Don’t Believe The Hype: A Surprising Flash Test Result.

Don’t Believe The Hype: A Surprising Flash Test Result.

When it comes to flashes I had made assumptions. The main one is a fairly common one.

More money = Better product.

But I always balanced this with one question.

How much better?

More succinctly can I get on fine with lower price options?

The answer is almost always yes. This was definitely the case with flashes. Years ago I helped a friend photograph an event. He ran a booth he had put together.

I took supplementary candid event pics,…

captured some Samurai costume pics for a vendor,…

and worked in a few half frame film pics.

During this event, I used a Godox AD200 for the Samurai costume session. My friend inspected the AD200 briefly and touted it as being inferior to more expensive offerings. I did not doubt this at the time. Seems to make sense. More expensive seems to be better. This did not deter me from continuing on for years with Godox. It also did not stop me from switching very recently to Neewer. And after some quick tests with Q4 I also switched from Godox V1 flashes to Neewer Z1 and a Z2. Less money but still good enough was the thought.

But then I stumbled upon a comparison that upended everything.

The text version of the comparison is here. Please check out the video and article and come on back.

…..

Are you back? Good.

I know, right? What?!

What I expected:

More expensive flashes would be better, but not better enough to justify the price difference.

What actually happened:

The two most expensive flashes came in last, and the two least expensive flashes came in first and second.

What?

So all these years I assumed I was using a slightly sub par product for a discount but no. I recently went from the second least expensive and best flash to the close second and least expensive flash.

This makes me feel even better about going with Godox and my recent decision to switch to Neewer. For me the decision was easy. Basically Neewer out Godoxed Godox. More bang for buck.

On sale ($289) the 400W Q4 costs less than an AD400, AD300, or an AD200 and not much more than a V1. Even at full price the Q4 is still a great value. And the same applies to the Neewer Z1 and Z2 flashes.

It was not my plan to have both. I bought the Z1 because it was on sale at the time for $139 at Neewer’s website and I did not know the Z2 existed. Then I saw the Z2 (On my birthday so that likely played a part.) and decided to go ahead and pick one up. At full price I would recommend the Z2, but at $139 I have no regrets with the Z1.

So basically I paid the same for both the Z1 and Z2 as one Wescott flash in the review and much less than the Sony and Profoto options in the review.

I already wrote a brief post about the Q4. I had thought I would write posts about the Z1 and Z2 but it is not really necessary. Have and like the Godox V1? Well, these are the same. The V1 and Z1 are basically identical. The Z2 is a little better than both the V1 and Z1.

• I like the color screen better.
• I like the second modeling light.
• I like the physical manual/TTL switch.
  • No need to use the menus.
• I find the Z2’s menus a bit better to navigate.

Happy with what you have? Great. Godspeed.

Shopping for a new system? Then Neewer is a great option.

My only advice would be to wait out Neewer for their sales. As affordable as they are at full price I saved hundreds more by catching the Q4 and Z1 on sale.

Happy capturing.

-ELW