Godox Xpro vs. Godox V860II as a remote

Hey all!

I am moving over to the Godox lighting system, at the recommendation of many of the photographers here, as well as the interweb's generally awesome feedback on Godox products.

Currently, I have 2x V860II-N flashes and a Xpro-N remote. I am going to expand my event/wedding lighting kit to about 4x V860II-N flashes, probably a Flashpoint XPLOR 600PRO or two, and maybe some AD200/AD360s.

My question to all here is whether it is necessary for me to hold on to my Xpro-N remote, if I plan to use so many V860II-N flashes. I guess this would better be described with a few "sub-questions":

1. Does the Xpro-N offer the exact same capabilities as a V860II-N in master mode?
2. Am I losing any features by using a V860II-N to control other flashes, versus the Xpro-N?
3. Are there any convenience factors I'm missing that you have experienced with the Xpro-N that are superior to just using a V860II-N to control the other lights?
4. I'm guessing the battery life would be better using the V860II-N as the remote, considering the Li-ion battery pack. Anybody have any opinions on this?

Obviously, the remote is cheaper than another V860II-N, but I'm thinking by the time my light kit is complete, I'll have a couple of V860II-Ns to throw on my cameras for use solely as extra on-camera flash/remote combos. So not a huge concern... especially considering Black Friday deals are probably going to be pretty great this year on Godox/Flashpoint.

Thank you all in advance for any feedback you have to offer! I know I could spend hours combing forums for some of these answers, but I'd rather hear it straight from seasoned pros!

Hmm... I'm a user, and have to admit I never considered using one of my 860vII (flashpoint brand) as the master for all the rest. I got a Xpro transmitter.
I'm not sure you can control the strobes from an 860vII -- if you can, it must have limited functions - I can turn my modeling lights on and off from my xpro for example.

This weekend I used my strobes for key and kickers, and then a flash for a bg light, all controlled on the xpro on the camera. I have speedlights, ad200, and 400w strobes I can control thru the xpro, but now I'll have to see what I can do with the 860vii on the camera as master, hmmm....

I believe you commented on a post I saw and/or started earlier on what lighting kit to look at! You influenced me to look into the Godox system.

If you don't mind sharing your opinions once you've tested it, I'd love to hear them!

I'm reading online now, and while I see diagrams and info on the speedlights talking to each other, I'm not seeing where the speedlight would talk to the strobe and ad200's. So hopefully someone has explored this and will chime in.
As far as durability, I've dropped a couple on concrete, had the wind take a strobe or two down, and so far I haven't broke anything after 6+ months, and I love the flexibility. I'll see if I can do some testing this weekend.

As far as I am seeing here, it looks like it IS possible!

http://flashhavoc.com/​godox-flash-system-overview/

BUT, I'm not sure if there are any loss of features or convenience concerns doing it that way.

If you need to use a flash on camera, then you should be able to control everything with the flash. However the XPRO is a bit more compact and actually a bit easier to use regarding group management than the flash. If your time is valuable and you find using the XPRO is easier, then $70 seems like it would have a pretty quick ROI.

Very cool! Glad to hear it will work!

My main considerations were that the V860IIs I have on-camera would not only serve as the remote, but also a backup if one of my other flashes were to break/malfunction. Another plus would be that I wouldn't have to worry about carrying around AA batteries as back-up for the Xpro, since the V860IIs all use the Li-ion battery.

Decisions, decisions!

Using transmitter also put less stress to the hotshoe and obviously less weight

Plus easier not to get it snagged on something! That's a good consideration.

Just me, but I don't think the V860II as a radio master can do Groups D&E (let alone 0-9) or TCM. Also don't think it can control the Zoom on speedlights or modeling lights on the strobes.

inkista wrote in post #18651953
Just me, but I don't think the V860II as a radio master can do Groups D&E (let alone 0-9) or TCM. Also don't think it can control the Zoom on speedlights or modeling lights on the strobes.

The XPRO does have a different yet partially overlapping feature set with the Godox speedlites and transmitter / triggers. Individual users may feel that for the relatively small investment, having a few options will provide for a greatly enhanced user experience over a wide range of different use scenarios and provide for backup / redundancy that can be invaluable in getting the job done.

inkista wrote in post #18651953
Just me, but I don't think the V860II as a radio master can do Groups D&E (let alone 0-9) or TCM. Also don't think it can control the Zoom on speedlights or modeling lights on the strobes.

Solid points! Thank you very much! The Xpro can control the zoom on speedlights, though?

SamFrench wrote in post #18651987
The XPRO does have a different yet partially overlapping feature set with the Godox speedlites and transmitter / triggers. Individual users may feel that for the relatively small investment, having a few options will provide for a greatly enhanced user experience over a wide range of different use scenarios and provide for backup / redundancy that can be invaluable in getting the job done.

Hey! Thanks for chiming in! I was hoping for more detail on the overlapping/missing features, if you have any insights to share!

GESWhoPhoto wrote in post #18652476
Solid points! Thank you very much! The Xpro can control the zoom on speedlights, though?

Yes, if the speedlight is the TT685 or V860II and has its zoom set to Auto. The speedlight has to have its zoom set to Auto for the zooming-by-group control of the Xpro to work (so you won't actually see the zoom setting from the XPro on the speedlight's display), and the TT600/V850II don't have Auto-Zoom capability. I'm also not sure this works with the TT350/V350 as a slave. When I attempt it with any of my XPros (I have the -C/-F/-O versions) with my TT350-O, I can hear the flash tube moving back and forth inside the head, but it always seems to go back to the widest position. It definitely works with my TT685C, so I'd assume the V860II would also work.

inkista wrote in post #18652510
Yes, if the speedlight is the TT685 or V860II and has its zoom set to Auto. The speedlight has to have its zoom set to Auto for the zooming-by-group control of the Xpro to work (so you won't actually see the zoom setting from the XPro on the speedlight's display), and the TT600/V850II don't have Auto-Zoom capability. I'm also not sure this works with the TT350/V350 as a slave. When I attempt it with any of my XPros (I have the -C/-F/-O versions) with my TT350-O, I can hear the flash tube moving back and forth inside the head, but it always seems to go back to the widest position. It definitely works with my TT685C, so I'd assume the V860II would also work.

Oh man! Right on time with this knowledge! I was just wondering why my Xpro wasn’t controlling the zooms on my V860IIs, but I didn’t have them set to auto!