[inkista]

US$229 / CAD$ 291 / €225 / £193

Lencarta [Pentax and Olympus versions grayed out for now]

Adorama

B&H

It's basically a V1 with a traditional fresnel head.

They've ported most of the physical UI changes between the V860 II and V1 to this one. So, slide lock, LED modeling lamp, head tilts back 30º, TCM button, new 4-way dpad/control wheel with 0.1EV adjustments in M mode; SCAN function, dropped smart optical support, etc. C.Fn menu is identical to the V1's.

Also uses the same battery pack as the V1, so only 2x the lifespan of a set of 4xAA, vs. 2.8x, like on the V860 II with the older pack. (I had it explained to me on dpreview that Godox moved to use the more-standard/high volume 18650 cells ("the AAs of the li-ion world") that are commonly used in vapes. I was puzzled at how a pack with a higher charge capacity (2700 mAh vs. 2000 mAh) meant fewer full-power bursts, and it was pointed out that charge is not energy , and I eventually figured out energy = charge*voltage, and the voltage on the new packs dropped to 7.2V from 11.1V on the old, which is why the old packs had 22.2 Wh, but the new ones only have 18.7 Wh.

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Last edited by inkista; 08-26-2021 at 02:31 PM. Reason: edit title.

[stevebrot]

Yay!

Still waiting for the TT685IIp


Steve

[Batman_]

My worry is continued production of batteries for the original Godox 860's. These are proprietary and I don't want to be left with a lot of redundant flashes in the future.

[inkista]

Still waiting for the TT685IIp ...

Yeah, curious to see if they actually do that. That would be soooo nice. Also, the V850 III update was a huge disappointment to me. The only real major change they did was to move to the V1 battery pack (although the UI got a little nicer and more consistent with the TTL speedlights). But. I'm basing this off the FCC filing user manual PDF, which may have been incomplete. They did not, AFAICT, add firmware upgrading (or ID codes). And its C.Fn menu remains identical to the V850 II's. I was really hoping a new TT600 model would come out with firmware upgrade capability. And that the SCAN function would be on everything.

My worry is continued production of batteries for the original Godox 860's. These are proprietary and I don't want to be left with a lot of redundant flashes in the future.

You're probably not the only one. But the longer battery life and lower price of the V860 II means that non-Pentax folks are still more likely to gravitate towards it than this new Mk III. If someone wants all the features of the III, they probably want the V1 anyway. Had they priced it closer to the II (which is $180), there'd be a lot more reason for folks to want it, but as it's $50 more than a II, and only $30 less than a V1, it becomes a bit of a harder sell.

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Last edited by inkista; 08-26-2021 at 04:35 PM.

[bdery]

My worry is continued production of batteries for the original Godox 860's. These are proprietary and I don't want to be left with a lot of redundant flashes in the future.

True, but you can find these batteries by Godox and third-party manufacturers (or is that fourth-party?) on eBay, aliexpress, etc. I think we're safe for a while.

But the longer battery life and lower price of the V860 II means that non-Pentax folks are still more likely to gravitate towards it than this new Mk III. If someone wants all the features of the III, they probably want the V1 anyway. Had they priced it closer to the II (which is $180), there'd be a lot more reason for folks to want it, but as it's $50 more than a II, and only $30 less than a V1, it becomes a bit of a harder sell.

Good analysis. The V860iii has the advantages of being smaller than a V1, more familiar for many people (it looks like a flash) and has several perks.

I would argue that if I want a V1, I want an AD100Pro And if I want that, I might want an AD200?

More options are good, I think.

[Lord Lucan]

I cannot see anywhere in the ads* what the Guide Number would be at a standard lens angle (ie 50mm zoom setting). It's 60m at 200mm - so I guessing 25-30m at 50mm.

Seems that these makers are designing their units to have longer and longer zoom heads mainly so they can claim a high Guide Number. As I'm not a paparazzi trying to shoot celebs from behind distancing barriers, I cannot imagine my ever wanting to use flash with a 200mm lens at maximum range.

* I gave up on the Lencarta page because they dropped down a box blocking the view and nagging me to create an account. Idiots.

[Serkevan]

Seems that these makers are designing their units to have longer and longer zoom heads mainly so they can claim a high Guide Number. As I'm not a paparazzi trying to shoot celebs from behind distancing barriers, I cannot imagine my ever wanting to use flash with a 200mm lens at maximum range.

I cannot believe it is THAT hard to make a list of GNs at different zoom levels. However, I *did* want to shoot with flash at 200mm last month. Context: backlit shot at sea, with my friend *in* the water and me as far away from it as I could be with a 70-210 tele. My Metz 48 was certainly not capable of managing .

[stevebrot]

I cannot see anywhere in the ads* what the Guide Number would be at a standard lens angle (ie 50mm zoom setting). It's 60m at 200mm - so I guessing 25-30m at 50mm.

The item listing at B&H says 60m at ISO 100. One can assume this is at narrowest zoom angle (200mm), which is standard industry practice. For a table at different zoom angles, one generally needs access to the flash manual, though for Godox product, I am not sure that would help. Based on published figures for similar flash with GN 60(m)*, I would suspect about GN 45(m) for a 50mm lens on 24x36mm FF.


Steve

* My Sigma EF 610 DG Super.

[inkista]

Reminds me. I forgot to link the official announcement on the Godox website:

http://www.godox.com/EN/Products_Camera_Flash_V860III.html

Just me, but I think Adorama did a better job presenting all the same images/specs.

I cannot see anywhere in the ads* what the Guide Number would be at a standard lens angle (ie 50mm zoom setting). It's 60m at 200mm - so I guessing 25-30m at 50mm.

I'd say 42m. Because Adorama specs the V1 with a GN of 42m @50mm/ISO 100. And 60m @200mm/iso 100 is what the TT685 and V860 II spec out at, and Robert Hall measured the V1 and V860 II as being near-identical in power output. The power comparison is at Chapter 5, around the 3:30 mark:

You Tube

You Tube

Seems that these makers are designing their units to have longer and longer zoom heads mainly so they can claim a high Guide Number.

Well, except for Nikon, who give the more realistic GN for their speedlights at 35mm.

As I'm not a paparazzi trying to shoot celebs from behind distancing barriers, I cannot imagine my ever wanting to use flash with a 200mm lens at maximum range.

Zoom is just a way to control the spread, so I've used it along with a grid when trying to shape speculative highlights on some fountain pens I was shooting. It's not just about throwing the light farther. All the zoom function does is move the tube back and forth in the head. The higher the zoom the farther back in the head, and the more tightly focused the beam from the flash is.

* I gave up on the Lencarta page because they dropped down a box blocking the view and nagging me to create an account. Idiots.

I hate that all the default web design these days assumes you're on an iPad Pro with a portrait-oriented screen. I'm on a cheap-ass Dell Inspiron notebook. So much wasted screen real estate, and constantly being blocked by those stupid overlays.

[Lord Lucan]

The item listing at B&H says 60m at ISO 100. One can assume this is at narrowest zoom angle (200mm) ....

Yes, it says under the SPECS tab :

Guide Number196.9' / 60 m at ISO 100 (200 mm Position)

...which is standard industry practice.

Hardly worthy of the term "standard", more like "typical advertising practice". The car analogy here is car makers quoting their maximum speeds as when going downhill, and the makers are not necessarily all using the same hill.

There used to be a standard, which was the GN when used at standard lens coverage angle, even when the flash unit had a zoom head. It tended to be part of the name, as in the Pentax AF200T, 280T etc. The GN with a standard lens angle is far more useful and indicative anyway, such as for indoor portraits and groups; in fact I can't remember the last time I took the wide angle adaptor off my AF280T because I most often use it indoors with a 28mm lens. At least they are all still quoting at a common ISO sensitivity, even if ISO 100 is a bit low these days.

For a table at different zoom angles, one generally needs access to the flash manual ..... Based on published figures for similar flash with GN 60(m)*, I would suspect about GN 45(m) for a 50mm lens on 24x36mm FF.

Here is the table from a Canon Speedlight manual. If the Godox is anything like this, one would expect a GN of about 40m at 50mm. If flash zoom optics were as good as camera zoom lens optics, the GN would be related linearly with zoom focal length, but having instead an optically crude sliding reflector, the actual relationships are wildly different from that.

---------- Post added 27-08-21 at 12:08 ----------

Zoom is just a way to control the spread, so I've used it along with a grid when trying to shape speculative highlights on some fountain pens I was shooting.

I appreciate the use of longer focal length lenses and narrower beam angles for close-up and portraiture, but at those distances the maximum GN hardly matters anyway.

[stevebrot]

There used to be a standard, which was the GN when used at standard lens coverage angle, even when the flash unit had a zoom head. It tended to be part of the name, as in the Pentax AF200T, 280T etc. The GN with a standard lens angle is far more useful and indicative anyway, such as for indoor portraits and groups; in fact I can't remember the last time I took the wide angle adaptor off my AF280T because I most often use it indoors with a 28mm lens. At least they are all still quoting at a common ISO sensitivity, even if ISO 100 is a bit low these days.

You are so very correct that the flash name has traditionally been a clue to its power, though even the AF280T is a little vague about the FOV coverage for its GN 28(m). I have the wide-angle and tele lens sets for that flash and based on documentation and experimentation, it appears that the coverage with the base lens is adequate for 35mm focal length at 28m for 35mm film.

While Godox does not include a tables of coverage versus guide number, the manuals for the AF340FGZ, AF560FGZ, and AF340/560FGZ do. Yay Pentax!


Steve

[Lord Lucan]

Godox does not include a tables of coverage versus guide number

Perhaps if it were put into manual mode, and the zoom set to 50mm, the display on the back would advise the range - if it has the table in its software. If we could see what its display was saying in that mode we could work out the GN at 50mm.

Meanwhile I put the question on B&H's Q&A web page. It promptly demanded that I create an account, which I did not. Remains to be seen if they will add the answer to the page, but it dismays me that such companies, like Lencarta as well, seem to attach more importance to collecting your data than giving you info about the stuff they are selling.

[stevebrot]

Perhaps if it were put into manual mode, and the zoom set to 50mm, the display on the back would advise the range - if it has the table in its software.

Perhaps the V1 manual might be helpful? According to Inkista, the two are very similar in feature and spec.

B&H | Godox V1 manual (pdf)

(From my quick look-see, it appears your request is granted.)


Steve

[morenjavi]

Thanks for the info. I saw an official video a couple of days ago.
I have enough Godox flashes for now . I don't use TTL a lot any way .

Regards

[inkista]

Perhaps the V1 manual might be helpful?

Nah. It's not. All the tables in there are for how many times you can fire it before it overheats in MULTI mode.

Hilariously, the power in the specs table at the back of the V1 manual is given as 76Ws, not a guide number at all.

But. We can probably guesstimate using Canon 600EX-RT data, where Canon does provide that table for the 600EX II-RT, which also specs at 60m iso 100 zoomed to 200mm. But I might also assume the Godox numbers are a little lower, since they do tend to inflate their power numbers.

From a speedlightreivew.com article on the 600EX II-RT: