The complete 2018 guide to Godox X series lighting

It seems like every other week lately, Godox has been announcing a new something or other. It’s hard to keep track. What’s the best for this or that? If I buy one of these do I need to get one of those, too? And what’s compatible with what? (hint: everything’s compatible with everything).

Well, calm down, no need to get overwhelmed. Photographer Rob Hall is here to break everything down as he goes through the complete Godox X system lineup in this 9-minute video. He explains all of the kit, what the differences are, and why one piece of gear might benefit you over another.

Rob begins with the various triggers available in the Godox range. There are only three, the X1T, XT32 and XPro, but each of these are available in various flavours for compatibility with different camera brands.

The first flash many photographers will acquire is a speedlight, and that’s where Rob heads next. There are six of these in the Godox range. There the TT350, TT600 and TT685 and then the V350, V850II and V860II, the latter of which are lithium-ion battery-powered versions of the first three. Each of them has different capabilities, so understanding what they mean will affect your choice.

Rob doesn’t make us wait before getting onto the good stuff, though. Next up, we find out about the Godox AD200, which is a sort of speedlight/strobe hybrid that can act as both. The AD200 is still quite a strange beast. It doesn’t quite offer the full versatility of a speedlight, but not quite as powerful as the other portable strobes in the Godox range. But it takes the best of both worlds and combines them into one unit that’s extremely capable.

Then we start to move to the dedicated strobes, beginning with the AD360II. These are my lights of choice. For me, they’re the perfect balance between power and portability. They’re not as heavy as the larger units, a bit more powerful than the AD200, and the battery pack can also act as a charger for my mobile devices. Of course, you can make the AD200 more powerful by doubling them up with the AD-B2 head.

Now Rob starts on with the larger portable units, the AD600 and its various attachments, along with the AD600 Pro. These are powerful, and while portable, they are fairly heavy strobes. You’re not going to be throwing a couple of these in your backpack along with the rest of your kit like you can with the AD200 and AD360. But when you need a lot of power, these are what you need.

As well as these, Godox also has seventeen AC powered strobes, all of which can be mixed with the lights and triggers mentioned above. The end result of which is a very complete and impressive flash lineup to suit just about every photographer’s need. Rob already compared each of these lights in another video at the beginning of this year.

If you’ve been thinking about diving into flash, or already shoot with flash and have been considering Godox, hopefully, Rob’s video helps to answer a few of your questions.

For my own kit, I use an AD600 Pro, a couple of AD360IIs, and a bunch of TT600 speedlights. Now I’m just waiting for Godox to release the Android app for the Godox A1 they promised last September.