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How I use my drone Lipo batteries to power cameras, lights and other things

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If you’re like me, and you shoot mostly on location, power is an issue. For photography I solved those issues by switching to Godox strobes with light battery packs or integrated batteries. For video, though, power for continuous lights can be troublesome. Or at the very least, expensive. Some lights will allow you to use relatively inexpensive Sony NPF batteries, while others require expensive V-Mount batteries.

I’ve found another solution to my continuous power problem, though. RC lipo batteries. I had a few left over from my DJI Flamewheel F550 drone after the controller was stolen. So, I figured why not put them to good use elsewhere? They’re also great for powering cameras for battery-draining long exposure timelapse sequences, too.

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Why I switched from Profoto to Godox

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It was time to upgrade my entire lighting system. My Profoto Compact heads {in perfect working condition} we coming up on their 10th anniversary. In my Profoto arsenal, I had two 300 w/s heads, one 600 w/s head, and an Acute B600R. Advances in flash technology in the past years have brought HSS, TTL, {wireless} radio triggers into the mainstream {no more need for Pocket Wizards} and portability and long battery life in the form of Lithium-Ion battery packs.

Only two years ago Godox was still taking baby steps in the strobe arena. Today, they have, IMHO, the most affordable and comprehensive cordless, radio triggered, strobe and lighting ecosystem on the market.

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How the new Cactus RQ250 compares to the popular Godox AD200

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Thinking a little more about Cactus’ announcement of their new Cactus RQ250 wireless strobe, I got to wondering just how it stacks up on paper vs the current Godox AD200 unit. Obviously, it packs a little more power, but with the information that Cactus has released so far, what can we glean from it? If you’re thinking about stepping up from a basic Yongnuo speedlight system or want to start getting out on location with strobes, what’s your best option? Should you go Cactus or Godox?

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How to get that $10,000+ lighting setup look with a $425 speedlight kit

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I’m in a lot of flash and lighting groups on Facebook, and the amount of gear lust shown in them often surprises me. As do the excuses people come up with as to why the light in their images doesn’t look as well as it could. The vast majority of the time, the lighting inadequacies aren’t down to the gear they use, but the application of it.

Sure, there are times when the lighting gear absolutely matters. Just as the camera & lens used are equally as important. But having cheaper equipment is not an excuse to not get great shots. This video from Patrick Hall over at FStoppers proves this extremely well, putting $10,000 worth of Profoto gear up against $425 worth of speedlight kit.

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See every Godox X system studio strobe in this side-by-side comparison

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People make a big deal about the AD600 (now AD600 Pro) and AD200 strobes when it comes to Godox. They offer a lot of power in a nice easily portable package. But they offer so many more strobes than just these two. While those mentioned above, along with the AD360II are fantastic for shooters looking to get light on location, there are quite a few photographers who never take their lights out of the studio.

And that’s where this handy video from Rob Hall comes in. It covers and compares the entire range of mains-powered Godox studio strobes compatible with the X1T, XT32 and XPro triggers. It’s a pretty extensive list of lights covering a range of requirements, and those on 220-240v power even see some flash duration perks that 110-120v countries do not.

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The Godox AD600Pro is now official – specs, prices and release info inside

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So, the accidental leak might’ve forced Godox’s hand, but now it’s official. Godox have announced the new AD600Pro portable strobe. And for the most part, things seem unchanged from the original leak, but now they’re available to pre-order in the USA, with a UK release coming soon.

The power consumption of the new AD600Pro is the same as its AD600 predecessor, but there are some important differences. The first is that, unlike the AD600, it appears that the AD600Pro is only available in TTL flavour. so, there won’t be a discounted manual only version. But what it does offer is faster recycle times, a much better bulb design, a vastly more powerful modelling light, and a redesigned bracket.

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Godox accidentally leaks new AD600Pro strobe with much needed upgrades

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Back in October, we reported that this would be on the way, a new Godox AD600 replacement. Now it seems the rumours were true, although there isn’t been an official announcement. Godox accidentally leaked it early this morning by publishing the new product’s page to their website.

That product is the Godox AD600 Pro, and it has a couple of quite significant upgrades over the current model AD600. While the actual 600Ws power consumption doesn’t change, the bulb design could potentially result in almost a stop more power. It has a full power recycle time of less than 1 second, and the modelling light gets brighter by almost two stops.

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Broncolor comes to Fuji shooters with the new RFS 2.2F Transceiver#

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Fuji are finally starting to see some flash love recently. Earlier this year Godox updated their X1T triggers to add Fuji support (amongst others), and just yesterday, Adorama put the Fuji (and Sony) versions of the new XPro up for pre-order (no news on when they’ll ship, though). Now, Broncolor are getting in on the Fuji action, with their X1T lookalike, the new RFS 2.2F transceiver.

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2017 DIYP Gift Guide – Lighting

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So, you’ve got your camera and your lenses, but now what? The days are getting shorter, and darker, potentially limiting what you can shoot, and for how long. Even when the weather is great and the days are long, the available light doesn’t always give you what you want and you want to augment it or obliterate it completely.

So, here we’ve put together some of our favourite lights and lighting accessories, including quite a few that we use ourselves on a regular basis for both photography and video work.

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