So Godox looks great and all, but - repair?

Some time this year, I'm planning to invest in some new equipment. I love the idea of Godox / Flashpoint but I'm very hesitant to put my money there as it seems like being able to get them repaired is pretty difficult if not almost impossible. I understand Adorama has a warranty for a certain amount of time which is great, but what about after that? I use my gear a lot and as a result it gets dinged up quite a bit. *edited to add: I've sent my Einstein off to PCB 3 times in the 6 years I've had it (one of those was due to my own stupidity, once was someone else's stupidity, and once was an unavoidable situation). My Elinchroms are coming due for some maintenance due to wear and tear as well, but won't cost me a whole lot more than shipping them to and from the repair center.

It may be a lot more money initially, but I'm looking at slowly (piece by piece) moving to Profoto or possibly the Bron Siros line only because I know that taking them somewhere for repair or getting replacement parts is pretty easy, and they're built to last.

Anyone have any knowledge of current or future plans for repair centers of Godox equipment? This question isn't about the merits of which light is better for what reason, just the logistics of owning and using the equipment and mitigating the miles put on them over time.

You are wise to question this. At the present time, for Adorama private-labelled versions of Godox products, after the factory warranty period Adorama offers an extended coverage during which they will provide an Adorama private-labelled exchange unit in place of your failed unit...but yours remains toast!

There indeed seems to be NO REPAIR SERVICE AT ALL. The general public attitude seems to be "They are so cheap I can throw a failed one away and simply buy a replacement, in less time and for less money than buying an established brand that has repair service and getting it fixed thru them". The attitude reinforces the no-post-sale-support attitude of the manufacturer.

Thanks, that is exactly my concern. And the last thing I want to do is just keep going through flash units like they're recyclable (which let's face it they aren't). I think they sound wonderful for photographers who aren't using their gear all the time, in professional situations, and relying on their functionality. My thinking is that at least if I invest in Profoto or Bron, if I have a unit that needs to be repaired, I can easily rent something in the meantime and I'll already have all the modifiers ready to go for that brand. I've heard one argument for Godox being "buy a ton of them instead of just one or two units of the expensive brands so that if one breaks you're not screwed" but that doesn't sound like a great plan to me when the alternative is pretty reasonable.

You are preaching at this choir...I have earlier suggested to folks that they consider this matter carefully for themselves, before purchase decision. I do not try to impose my own criteria on the decision; I provide factual information pertinent to a decision.

Many shirk it off as immaterial and inconsequential to their needs.

I have already been through your worries and concerns after starting out with a couple of Godox 360s (before the Mark 2 came out) and knew that I would never be satisfied with the quality or lack of support. I decided to switch to Profoto and have absolutely no regrets. Firstly, the Profoto products have a two year warranty and they are much better made. They are very simple to use and everything works together - you really hardly need to ever look up instructions as the look and feel is the same across the range. You may notice there are very few threads on POTN a) asking how to use any Profoto products and b) what's compatible with what. I wish I was just starting in Profoto now and I would get 1 x B1X, 2 x B10 and 2 x A1. You don't even need to purchase a separate trigger as the A1s have an integrated trigger. However, they are not cheap!

I'm sure Broncolor have similar products and support. If you have any Profoto questions, I'm happy to try to answer them. Oh, and I'm in the UK but Profoto have an international network of distributors and service centres (centers).

I believe there are few US shops that repair Godox equipment like Cheetahstand.

https://www.cheetahsta​nd.com/Articles.asp?ID​=294

Thanks - for some reason I thought Cheetahstand doesn't repair all of the units, just the models that they used to sell. Maybe I'm wrong.

Cheetahstand has serviced some of the Godox products, " we can do repairs on select Godox, Flashpoint and Neewer branded lights. "
In late 2018 Cheetah declared publicly that they were reconsidering, and it had announced it will be releasing “new products” in 2018, not all of them made by Godox.

You also have to consider the cycle time of new Godox releases, i.e., before yours breaks they are already a model or two down the road. Would you rather have a newer model with more features or spend the same amount to repair your now 2-yr old but "obsolete" strobe? That's probably what they'd have to charge and everyone would be complaining about why they charge so much for repairs compared to the cost of new.

I have a mix of strobes with each having their purpose, from Einsteins (basketball), Profoto A1s/B2s (events and field sports) and Flashpoints AD360/AD200/speedlites (multipurpose and when I think something negative could happen to them).

My Profotos aren't as robust as I thought they'd be and I've had the test button peel off two B2s. It's minor but I'd hate to even guess the cost to repair so I haven't asked as everything in their ecosystem is pricey.

Just like previous posters have said.. Godox does not have a network of service centers in the area since the system does have a wide system where you would have to stock parts for TTL and Non-TTL ; HSS and non-HDD as well as 433Mhz trigger then 2.4GHZ trigger. . Truthfully, I do applaud Adorama for having a steady stock of Flashpoints for exchanges. But no one else I know does what Adorama does for the Godox made systems.

The systems you are considering from BronColor and Profoto has good service and even rental capacity. So at least you can rent a few packs when one is in the shop. I use a tiered approach like the poster above me as done. I use Speedotron for sports and studio work. I had Profoto for a bit until a assistant left two packs in a state park and when we discovered it was missing ; we went back and it was gone. Used the insurance money to buy a more complete system in Elinchrom.

I own various models of Elinchrom strobes since 1995. None have failed. None broke or have needed repair.

They just keep working. Indoors, on location, beach scenes. Reliable. Always fire. I’m not exactly gentle with them. But, reasonable care is all they ever need.

Edit: all compatible with today’s Wi-Fi triggers, iPhone controls and the new sky port triggers.

When I spend 50-70% less for a 600w flash and it is warranted for 3 years, that is a good deal, plus have access to countless other items all on the same wireless/cordless infrastructure. It is at least long enough to give it shot and see how it works out and decide how worthy it is. There are several accounts of Profoto shooters using Godox gear, some good, some not so much, but worth the research.

I'll play devil's advocate...

paintedlotus wrote in post #18802806
I think they sound wonderful for photographers who aren't using their gear all the time, in professional situations, and relying on their functionality.

Do you hear a lot about AD600 breakdowns? I haven't, maybe it's happening but the right products from them seem to be doing quite well in professional environments. I've seen a lot of AD200's go down but part of that's how commonplace they are.

paintedlotus wrote in post #18802806
My thinking is that at least if I invest in Profoto or Bron, if I have a unit that needs to be repaired, I can easily rent something in the meantime and I'll already have all the modifiers ready to go for that brand.

Rental is a big advantage of Profoto and Broncolor but I wouldn't assume repair is a silver bullet, you can have some very scary repair bills with Profoto and Broncolor, Broncolor has a stellar reputation but everything breaks no matter how well made and I think it's an easier argument to make for them if you're actually benefiting from their unique features. One thing I appreciate with Broncolor and Profoto is you can replace most parts for even very old products, that definitely isn't the case with Godox (although I doubt there's much demand for that before their current generation of products).

I do think Godox has a good idea (even if the implementation isn't perfect) in allowing you to change the mount on their Pro heads, takes care of your concern about modifiers as it can play happily with Bowens, Elinchrom, Profoto or Broncolor.

paintedlotus wrote in post #18802806
I've heard one argument for Godox being "buy a ton of them instead of just one or two units of the expensive brands so that if one breaks you're not screwed" but that doesn't sound like a great plan to me when the alternative is pretty reasonable.

If you're doing something critical you're carrying spares either way aren't you?

Here in DK the Profoto A1 is 8x more expensive than the TT685 from Godox. Given the wages starting point price of repair may well exceed the cost of the Godox so........
Design and materials have changed so that today more and more is small electronic circuits and microprocessors that are cheap to make but next to impossible to take apart for repair. I dont think we should be religious about items being repairable but look at the estimated cost of running the system.

Angmo wrote in post #18803220
I own various models of Elinchrom strobes since 1995. None have failed. None broke or have needed repair.

They just keep working. Indoors, on location, beach scenes. Reliable. Always fire. I’m not exactly gentle with them. But, reasonable care is all they ever need.

Edit: all compatible with today’s Wi-Fi triggers, iPhone controls and the new sky port triggers.

My elinchrom has been trouble free for me and for some, I am not the original user, so my pre-owned units had mileage on them. FYI,, I use the RX series since I can use those iPotato triggers. But it is also easy to cut some CAT6 network cable and use that for the Elinchrom remote control.