If you were buying into the Godex system what would you recommend

I currently only have a single yongnuo 600ex flash and its trigger. Im in china so both yongnuo and godox are a bit cheaper than stateside. And im getting the bug to expand into flash photography. The only caveat is that I would very much prefer to move to sony in the future for 2main reasons (ie the a7r2 or a7r3) 1.the higher pixel count and 2. the better dynamic range. I mostly only shoot portraits and would probably prefer to shoot outside more than inside. Im also just learning so I think a pair of led lights would really help out as I begin to understand lighting and can see what is going on. And its fairly cheap as well.
Another thought is buying strobes that I can take on location. Am i correct in thinking that if i do switch systems that monolights would be able to also accompany the switch?
Anyways if you were starting out today what would you recommend?

I’d look into the Phottix line before I made a decision.

A friend from China is bringing me Godox lights, unfortunately I'll have them in my hand next week.

If you said you were shooting inside I would say AD200 but as your main goal is to shoot outside maybe a couple of AD600 will do a better job for you if portability is not a big issue?

I ordered one of each to give a try and a SLB as I feel like I need a continuous light from time to time.

Godox is more than half the price of the Phottix.

Any of the latest Godox gear including studio lights will work with most major brands as they have dedicated triggers for them, so changing camera just means changing trigger - if you are going to be outside then the bigger the better as you need the power

mike

would a 600 with a diffuser be enough for outdoor lighting

Yes. I've used it quite a bit with an octobox outdoors. High noon, didn't even need to use HSS to tame the sun.

Godox are really putting our good products. I have both AD600 as well as AD200. Both are nice. Godox also have various hot shoe flashes in case you interested. I have triggers for Sony, Nikon, Canon and now Fuji. Same lights works with all of them. Only issue is with Sony if using TTL. They under-expose when shooting wider apertures.

Outside shooting in the sun, I don't think AD600 has that much power. But they also allow you to buy their 1200ws head and join two AD600s if you need that kind of power. I may do one of these days.

what are you shooting besides the food photography you are working on?

mid-day outside or early/late in the day? Human subjects? Groups?

bobbyz wrote in post #18459988
Outside shooting in the sun, I don't think AD600 has that much power. But they also allow you to buy their 1200ws head and join two AD600s if you need that kind of power. I may do one of these days.

I guess it depends on what you're shooting. This was shot just before noon, bright sun, 1/4 power so I had a couple more stops available.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/PdBB​H5

elitejp wrote in post #18459879
Godox is more than half the price of the Phottix.

And likely to last 10 times longer. I’ve got some 25 year old Elinchrom strobes. Work perfect. Never missed a flash. Godox? Highly unlikely.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18460002
what are you shooting besides the food photography you are working on?

mid-day outside or early/late in the day? Human subjects? Groups?

Food photography is something I want to get better at but isnt something I need to do too often.
Really the main reason i have really enjoyed photography is because I like shooting pictures of people. Generally always single subjects and outside. I like having a beautiful picture of a model with nature in the background. I will shoot indoors but thats mainly if im bored or just trying out something.
Unfortunately it seems that most of the time im out taking pictures during mid afternoon.

Adorama has their version on the Godox AD600, the Flashpoint xplor 600 non-TTL, on sale for $495 today. It's the lowest price I've seen it at. I've also read you get better accessories and service from Adorama compared to the other places you can buy them.

https://www.adorama.co​m/fplfx600bc.html

Maybe we have brighter sun here in CA. I have Einstein which has more power than XPLOR600 and I still can't beat sun unless we talking high performance reflectors like

https://www.bhphotovid​eo.com …rmance_Reflecto​r_for.html

Here from just a week ago. It is bare bulb so assuming I was using 7" reflector I would have more power. I was max power for this, if I am not mistaken. See the sun on her elbow? Now I could have shot in non HSS mode and then I would have more power to play with in this scenario.

ISO100, f2, 1/1250, 1 & 1/2 hr before sunset

As is being demonstrated, they type and positioning of the light modifier makes a big difference in the results. A AD 360 in the right modifier, and at full power packs a nice punch in bright sun. Switch out to a 45" double diffused soft box and things will be radically different.

I like the look of harder light when out in full sun, especially if you are shooting models with good skin. Even most young people can take hard light. Put someone with a little more character in their face out there and the result will be different.

The flexibility of the AD600 and potential for using the 1200 w/s head is pretty darn sweet ... I don't have one, but i am pretty sure this is my next big purchase.