Lately, I've been thinking more carefully about my photographic purchases. After binge-buying Godox R1 compatible flashes and accessors, and after my binge buying of fisheye lenses, I've reached the point where I'll purchase something only if it can do something different, or make my workflow in the field more efficient.
I have been interested in this Viltrox 9mm lens since I saw Christopher Frost's review of the lens. I was interested for some practical reasons. The lens is more compact and lighter than my 10-24 Fujifilm Zoom which used to be my go to lens. However, at some point I grew tired of the "stretched face distortion" when my subject wandered too close the corners of the frame. As I used the lens less and less, I began to wonder if I should carry it at all. I reasoned that if I could find a compact 10mm prime lens I could reduce the weight of my field kit.
This is a Viltrox "Air" lens, which simply put, means weight was a definite consideration in its construction. I might add that the lenses in the Air series do not have aperture rings (probably a major expense in manufacture) and no distance or depth of field markings on the barrel. But it will make a satisfactory backup lens, and much lighter in weight than my seldom used 10-24 F 4.0 Fujifilm zoom.
Morning Walk: I mounted the Viltrox on my S10 body and took the combination on two recent morning walks. I was surprised how wonderful it was to not have to worry about properly focusing a lens manually.
This photo surprised me. I'm standing at the edge of the sidewalk curb, and still managed to fit both the garage doors, and then some. There are no signs of pincushion or barrel distortion in this simple shot.
I made this shot inside a laundromat. My back isn't "to the wall", and the 9mm lens takes the whole scene in stride.
This shot combined a hand-held remote flash held just above the flower. The exposure was selected to give me a nice blue mooring sky, and the flash was used to highlight the flower. I could have mounted a second flash on a lightstand to accent the flower in the background.
Naaaah.
This shot reminded me that lens flair is a constant villain, ready to steal contrast away from any poorly framed image. While the Viltrox's accommodation for this extreme lighting was less than exemplary, it was satisfactory. I was very pleased with its relatively closeup focusing distance. This little Buddha stands only ten inches tall.
On Assignment: I was on an assignment and decided I'd replace my Fuji T-2 with its 10-24 Fujifilm lens with a much lighter combination, the new 9mm lens mounted on my Fuji S-10 body. I can't say that I noticed the reduction in weight, but found that if I made my critical exposure adjustments in advance, switching out cameras wasn't as inconvenient as I feared.
Multiple flashes were used to light this photo. The ambient was dialed low enough to allow the speedlights to dictate which areas I wanted to include. I wanted to emphasize the contours of the lid, so I lit the wall behind it. And while it is a bit cluttered, I was happy that it is mostly white.
Performance: This cropped portion of the original photo shows that the lens is perfectly capable in the resolution department, and is more than adequate for the resolution demands of newsprint. However, when these images are viewed in the Journal's online paper, the full depth of the color is on display, and most of the subtle shifts in hue can be easily seen, and appreciated.
For this (indoor) assignment, I went directly to my R1 controlled flashes, and used all four that I had on hand. I had to add a fifth flash, but all I had available were the newer R2 versions. Rather than piggy-back two controllers, I simply set it to S1 (optical trigger) mode and dialed the output manually. Why the indoor limitation? My most powerful portable produces a theoretical 200 watt-seconds of output, the equivalent of three standard speedlights. On this assignment a single speedlight fired through a shoot-through umbrella was adequate when an appropriate ISO value was selected. If I needed more power I could have clamped another speedlight to supplement the output of the single key speedlight, as I did here.
I am really pleased with the performance of this new lens, and was lucky enough to buy it before the price went up. Unfortunately, it became a gateway lens for the rest of the Viltrox Air lenses, so forgive me if I start shopping again.
First Generation Flashpoint Li-on flsh and dedicated Radio Controller. Both are set as Group E. Red tape = Nikon TTL.
Flashaholics Anonymous: My name is Tom, and I am addicted to flash. Ever since I first saw how Joe McNally used Nikon's Creative Lighting System to automatically, and remotely, control the outputs of literally dozens of speedlights I was totally hooked.
I have always been on the lookout for equipment that can do something new, or better, and so as my collections of flashes grew, they reflected the advances manufacturers were offering in each new iteration of their product line.
I have at least one full sized, full powered speedlights in my normal carry bag. Since I started carrying Fiji cameras, I bounced around from brand to brand, including the OEM models, looking for a flash whose TTL system worked as well as Nikon's. The more I used flash in the field, the more I came to rely on manually adjusting the flash output to get the results I wanted. Coincidentally, flashes made by Godox, sold under Adorama's house brand Flashpoint, caught my eye when they introduced its Zoom Li-on flashes. These hot shoe flashes were a great leap forward for the off-camera flash crowd.
The flashes used a dedicated 7.2 volt lithium battery which greatly improved recycle time and (sigh) increased the weight,
In addition to the built-in optical S1/S2 triggers, one could purchase a radio receiver that could be securely mounted to the flash body, and
A compatible hotshoe radio transmitter (the R1) capable of controlling the output of up to 16 groups of flashes broadcasting over 16 different frequencies, could control any Li-on flash with the optional radio receiver installed. The controller used a simple rotating dial and a bank of four dipolar switches. Multiple flashes could be set in the same group causing them to fire unison. The channel setting restricts the triggering signal to a specific frequency, a way for you to separate your triggering signals from other photographers using similar flash setups.
I was a late adopter to the system, purchasing most of these flashes after the price dropped to about $100.00 per unit, well below the 2016 MSRP of $180.00.
The entire line of Godox flashes morphed over the years and became the R2 series. Updates included the addition of TTL flash metering and dual-use capabilities that allowed an R2 speedlight to function as both an on-camera flash and a controller for multiple off-camera R2 flashes, giving me the functionality I enjoyed with Nikon's Creative Lighting System. At first the R2 flashes included a built-in interface to accept the original proprietary (R1) Zoom Li-on receivers, but this feature was discontinued and replaced with a microphone jack flash terminal and a USB port.
The R1 Receiver
Since the original Flashpoint receivers are no longer available, I have been looking to purchase a lifetime supply. Recently I found the receiver available from Godox, the original manufacturer of the flash. I found these receivers on eBay and immediately purchased two for about $15.00 each, a price close to the MSRP when they first came out. This is significant, as I have two Godox/Flashpoint AA speedlights that could, if necessary become part of the flash fleet. If so deployed, they will be clearly marked for second string use due to the longer recycling time when compared to those powered by 7.2 volt lithium batteries. I only hope that my new receivers will seamlessly integrate with my existing fleet of five.
Now that I am swimming in these R1 flashes, thoughts of making them my primary location lighting units come to mind. Sure, I will have lost automation, but I'm at a point where I never use this feature anyhow. And it stands to reason that if I can deploy a multi-flash setup, I'll have plenty of space and time to make the necessary adjustments. I did learn one thing: If you have an R2 flash and mount an R1 receiver, you can use either controller to trigger the flash.
There are some pitfalls when attempting to deploy a mixed fleet of R1 and R2 compatible flashes. As I have documented in earlier posts, you can mount an R1 controller (or a Pocket Wizard, as shown here) in the hot shoe of a R2 controller, as shown here. It boggles the mind to think that two controllers can control as many as 32 discrete flashes from the comfort of one's own camera.
There is one trick that might help you out of a mixed compatibility problem. The R1 controller performs two functions. As you would guess, it controls the triggering of the flash. What you may have deduced is the controller has the ability to moderate the output of said flashes. What you might not know is these two functions are independent from one another, and you can use the R1 controller to adjust flash output while holding the controller in your hand. Now if you configure your R1 flashes to fire in the S1 (optical) triggering mode, you can then adjust the output of your squadron of R1 flashes with the remote held in your hand. When everything is set, you can let your obedient R2 flashes provide the burst of light that triggers the optical slaves.
With my eyes on future assignments. I have to admit that staying in the R1 world has real world advantages. The most important is the ease of adjustment. The controls on the R1 are a bit bigger, and don't require quite as much care when making adjustments. With the R2, accidentally switching from one group to another is too easy, whereas the same adjustment in the R1 world requires the twisting of a relatively large knob. Adjusting speedlight output is easier too. The R2 requires the scroll-wheel selection of the group, then selecting it by pressing a selection button, followed by an up/down roll on the scroll wheel. With the R1, there are dedicated, very intuitive increase and decrease buttons.
I can hardly wait for my next multiple flashy assignment. More flash, more heartache? I don't think so.
Addendum 2026 08 05: The new R1 receivers work fine. However, I've decided that while I could have a speedlight function with both the R1 or R2 transmitter, I would have to make some internal re-configurations before it would work, a process I would surely forget during the heat of battle. So for sanity's sake, the speedlights will be R1 or R2, period. No mixing.
*Watt-Seconds is a measure of flash power that is independent of reflector design and reflectivity.
