Big Lamp
The last few years have seen the constant use of a stock of old Godox AD200 flash units, which have been dropped more times than I can remember, and end up being switched on and off about 200 times per shoot. Unfortunately & ironically, their biggest weak point is the on/off switch - a flimsy bit of plastic with contacts and a spring attached to the PCB power supply inside. Consequently, the units tend to malfunction regularly, and I’m forced to tape the switch to the on position and power the unit on and off by removing the battery. Not the greatest thing for my speedy workflow.
I’ve got 3 of these bad boys in current operation, with one waiting to go to a repair centre in Kent - whose staff I’m on first name terms with due to the amount of repairs I ask for on an annual basis. You can pick these up new for about £300, and the repair is generally £35, so rotating their use and getting them fixed is my way of managing things.
I do get the occasional job where 200w/s (watt seconds) of power just isn’t enough - when lighting spaces with very high ceilings like atriums or converted churches, and my usual solution is to use 2 or more of the flash units to give me 400 or 600w/s of power. This is a bit of a pain to do, so I bit the bullet and got a brand new Godox AD 400 Pro with attachments and so on to handle the big space jobs.
It’s a battery powered device, and has its own carry case. There is a 600w/s model as well, but the price doubles per one-stop of light, and I don’t need that at the moment. It’s a bit more hefty than I thought it would be, but I’ve used it lots now, and it’s an excellent addition to the gear stored in the boot of the car. The first time I used it was to shoot a converted church on the outskirts of Whitby which I did on a sunday with my eldest assisting. That extra bit of power lit the main living space like a boss.
One other advantage it has is the ability to turn off the wireless connectivity easily by just pressing a button on the side of the unit. This means I don’t have to switch the power on and off if I need to disable the flash for a frame - thereby preventing regular trips to the repair centre. It’s a win-win.
