Your First Flash

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The Adorama Zoom TTL Flash: At one time I would have suggested that you hold out until you could afford a clean, used Nikon SB-800, which in my opinion is the greatest flash (“Speedlight” in the Nikon parlance) ever made. They are getting harder to find in good working condition, since they have been out of production since 2008 and Nikon is no longer repairing them.

Nowadays, there is a flash that offers high value for the price: the Flashpoint Zoom TTL R2 (AA version) by Adorama (aka Godox 685). I’ve been playing with both the AA battery and the lithium ion battery pack versions and have some opinions about their usefulness.*

Zoom TTL: Priced at $139.00, this flash is probably the deal of the century, especially if the flash is discounted to less than $100.00. I’ve been using this particular version for a few months now, and will say it’s a good entry level flash, with some reservations. When starting out, it will do fine for light duty event photography. But if you advance to a more rapid-fire environment, that recycling time starts to get very, very long. Weight is 18.7 oz. w/ 4 AA batteries.

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Lithium Zoom TTL R2 (aka Godox 860):  List price is $179.00 with one 11.5 volt (proprietary and rechargeable) battery and charger. Now spare batteries are $40.00 each, and it would be foolish to not carry a fully charged spare. Out the door, the combination will cost you $219.00. But you get eye-blink recycling time, which will significantly up your game if you ever work a large crowd, or need light-squandering modifiers to up your lighting game. Weight is 19.1 oz. w/battery.

The take-away is in the weight. The Lithium-Ion version weighs a fraction of an ounce more than the AA version, so there isn't a weight disadvantage in going with the faster, more expensive version. It's true that you can add a dedicated power pack to the Zoom TTL, but then you'd have to deal with the inconvenience of power cable and the additional weight. Alas, convenience costs.

Now nothing is perfect, so let me dispense with the minor shortcomings shared by the two Zoom TTL flashes.

Buy your Stofen Dome here

No OEM Diffusion Dome. The diffusion dome, first introduced by Stofen, can improve the quality of your on-camera flash photos. As it turns out, these flashes use the same dome as the Canon 580 EX. Caution: I checked the Adorama website and they are going to discontinue their house-brand dome for this unit. Other makes (Promaster, Yongnuo), have little "ears" on the sides while the original Stofen and Vello do not, so check for them before you order or buy. I find they make the domes easier to remove when I'm  in a hurry.

No OEM Gel Kit. Both Canon and Nikon now provide gel kits for their top end flashes. It would have been convenient if Adorama had some pre-cut gels as Nikon did with its SB-800 speedlight. I must admit that gelling ones on-camera flash may not be a concern for photographers purchasing this unit, and I could understand that such a kit would be a slow seller. Since I started cutting my gels and taping them to the flash head, I haven't missed the OEM gel kits I always purchased for my Nikon speedlights.

Head Tilting and Rotation: The head on the Adorama unit has detents for specific orientations. These require a fair amount of torque to adjust, and this twisting could damage the camera's hot shoe. The Nikons use a lock to return the head position to "zero", and less aggressive detents, resulting in less stress on the shoe during rotation.

Buy your Adorama transmitter  here

The Biggest Reason To Own This Flash: Now here's the big surprise: The iTTL system can communicate with the Nikon Creative Lighting System flash commander. If you own a Nikon body with the built-in flash with the iTTL commander function, it can communicate with these Adorama/Godox units. This means that you can play with dedicated, off-camera flash photography for a fraction of the cost of a genuine Nikon speedlight. Considering how expensive it was for me to learn the ins and outs of multiple flash lighting solutions, this is HUGE. And as you master off-camera flash, you can upgrade your hardware to a radio commander that gives you full TTL and manual control over greater distances. Without getting too technical, there's a lot of growth potential with these Adorama units. Also, the radio "transmitter", as Adorama describes it, only works with R2 compatible Adorama/Godox units, but the flash itself can respond to either the R2 radio commands or the Nikon CLS line of sight optical controller.

Final Word: Get the less expensive, AA battery Zoom TTL unit and start playing with it. As your assignments start to get more challenging, consider getting the Zoom Li-Ion TTL unit, complete with spare battery, and keep your AA version as a backup, or as as second flash.

Addendum March 8, 2019:  In my opening paragraph I mentioned Nikon continued to support the SB-800 for about ten years after its production run from 2003 to 2008. Like many legacy companies, Nikon continued to support (repair) the flash about until 2018. When I checked the Adorama web site, I found that the AA version of the R2 TTL will be discontinued when current supplies run out. This could mean that the Lithium Ion Battery version is more popular, or that a new technology is waiting on the horizon. I am suggesting that you consider the purchase of this flash as an expense, rather than an investment, in part from its low cost and relatively short production life. As reliable as the unit might be, when it dies, it dies. I'll be watching how this all unwinds.

* April 18, 2019: I tried out several battery packs with two variants of the  Godox 685 (one Nikon, one Fuji) and NEITHER one would function. I can't imagine that I could have gotten two bad samples, but power notwithstanding, the flash is still a good buy, but one with limitations.

Hamilton in San Francisco

Real-Life Excitement on Opening Night - Click here

I was assigned to a press preview of the opening of "Hamilton" in San Francisco. I have never been to a press event scheduled at the SHN Orpheum Theater. I expected to see a mini-presentation of the play, or at least a song or two, but alas it was not to be. Perhaps the publicist felt that impressions of the show presented in words were more important than those done with images. As my editor (the wordsmith) was out of town, I was left with trying to capture some images to accompany her review (the photosmith). Or more likely, there could be some issues associated with recordings made during this briefing.

Luckily for me, the Orpheum is located at one of the the public transit exit points, so getting there was a six-minute metro ride to the theater's front door. Once inside and checked in, we were escorted to a single row of chairs facing the grand stairway that leads to the balcony. When I saw this, my heart fell. The existing light was limited to a few wall sconces and a chandelier that hung from the ceiling, so the stairway was essentially a dark cave that resisted all attempts at lighting. Of course, if I had free rein to light the venue, I'd have had speedlights everywhere, but that wasn't to be the case.

This photo was taken from a position just behind the row of chairs, and you can see a reviewer and a photographer chatting it up in the foreground. The shot was made with a flash and a Fong Light Sphere with the dome facing outward, as is recommended by the manufacturer. This wouldn't do much to improve the quality of light, but would spread the light more evenly. It was mounted on a short monopod which gave my light a slightly better, high overhead position. This was needed, as I was holding the camera at arms length above my head, assuming I'd need the height to eliminate photographers in the foreground.

Alphabetical Order By Height*:  As is the custom, actors in minor roles are introduced first, just as the runner-up is introduced before First Place. As they were coming down from the balcony, the minor players were in front, and the principles far in the back. Ironically, the actors of the greatest interest were positioned farthest from the camera. Still, I was confident that no other photographers would be making a better photo, since one other photographer and I were the only ones using flash, an absolute necessity under these conditions. I made the shot standing behind the line of chairs with my back to a post. As I mentioned, the camera was in the high overhead "Hail Mary" position , with the flash on a monopod held higher still for an improved light placement.

After a few minutes, the minor actors were dismissed and the principles moved to designated press stations where they could be interviewed. I found a group of journalists interviewing one of the actors. In this case, the tool of choice was the smart phone, and the two media outlets, V-Media and Joint Forces Journal, were busy asking questions and making video clips. It is apparent from my earlier efforts that conventional flash wasn't going to work, so I decided to concentrate on headshots and find an bounced alternative to direct lighting. I switched to a short telephoto lens, mounted the flash in the hotshoe, and started looking for actors in better shooting environments.

A Twist Of The Wrist: I found this discussion in the hallway just outside the mezzanine entrance. My first shot, left, was made with the flash pointed to my left, giving me a broad-lit shot and no details in the eyes. But when I rotated the head to my right and slightly behind me, I achieved a lovely butterfly lighting on a three-quarter portrait, giving me all the detail I could possibly want.

Final exposure adjustments made to improve on-line rendition

Bingo! I managed to find a "sweet spot" for my flash, and could now concentrate on expression. This young actor was especially animated, so I backed off to include some expressive hand gestures that might add to the photo. After I saw the results, I decided to re-shoot some of the earlier subjects, now confident that I could produce some images worthy of submission.

Final exposure adjustments made to improve on-line rendition

Reshoot: I went ahead and re-shot any actor whose images could be improved with this revised bounce light technique. I was careful to position my subjects in front of manageable backgrounds while positioning myself to maximize the effectiveness of the bounced flash. In this shot, I purposely included more background than necessary, should a rectangular photo be required.

Final exposure adjustments made to improve on-line rendition

Before And After: When I caught up with this actor, I positioned him in front of a suitable bounce surface and asked him to give me his best "big guy" look. For the second shot, I asked him to convince me that my kids would like to schedule a play date with him. I must have found his soft spot, because this is a million dollar smile, adjusted for inflation.

Final exposure adjustments made to improve on-line rendition

Emotional Focus Again: At the very last moment, my subject leaned into the camera, effectively moving out of the plane of focus. Just check the buttons on the far lapel. But it's a wonderful photo of this Hamilton actor, and while I love the shot, I could never submit it for publication. It's probably the best image in my reject bucket.

*This is a non-sequitur teachers sometimes used on students when  they were being told to queue up.

Postscript June 7, 2019. One of the photos ran in the Journal. Other photos appeared online in the SHNSF Newsletter.

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