor with bare flashes because I have not always time for modifiers and sandbags. I am not sure how practical is the AD360 when compared with carrying 2-3 speedlights.
AD200 - love the self contained feature, though the power seems to match only 2 speedlights. Maybe a compact 400ws in the shape of the AD200 would be perfect.

fplstudio wrote in post #18242619
Yes, I am seriously considering the ad360ii or ad200 since I highly prefer HSS over NDs.

My considerations/doubts are:
AD360ii - the separate battery may kill portability + requires more time to setup. My use is occasional & for fun. Most of the time outdoor with bare flashes because I have not always time for modifiers and sandbags. I am not sure how practical is the AD360 when compared with carrying 2-3 speedlights.
AD200 - love the self contained feature, though the power seems to match only 2 speedlights. Maybe a compact 400ws in the shape of the AD200 would be perfect.

There is apparently a bracket that will mount two AD200 units side by side to provide 400Ws.
There are other ways to accomplish just about the same thing.

Carrying and setting up two AD360s isn't a problem for me. Its a little more complicated than the AD200 or a speedlite but not much.

fplstudio wrote in post #18242619
Yes, I am seriously considering the ad360ii or ad200 since I highly prefer HSS over NDs.

My considerations/doubts are:
AD360ii - the separate battery may kill portability + requires more time to setup.

You had me understanding your problem here,.. but then you followed up with;

IMHO if you are already working with multiple speedlites, aren't you already using stands of some sort? No doubt the AD360 is larger than a speedlight, but they aren't that much heavier or larger really.

One AD360 is lighter and smaller than TWO speedlights. And it has the power of 4 speedlites, making it on a WS / pound ratio smaller and lighter than equal power from speedlites.

And the practicality of the separate battery is that ONE of those battery packs will out last literally DOZENS of AA batteries on a WS per charge basis that you would otherwise be carrying around and swapping out over and over. One of those packs will power two AD360, or one plus a speedlite for days.

In my case i went from using multiple speedlights to a pair of AD360. I have an old (large) Quantaray black camera bag that has been my "lighting kit" bag for 3 or more speedlights, an STE-2 (or later the Yongnuo triggers),. all the little cables I might need, all the damn AA batteries and everything else. Guess what, I can still fit TWO AD360, TWO of the battery packs (you really only need one to power two AD360) and have room for two speedlights if I want them.

Stands are the same exact ones I used for the speedlights,. and they are no more likely to tip than they were with speedlites. If you weren't using modifiers with the speedlites, you don;t need to add them to the 360. If you aren't using stands, (?) the same little feet you put a speedlite on you can put an AD360 on.

If you want small run and gun stuff look into the elinchrom quadra elb gear. It small light weight and much more powerful than any speedlight. But just as portable. I tried studio, and the quantum qflash before getting the quadra light. It doesn't do ttl but can be set to work with ttl flashes. I originally had one light and pack I used it where the power wouldn't need to change much then got an action head to go with the standard head and just recently got a second battery pack. I like them a lot I'm planning on upgrading to three Canon 600 exs and six quadra lights two of each two s, two a and two hs heads and two more batteries instead of the canon 580 ex2, 590 ex and three 550exs that I've now and before the quadra. Each quadra is 400 watts so powerful enough for Hugh speed sync in daylight.

The latest Godox/Flashpoint unit may actually be of some interest for you for compactness.

They include built in li-ion batteries, are about the size of a speedlite, but are more powerful.

https://www.adorama.co​m/fplfev200.html

These and maybe mixed with the existing V860II (also with li-ion battery packs) would be very portable indeed.

My Yongnuos are on their last legs after about 6 years of hard use. They've served me well, but when they finally croak, I'm likely switching to Godox.

Thanks to everyone for the good suggestions. I am pulling the trigger for a V860ii and will stay tuned for the first reviews of the AD200 to decide between this and the ad360ii. A couple of cheap manual TT600s will also follow as for secondary lights don't believe TTL is of any benefit.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18242778
One AD360 is lighter and smaller than TWO speedlights. And it has the power of 4 speedlites, making it on a WS / pound ratio smaller and lighter than equal power from speedlites.

And if you need wider coverage of light, 1 AD360 with it's reflector bowl equal to 8-9 speedlite power if set to 28mm-35mm zoom.

Very interesting information. Much appreciated.

Blackey Cole wrote in post #18242841
If you want small run and gun stuff look into the elinchrom quadra elb gear. It small light weight and much more powerful than any speedlight. But just as portable. I tried studio, and the quantum qflash before getting the quadra light. It doesn't do ttl but can be set to work with ttl flashes. I originally had one light and pack I used it where the power wouldn't need to change much then got an action head to go with the standard head and just recently got a second battery pack. I like them a lot I'm planning on upgrading to three Canon 600 exs and six quadra lights two of each two s, two a and two hs heads and two more batteries instead of the canon 580 ex2, 590 ex and three 550exs that I've now and before the quadra. Each quadra is 400 watts so powerful enough for Hugh speed sync in daylight.

The Quadra is huge and heavy compared with the Godox AD360 for little difference in power. For run and gun, I have a hard time seeing an advantage. I have shot the two side by side using Elinchrom modifiers. The ELB does have a modeling lamp, but it's only really usable in a dark studio.

The Ranger RX AS at 1100WS brings enough extra punch to the party if you need it from a single unit.