You have to love the Godox system. Damm, so glad that I started using them almost 10 years? ago. Starting with the humble V850 and the AD360. What a journey its been.
That's earlier than I started (late 2015). It has been an incredible expansion over a period where the market is shrinking and pushing brands out. And to think it's far beyond the flash system now, they are making great LED's, and offering a ton of grip, mic, and monitor solutions now too. No telling what's next.
I just purchased this two weeks ago. I had a chance to play around with it twice. Once when I got it and again coincidentally just before I saw your video. It’s an awesome little gadget and I can definitely see myself using in and out of the studio. I would advise getting the additional two lenses that are sold separately. Also, buy the full 60 slide pack. The only reason I was using it tonight is because I wanted to test out my new 85mm f/1.2 lens and see exactly what kind of BG blur I could get with it in the studio. This projector really helped with that. I see a lot of people asking for samples. I don’t do photography on UA-cam (yet) but I could upload some images on Google Drive and let people check them out. Just let me know. ✌🏾
Thanks for reviewing this. Saw this awhile back and contacted Godox asking if and when 'gobo' style slides would be available. Got a rather evasive response. To me, what is really needed is a little projector that projects any image from a usb memory stick, usb cable from a laptop etc., or usb card reader so that we can create or acquire gobos or images we wish to project and use those. Having to do it with slides is so 1960's. My old Epson Powerlite 810p boardroom projector tethered to my laptop, worked to project images ...with very controlled lighting in a studio. Virtually any digital image or even video can be used, including gobo pngs I made in Photoshop, but that method is not real convenient or portable and the projected image struggles to have enough contrast if a model is being lit with any kind of strobe in front of it. I tried a little projector off Amazon, (Mini Portable Projector with 7500 Brightness,1080P) and while it interfaced great, it had less power and contrast than my old Epson, so had to return it. I'd like to see how this would work as a gobo projector with say ...a venetian blind pattern or big window pattern, with a model also flash lit. Also could one print gobos on transparent sheets and cut them to fit? Would a special slide holder be necessary? Anyway, something small that would interface with any usb device as the image source, and utilize the light power of speedlights, would be a welcome accessory!!
Every time I think I got a grasp, here comes Robert Hall teaching me more! Thanks, Bro! (I didn't know the Slide holder opens, I was sticking it thru the slot)
great for us using ad200pros and speed lights :) lets hope for some traditional patterns soon, windows, circles, etc. Can't wait for this to come to Perú or someone that can bring it back from overseas. Great video as always. Keep it rocking!
Nice summary Robert - I reckon Rosco size E metal gobos will go in there with a few modifications (the metal is thin enough to cut with a large pair of scissors). Their Gobo catalogue is vast. Or - cut your own from black card or cinefoil :) Good point on the speedlight (Fresnel) heads vs studio heads - I tested the Lightblaster on a Speedlight vs a 600J head and the output was way more from the Nikon SB900 at 200mm zoom
Great to hear about Rosco size E gobos. I'll check them out. Thanks for that confirmation on the speedlight vs a 600j head Owen, I figured this would be the cast. At 200mm did you find any issues in projection vignetting?
As with the Light Blaster which was released over a decade ago, the inherent issue with these systems is that their patterns are restricted to the rectangular 36mmx24mm dimensions of the slide, failing to take advantage of the full area of the image circle of the lens. This new product looks far more compact, but the Light Blaster still wins in terms of versatility due to its use of EF mount, giving users far more variety in terms of focal length and brightness.
How did that go? Also, did you shoot outside at all? Im looking to partner mine up with an AD200 to shoot outside and throw red shapes through my own incerts, will it be strong enough with daylight? How far back will the thing need to be in order to make a circle say six feet wide? Any ideas? Thanks
@@silverparker2343 hey. Sadly enough I didn’t get around to either of those this summer. Got into street photography and 3d printing. I still feel the transparent film sheets should work. Down the road I also intend to design and 3d print my own cookies/cutouts to use on my lights. I think the ad200 will do you well outside but playing around with it various scenarios is best way to discover what works for your needs. Sorry for not concrete answers but giving you my honest gut feel, I just don’t have real world experience yet with these two items. I think they can work
@@kyledarrenhanson did you ever use the akr21? I’d be interested in borrowing it for a short while if possible! Would like to see if it can do what i want before committing to buying
I don't believe anyone posted about the ability to create your own gobo's using a Cricut machine that can cut any pattern into vinyl. Since this is a strobe only system I believe the chance of melting the vinyl is minimal. Just ordered and will be trying it out.
Ah man, I have that one huge Godox kit and its just such a big, unwieldy design. This one looks SOOOO much better!! And those slides look pretty standard, I wonder if you can use even just a standard film slide of of your own photos? Also I'm sure it wont be hard to somehow get a gobo in there, even though the usual gobo's are round, nothing a little tin-snip wont fix to cut off two sides to square them up in that holder!
Any sample images for this application? they should put a focus lock so it will stay focused and it would be a great review if any sample images of how this product goes.
I had this about a week and want to urge ad200 users to get the fresnel adapter. Round head is very dim compared to fresnel head on this tool. Round head throws away too much light on this
Totally agree on the need for "basic" patterns like in a Gobo (stripes, circles, lines, windows, etc.)... But what worries me are the differences in the use of the three lenses/optics... Are they're worth it? When to use which? Thanks
@@robhallphoto Thanks for the reply. So, if I want to take a full body photo and project on the whole body, the 50mm lens would be the most suitable, right? Would I lose light power? Would I have to increase the power of the speedlight?..... At the same distance from the object, with the different lenses, is there light loss?
We have the kit, distributed by Strobepro, Calgary, Canada. We could not get the image to fill a 5 x 7 backdrop unless we stepped back 30 feet - our studio is very small making this product unusable. If we placed it behind a model standing 6 feet from the backdrop, the image is about 16 x20" - unusable. This product might be useful doing an outdoor sunset car session that includes a blank boring wall.
Those slides are standard 35mm film, right? So you could pretty much bring out your old F3 or similar, and a roll of Velvia or Provia, and create your own slides, right? But does the slide holder manage with framed slides?
The obvious question: does it work? Can you easily project a background a put put people in front of these backgrounds and light them with a key light?
Could anyone figure out how to add standard patterns (window, roller blind etc.)? Maybe from other brands? Anyway, I will try to print a few for myself. (Just need to get the proper sizes.)
No gobos no go, as someone said. Rob, did anyone figure out a way to 3D print plastic gobos for this yet? Sad that Godox came out with a product great in theory but half baked in reality.
If, as I suspect, the slides are standard 35mm positive (E6) film, you can easily create those gobos using TriX and a film camera, and just taking a picture of the shape you want...
@@coreylee9794 I was thinking about it for just the focusing and to set it up. The modeling light on its highest power with the round head is pretty bright so I figured it may work.
@@shootermcgavin4999 you’re asking why would you want to have an interesting BG instead of a plain BG? For the same reason the company Kate backdrops put designs on their backdrops. Its like having 60 colorful textured backdrops without having to put up 60 backdrops.
You have to love the Godox system. Damm, so glad that I started using them almost 10 years? ago. Starting with the humble V850 and the AD360. What a journey its been.
That's earlier than I started (late 2015). It has been an incredible expansion over a period where the market is shrinking and pushing brands out. And to think it's far beyond the flash system now, they are making great LED's, and offering a ton of grip, mic, and monitor solutions now too. No telling what's next.
I just purchased this two weeks ago. I had a chance to play around with it twice. Once when I got it and again coincidentally just before I saw your video. It’s an awesome little gadget and I can definitely see myself using in and out of the studio. I would advise getting the additional two lenses that are sold separately. Also, buy the full 60 slide pack. The only reason I was using it tonight is because I wanted to test out my new 85mm f/1.2 lens and see exactly what kind of BG blur I could get with it in the studio. This projector really helped with that. I see a lot of people asking for samples. I don’t do photography on UA-cam (yet) but I could upload some images on Google Drive and let people check them out. Just let me know. ✌🏾
Thanks for reviewing this.
Saw this awhile back and contacted Godox asking if and when 'gobo' style slides would be available. Got a rather evasive response.
To me, what is really needed is a little projector that projects any image from a usb memory stick, usb cable from a laptop etc., or usb card reader so that we can create or acquire gobos or images we wish to project and use those. Having to do it with slides is so 1960's.
My old Epson Powerlite 810p boardroom projector tethered to my laptop, worked to project images ...with very controlled lighting in a studio. Virtually any digital image or even video can be used, including gobo pngs I made in Photoshop, but that method is not real convenient or portable and the projected image struggles to have enough contrast if a model is being lit with any kind of strobe in front of it.
I tried a little projector off Amazon, (Mini Portable Projector with 7500 Brightness,1080P) and while it interfaced great, it had less power and contrast than my old Epson, so had to return it. I'd like to see how this would work as a gobo projector with say ...a venetian blind pattern or big window pattern, with a model also flash lit. Also could one print gobos on transparent sheets and cut them to fit? Would a special slide holder be necessary?
Anyway, something small that would interface with any usb device as the image source, and utilize the light power of speedlights, would be a welcome accessory!!
Every time I think I got a grasp, here comes Robert Hall teaching me more! Thanks, Bro!
(I didn't know the Slide holder opens, I was sticking it thru the slot)
great for us using ad200pros and speed lights :) lets hope for some traditional patterns soon, windows, circles, etc. Can't wait for this to come to Perú or someone that can bring it back from overseas. Great video as always. Keep it rocking!
no gobos no go
A used one of these?
Nice summary Robert - I reckon Rosco size E metal gobos will go in there with a few modifications (the metal is thin enough to cut with a large pair of scissors). Their Gobo catalogue is vast. Or - cut your own from black card or cinefoil :) Good point on the speedlight (Fresnel) heads vs studio heads - I tested the Lightblaster on a Speedlight vs a 600J head and the output was way more from the Nikon SB900 at 200mm zoom
Great to hear about Rosco size E gobos. I'll check them out.
Thanks for that confirmation on the speedlight vs a 600j head Owen, I figured this would be the cast. At 200mm did you find any issues in projection vignetting?
As with the Light Blaster which was released over a decade ago, the inherent issue with these systems is that their patterns are restricted to the rectangular 36mmx24mm dimensions of the slide, failing to take advantage of the full area of the image circle of the lens.
This new product looks far more compact, but the Light Blaster still wins in terms of versatility due to its use of EF mount, giving users far more variety in terms of focal length and brightness.
It would be nice to see it in use, i.e. some example setups.
Agree on the need for gobo. I’ll get mine tomorrow. Didn’t realize it didn’t come with them.
Thanks for the video. Looks like a great piece of kit. Do you have any videos showing the end results and how they're used?
Does the slide holder take 35mm slides? Or is there a way to use them?
Ordered one, gonna try making my own slides with transparent film sheets and some marker, paints, etc.
How did that go? Also, did you shoot outside at all? Im looking to partner mine up with an AD200 to shoot outside and throw red shapes through my own incerts, will it be strong enough with daylight? How far back will the thing need to be in order to make a circle say six feet wide? Any ideas? Thanks
@@silverparker2343 hey. Sadly enough I didn’t get around to either of those this summer. Got into street photography and 3d printing. I still feel the transparent film sheets should work. Down the road I also intend to design and 3d print my own cookies/cutouts to use on my lights. I think the ad200 will do you well outside but playing around with it various scenarios is best way to discover what works for your needs. Sorry for not concrete answers but giving you my honest gut feel, I just don’t have real world experience yet with these two items. I think they can work
@@kyledarrenhanson did you ever use the akr21? I’d be interested in borrowing it for a short while if possible! Would like to see if it can do what i want before committing to buying
@@silverparker2343 The AK-R21 looks great, but I don't have any round flash heads. For the price, it's probably a pretty good option.
I don't believe anyone posted about the ability to create your own gobo's using a Cricut machine that can cut any pattern into vinyl. Since this is a strobe only system I believe the chance of melting the vinyl is minimal.
Just ordered and will be trying it out.
Ah man, I have that one huge Godox kit and its just such a big, unwieldy design. This one looks SOOOO much better!!
And those slides look pretty standard, I wonder if you can use even just a standard film slide of of your own photos? Also I'm sure it wont be hard to somehow get a gobo in there, even though the usual gobo's are round, nothing a little tin-snip wont fix to cut off two sides to square them up in that holder!
Any ideas on making your on DIY slide inserts?
Use a Cricut vinyl cutting machine
Any sample images for this application? they should put a focus lock so it will stay focused and it would be a great review if any sample images of how this product goes.
I had this about a week and want to urge ad200 users to get the fresnel adapter. Round head is very dim compared to fresnel head on this tool. Round head throws away too much light on this
Have u used in in daylight? Any success?
@@silverparker2343 this tool is not useful with ambient light.
Totally agree on the need for "basic" patterns like in a Gobo (stripes, circles, lines, windows, etc.)... But what worries me are the differences in the use of the three lenses/optics... Are they're worth it? When to use which? Thanks
Simply the longer the lens the smaller the projection, so it's really about the distance you plan on using it from it's surface.
@@robhallphoto Thanks for the reply. So, if I want to take a full body photo and project on the whole body, the 50mm lens would be the most suitable, right? Would I lose light power? Would I have to increase the power of the speedlight?..... At the same distance from the object, with the different lenses, is there light loss?
We have the kit, distributed by Strobepro, Calgary, Canada. We could not get the image to fill a 5 x 7 backdrop unless we stepped back 30 feet - our studio is very small making this product unusable. If we placed it behind a model standing 6 feet from the backdrop, the image is about 16 x20" - unusable. This product might be useful doing an outdoor sunset car session that includes a blank boring wall.
Interesting, what lens were you using on it at the time?
Which lens length?
Those slides are standard 35mm film, right? So you could pretty much bring out your old F3 or similar, and a roll of Velvia or Provia, and create your own slides, right?
But does the slide holder manage with framed slides?
Nice video thnx
one question does the speedlite head attached to the AD200 Fresnel head
Maybe the gobos from lightblaster will fit
There is a small dust on the sensor of your camera.
Can you just have a perfect circle? I need that for a shoot I've got coming up and wondered if this would work?
Will this fit on a AD300? Thanks for the great videos!
No
No standard gobos seems like a major miss….almost no one wants gimmicky slides
The obvious question: does it work? Can you easily project a background a put put people in front of these backgrounds and light them with a key light?
Yes and yes! I was just in my studio using this. It works wonderfully with a separate strobe lighting the subject.
Could you confirm that the slides are 35mm film, please? TIA
Could anyone figure out how to add standard patterns (window, roller blind etc.)? Maybe from other brands? Anyway, I will try to print a few for myself. (Just need to get the proper sizes.)
No gobos no go, as someone said. Rob, did anyone figure out a way to 3D print plastic gobos for this yet? Sad that Godox came out with a product great in theory but half baked in reality.
If, as I suspect, the slides are standard 35mm positive (E6) film, you can easily create those gobos using TriX and a film camera, and just taking a picture of the shape you want...
So does normal DIAS slides fit in this?
Can you use the modeling light on the ad200 round head with this to focus and set up?
Yes, although it is not very bright through the slides but it works.
@@coreylee9794 I was thinking about it for just the focusing and to set it up. The modeling light on its highest power with the round head is pretty bright so I figured it may work.
Will it fit the AD300?
If you've followed God for a few years?!?
Can I be put onto the Godox 300
Nope. Ad100, ad200 (round head) and V1 only.
There are too many similar slides
System is good. Slides is trash. Just give us the basic slides
I don't understand the point?
Project images onto your background. So instead of having just a single color background, you can add interest and separation at the same time.
@@asonjayyajn But why would you want to do that. I don't get it. Doesn't seem very creative.
@@shootermcgavin4999 you’re asking why would you want to have an interesting BG instead of a plain BG? For the same reason the company Kate backdrops put designs on their backdrops. Its like having 60 colorful textured backdrops without having to put up 60 backdrops.
One of the most useless products by Godox.