[Amoon]

Hi. I currently own a TT350P, it works very good but I've been in situations where I need more flash power. So recently I read in the Godox official website, that the latest firmware for TT685C will make it "compatible with Godox wireless Pentax X system".

Does it mean that the upgrade will turn a TT685-C into a more powerful TT350P? With P-TTL and HSS available when attached to the hot shoe of my K-3II?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

[stevebrot]

Does it mean that the upgrade will turn a TT685-C into a more powerful TT350P?

It means that if you own a TT685C the upgrade will enable it to provide Pentax protocol partial emulation similar to Godox product with native Pentax dedication.


I was sooo "full of beans" with this response. The gentle reader should continue to Inkista's accurate and complete comments below.


Steve

[Amoon]

It means that if you own a TT685C the upgrade will enable it to provide Pentax protocol partial emulation similar to Godox product with native Pentax dedication.


Steve

Hi Steve and thanks so much for your prompt reply!
If I understand correctly, an upgraded TT685C will have P-TTL and HSS when attached directly to my camera, right?
Sorry to bother you but I want to be sure. English is not my main language and sometimes I don't get 100% the meaning of a phrase

If TT685C works then I'll save money as my other option is getting a v860iii-P that is more expensive.

[stevebrot]

If I understand correctly, an upgraded TT685C will have P-TTL and HSS when attached directly to my camera, right?

Forum member @Inkista may have additional fine points to offer, but my experience with my Godox/Flashpoint gear has been as follows...

It will "tell" the camera that a P-TTL or HSS flash is attached, but the actual TTL and HSS are the Godox versions. They work the same as far as the camera is concerned, but are firmly within the Godox universe as far as implementation and downstream propagation of their off-camera radio triggering. If you ask for HSS, the camera allow flash shutter speeds above the X-sync limit.
If the flash is set for TTL, the camera will do P-TTL if a pre-flash is detected.


Steve

[Joe Dusel]

Personally if you want a powerful and versatile on-camera flash don't doink around with the lower end Godox units, just get a Godox V1-P. These are awesome flash units, especially with the accessory kit. The rechargeable batteries on the V-1 last me for an entire 4 hour event shoot. I love the magnetic attachments like the diffuser dome and the gel disks. I had been using my Pentax AF 540 flash with a Gary Fong dome, but that is both cumbersome and also the dome would occasionally pop off.

[inkista]

Hi. I currently own a TT350P, it works very good but I've been in situations where I need more flash power. So recently I read in the Godox official website, that the latest firmware for TT685C will make it "compatible with Godox wireless Pentax X system".

Does it mean that the upgrade will turn a TT685-C into a more powerful TT350P? With P-TTL and HSS available when attached to the hot shoe of my K-3II?

No. A firmware upgrade cannot physically change the foot of a flash. The pin layout and internal wiring/communication of a TT685-C flash foot remain dedicated to Canon. It can only be TTL/HSS on a Canon camera hotshoe.

But. What does get changed by the firmware upgrade is how the built-in transceiver unit can communicate. Once you do the firmware upgrade, then TT685-C can then be a PTTL/Pentax HSS off-camera radio slave to, say, a TT350-P or XPro-P.

I have a TT685-C that I use with my Canon 5Dii and XPro-C, both on- and off-camera. I had to firmware update it to use it off-camera in TTL/HSS with an XPro-O on my Panasonic GX7, and an XPro-F on my Fuji X100T. But it does work for all three systems. The TT685-C, on the lower left corner of the LCD display will show "Canon", "FUJI" or "OLPS" to indicate which transmitter it last communicated with.

At this time, your only choices for on-camera TTL/HSS are the V1-P, the still-on-preorder V860 III-P, and the TT350-P. I pointedly asked the Godox guys on the TT685 II announcement on reddit (which conspicuously fails to mention a Pentax version) if there would be a Pentax version and was replied to with a "Will share your feedback with the team!" [muffled scream]. The TT685 II Sony and Nikon versions are already shipping from B&H for $130, Adorama is shipping the Canon/Nikon/Sony Flashpoint versions.

The TT685 II, btw, is not an AA-powered V860 III. They've made it cheaper by removing the additional physical features of the LED lamp and TCM physical switch (uses a soft button for that). Still has the slidelock and backwards head tilt. Still has the new button UI/control wheel/menu features of the V1 and V860 III, though, so it's pretty close.

Just me, but until the V860 III-P is actually released, I wouldn't even start hoping for a TT685 II-P, since they're probably going to have to base the design on that. And I would guess that the V860 III-P is probably taking longer because a) sales are lower and b) there are no V860 II-P/TT685-P designs to leverage.

---------- Post added 12-15-21 at 01:08 PM ----------

It means that if you own a TT685C the upgrade will enable it to provide Pentax protocol partial emulation similar to Godox product with native Pentax dedication...

...but only as a radio slave. Godox matches OEM pin placement on the foot of their flashes; it's not a Westcott FJ80/Cactus V6II scenario where the foot is physically designed to be capable of communicating with multiple brands of hotshoe. The physical contact/pin layout on the foot is different between Pentax and Canon and none of the Canon pins can hit the Pentax contacts:



Since only the sync pin will make contact, a TT685-C becomes a manual-only flash on a Pentax hotshoe.

It might have serious miscommunication on an Olympus or Fuji hotshoe where the placement is the same, but the electronic communication is completely different. I once completely fubared all my Godox gear by putting an XPro-C on my Fuji X100T. Took me two hours to reset everything and get it working again. Worked fine as a manual trigger once I taped off the non-sync contacts on the Fuji hotshoe. And it's why I routinely curse Godox for not having a single-pin mode on any of their transmitters aside from the X1T. (Why, Godox, why?!)

---------- Post added 12-15-21 at 01:19 PM ----------

Forum member @Inkista may have additional fine points to offer, but my experience with my Godox/Flashpoint gear has been as follows...

It will "tell" the camera that a P-TTL or HSS flash is attached, but the actual TTL and HSS are the Godox versions. They work the same as far as the camera is concerned....

Yeah, my experience is a little different. For on-camera usage, the TTL/HSS signalling may be more direct than going through a Godox interpretation. I suspect it may just be matching signals based on mapping out what OEM gear sends out on the pins/contacts. What you describe is how the built-in radio transceiver communication works. I have noticed that some models (-O, -F, -S) may behave perfectly fine on-camera while having wonkiness with off-camera use, where translation to Godox's style of communication is imperfect. HSS banding is one common culprit, and there's the infamous Sony underexposure with wider-than-f/4 apertures would be another. These only happen with off-camera radio use, not on-camera use.

Fuji HSS with manual-only Godox gear is where the wheels come off the wagon for me. Apparently Fuji's implementation of HSS is whack. They only added HSS as a feature to their cameras in 2016. The newer Godox TTL-capable gear was updated to deal with it, but the older manual Godox gear, like the TT600, V850 II, and XTR16 and XTR16s receivers have massive problems achieving HSS with anything other than an X1T-F transmitter at v03 or later firmware with C.Fn-11 set to 1 or 2. Srsly. I kid you not. My Xpro-F and my TT600 speedlights? HSS no bueno. OTOH, I am shooting with a leaf-shutter X100T, so maybe that's a factor (but it works fine with my TT685-C), but AFAICR, the older pre-radio Godox studio strobe Fuji shooters switching from FTR16 (433 MHz) to XTR16 (2.4 GHz) receivers had the exact same problem with HSS. Why they fixed it on the X1T-F and didn't implement that same fix on the XPro-F or X2T-F is again one of my "why, Godox, why?" laments.

[Amoon]

Thank you Inkista I really appreciate the time you took to write this detailed response!

And thank you Steve and Joe for your prompt help, responses and suggestions too!

So, it seems that V1-P and v860iii are my options. BTW, V860iii is now available on eBay shipped from China.

Thanks again guys!

[morenjavi]

But. What does get changed by the firmware upgrade is how the built-in transceiver unit can communicate. Once you do the firmware upgrade, then TT685-C can then be a PTTL/Pentax HSS off-camera radio slave to, say, a TT350-P or XPro-P.

Exactly!

[stevebrot]

...but only as a radio slave. Godox matches OEM pin placement on the foot of their flashes; it's not a Westcott FJ80/Cactus V6II scenario where the foot is physically designed to be capable of communicating with multiple brands of hotshoe. The physical contact/pin layout on the foot is different between Pentax and Canon and none of the Canon pins can hit the Pentax contacts:

Thanks for the correction and qualification. I knew I could depend on you. I had significant doubts about foot compatibility Canon to Pentax shoe and should have kept my mouth shut! At least I managed to drag you into the discussion!


Steve

[stevebrot]

And it's why I routinely curse Godox for not having a single-pin mode on any of their transmitters aside from the X1T. (Why, Godox, why?!)

I guess that is one reason why I chose the X1T. As of late, I am playing with using mine to trigger both my recent purchase TT600 and the TT350P from both single point and Pentax P-TTL shoes.


Steve

[inkista]

Thanks for the correction and qualification. I knew I could depend on you.

I had significant doubts about foot compatibility Canon to Pentax shoe and should have kept my mouth shut! At least I managed to drag you into the discussion!

Oh, like I'm ever dragged kicking and screaming into these Godox threads. You know I love doing this!

I guess that is one reason why I chose the X1T. As of late, I am playing with using mine to trigger both my recent purchase TT600 and the TT350P from both single point and Pentax P-TTL shoes.

Yup. It's the best tool for that of all the Godox transmitters. I remember exchanging comments with elv on his (late, lamented) flashhavoc blog about this, and he expressed a similar frustration with Godox just not getting why people wanted to use that feature. And they were saying something like it was impossible to implement which puzzled both of us because a) they did it on the X1T, and b) it's just turning stuff off, not adding a feature.

---------- Post added 12-15-21 at 05:05 PM ----------

Thank you Inkista I really appreciate the time you took to write this detailed response!

You're welcome!

... BTW, V860iii is now available on eBay shipped from China.

If you do go the eBay route, just be sure you're purchasing from a good seller who will cover the warranty period. In the US, Godox support has been notoriously useless. They usually don't respond to emails. And you're basically relying on the retailer for warranty and customer support. It's often why in the US, we recommend purchasing Godox gear from either B&H or the Flashpoint R2-rebranded gear at Adorama or some other bricks'n'mortar retailer with a solid reputation who will do unit exchanges for you if you get a lemon copy.

Looked up Pixapro's Li-ION580III TTL (V860 III) in the UK. -P and -O versions "out of stock"; but -C, -N, -S, and -F are shipping. Pixapro, iirc, only ever rebranded the li-ion Godox speedlights, not the AA-powered ones. Looks like Lencarta is the same: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Fuji only on the V860 III so far.

[Amoon]

Personally if you want a powerful and versatile on-camera flash don't doink around with the lower end Godox units, just get a Godox V1-P. These are awesome flash units, especially with the accessory kit. The rechargeable batteries on the V-1 last me for an entire 4 hour event shoot. I love the magnetic attachments like the diffuser dome and the gel disks. I had been using my Pentax AF 540 flash with a Gary Fong dome, but that is both cumbersome and also the dome would occasionally pop off.

Hi Joe. I've stumbled upon a Godox accesory kit that may fit also your Pentax speedlight so you can also enjoy the magnetic attachements available for the V1 on the Pentax. It's the "Godox AK-R1 Round Head Accessories Kit with S-R1 Flash Head Adapter" and is compatible with rectangular speedlite heads.

Or you can get only the Godox S-R1 Flash head adapter" and make use of the V1 accesories you already have. Just an idea...

[Amoon]

If you do go the eBay route, just be sure you're purchasing from a good seller who will cover the warranty period. In the US, Godox support has been notoriously useless. They usually don't respond to emails. And you're basically relying on the retailer for warranty and customer support. It's often why in the US, we recommend purchasing Godox gear from either B&H or the Flashpoint R2-rebranded gear at Adorama or some other bricks'n'mortar retailer with a solid reputation who will do unit exchanges for you if you get a lemon copy.

Sure. Thanks! I'm outside the US and wherever I purchase anything online I always have to trust in my good luck of receiving a good copy

[inkista]

Sure. Thanks! I'm outside the US and wherever I purchase anything online I always have to trust in my good luck of receiving a good copy

Just FYI, Godox has a list of international retailers they sell to.

[Amoon]

Just FYI, Godox has a list of international retailers they sell to.

Thanks again!