Dave Massen
When Lencarta sent me the Godox AD300Pro I was really starting to streamline my kit to make it able to single handily work lightweight, as well as planning for my next shoot abroad. Unfortunately, lockdown put a spanner in the works, but I was able to get out and test it with a shoot on the beach and in a corn field with two amazing Models, Sam and Charlotte.
I am not one to filter what I think, so this is an honest review and you know that if I say it, I mean it, I won’t water it down just to save face…..
Godox Triggers
The main thing I really wanted to sort out in my kit bag was the trigger system I was using. Having never really invested in a trigger and always having issues on set with the ones I had, I wanted to test out the three Godox triggers Lencarta stock as well. I wanted finally to find a system that just worked and cut out additional stress on set/location. I found it!
I was shooting a beach and corn field sunset shoot and testing High Speed Sync to get a real feel for low light moody backgrounds combined with fill in flash to light the images. I wanted to see if this kit really was simple enough for me to work with (I don’t do difficult). It had to be easy or I just won't use it….. I can't wing my shoots and everything else, I need something to do what I ask first time!
I looked at all three triggers, the X2 seemed the most intuitive when I turned them all on so started with that one. Straight away out of the box, it just felt right. I instantly started shooting, found the dial easy to use when fine tuning the light, without even needing to look much and found I was away quickly! The images started flowing!
I switched to try the XPro, again it was really easy to use and worked straight away. But, I thought for a single light source on location, it was definitely overkill for what I needed. However, I did think that when I’m back in the studio, this would be great to use as the functionality for grouping lights and fine tuning was brilliant, it was just too much for that shoot. I will be keeping it in my bag though to interchange with the X2T when it needs that extra shot of photography expresso on a shoot.
The X1 was used very little on the shoot. It is a nice piece of kit, I just was under light timing pressure for the sunset and out of the box, it just wouldn’t work. I didn’t have time to play around with it and it wasn’t being easy….. so, I went back to the X2T for ease.
Overall, I will use the X2T most, I have used it again since and it just works so easily, definitely my preferred trigger and one I would recommend you get to use with the Godox range of studio and portable flash systems.Having played around with it after, it did worked, but the X2T is definitely a welcome upgrade and much easier to use. As a starter kit it is perfect to just set up and shoot with once you have sat down and set it up, but I just couldn’t easily switch its settings when under pressure on the shoot…. I would prefer the X2T in my bag.
Godox AD300 Pro
The AD300 Pro is an amazing piece of kit too, it works so well on location and I have already put it through its paces on several shoots since getting it and it never fails me. Its lightweight and at the moment working with a smaller team this is definitely essential! It has amazing battery life and is so easy to fine tune the light power. The output lighting is so rich that it makes polishing the images after so easy. It is a work horse and consistent; I will replace my current lights on location immediately. I could go into technical stats but I’d have to understand them first! Basically, it works, its good and worth having a couple in your bag for shooting pretty much anywhere. If you want stats, go to the product page…. No stats here about refresh rates or colour outputs……. Sorry!
