When Godox debuted its low-budget Mini Master studio flash series in 1998, there was a bit of ‘brand snobbery’ from pro photographers who use the excellent, yet very expensive Swiss and Swedish brands such Broncolor, Elinchrom and Profoto. But Godox have hit a series of home runs of late with their popular AD Pro series which have really set the standard when it comes to reasonably priced, reliable, and portable battery powered mono lights such as the AD200, AD400 and AD600 Pro lights.
In fact, many professionals are more than happy to purchase Godox lights at a third of the price of the established European brands and then create a system with generic Bowens mount light modifiers at over a tenth of the price.
For example, you can buy two AD400 Pros with a whole set of modifiers for $3,000, while a Profoto B10 head with a Connect Pro flash trigger alone is over $3,000. For modifiers, a Profoto reflector is $375, while a generic Bowens reflector is only $20. So it’s easy to see why they are so popular.
This brings us to one of the heavyweights of the AD lineup – the $2,100 AD1200Pro Battery Powered Flash System. It comes with it’s own padded wheelie bag, the power pack (with battery), a 3.65m cable, flash head, shoulder carrying case, charger and a compact reflector.
Godox AD1200Pro @ full power 1/1 at 50 meters distance from subject with a standard reflector.
Two seconds @ f/2.0, 100ISO @ 50mm. Having more power means you can use the inverse square law
to evenly light not only the subject – but more of the background from range. Image: Tim Levy
The whole system weighs in at 8.25kg, so you definitely need that wheelie bag. We tested the unit rolling it across a grass field at night dodging various dog poos and found ourselves untroubled. Of course, trekking it down a dirt track might be a different story, in which case you can use the padded shoulder bag – or a strong assistant.
The control face is very logically laid out, menus simple to understand, and output quick to adjust either on the unit or via the Godox Pro II wireless trigger. I was loving how the rolling case has two straps on its side – to which I attached the light stand, therefore ensuring the light wouldn’t get blown over. For anyone who has used a monoblock with soft box outside on a windy day, you’d know that this is a better solution than having to lug a seperate 10kg shot bag around.
Image: Peter McDade
So why do you need so much power?
To put things into perspective, a standard speedlight at full power has the same output as a 100W studio flash and is underpowered when it comes to shooting on a sunny day – especially if you are using modifiers. A Godox AD200 is, you guessed it – 200W or twice as powerful, or one stop brighter.
This means the Godox AD1200 Pro is 12 times or 3.5 stops more powerful than a speedlight.
You can use this system and all its incredible power to your advantage by:
• Freezing motion or using very shallow depth of field (or both) with High Speed Sync (HSS) in bright daylight – with modifiers. As a flash unit has to strobe multiple times in HSS for one photo, total output is diminished, though this isn’t as much of a problem with the AD1200Pro.
• Using very large softboxes. You often see two-metre softboxes sitting in the corner (unused) in studios – you need a lot of light to fill them efficiently.
• Faster recycling times. As the flash generally doesn’t need to shoot at full or even half power, it’s going to recycle faster than a 400W at full power. It also means less chance of overheating.
• Shooting at lower ISOs. Generally, people solve the problem of lower powered strobes by using high ISO, especially if you need a greater depth of field. With a 1200W you don’t have that problem.
• Placing your light further away – more power equals the ability to throw that light further, while still using soft box modifiers. This also means you can light larger areas at night (see images above).
• Using it to simulate daylight on a cloudy day by filling in a large set or scene, or even faking window light inside the room by placing the unit actually outside the building.
• Shortened flash duration. At one quarter power, the flash duration is still 1/1000s – most lower powered flashes for the same output would be around 1/250s which is not fast enough to freeze action.
• Using a lightweight flash head vs a heavy monoblock – on a tall light-stand or C-stand means that out in the field, it’s less likely the flash will become unstable and fall over (top-heavy). As mentioned, the wheelie bag has straps which you can attach to a light stand for increased stability.
• Lighting a large room with the one light – imagine being able to bounce the flash into the ceiling and light a large auditorium. Or light a car at sunset with a huge strip softbox – or even light a bridge or a whole building!
As you can see, there are many benefits that come with having a lot of power. And if you need even more power, you can check out the mains powered AD2400Pro which is twice as powerful and has the ability to run two 1200W heads simultaneously or one head at 2400W.
You can find out more about the Godox AD1200Pro on the Godox website.
