Viltrox has carved out a solid place in the market for their increasingly excellent camera lenses, but that’s not all they do. Their next area of disruption is in camera flashes, and they have a stylish and inexpensive new 26W/s hotshoe strobe called the SPARK Z3. You can get one for just $55 USD | 62.99 EUR | or 51.99GBP – or even less if you use the code DUSTINABBOTT at checkout (5% off). A flash like this has limitations – no bouncing or angling of any kind, but it is also incredibly inexpensive, has full (and accurate) TTL, and can be used in slave mode. What’s more, it has an internal 1800mAh battery rated for 650 1:1 flashes that can be easily recharged via USB-C. When you consider that the SPARK Z3 can be purchased for right over $50, it is a definite bargain. I shared all the details in the video review linked below, or you can also look at a summary of my findings in this article.

https://youtu.be/IITqIXF3zcA

Thanks to Godox for sending me a review sample. As always, this is a completely independent review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

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The SPARK Z3 is a hotshoe flash, meaning that it is designed primarily to operate on camera. Yes, it can operate in slave mode, but that is only in manual mode, so you aren’t going to be able to get remote TTL performance using a more sophisticated trigger. That being said, there is a switch on the right side of the flash that will allow you to choose between two modes – S1 and S2. S1 is “sync trigger mode”, and you need to preset the manual output of the flash (via a wheel on the back that we’ll cover in a moment) and the flash will optically trigger with the first flash of a master unit. In S2 mode, or “anti-preflash mode”, you still set the manual output but the flash will will trigger from the second flash of the master unit to avoid pre-flash interference.

That’s not nearly as sophisticated as the more advanced wireless TTL units common today, but this is also a $50 flash, so having this capability at all is useful. There is no master wireless control using the SPARK Z3.

The mount is sturdy, with a simple tension wheel to lock it down on the mount. This is a simple but effective approach, and doesn’t feel as fragile as the plastic locking tab of many modern flashes.

When mounted on the hotshoe, this is a full “instant-response” TTL flash that adjusts the flash output based on the pre-flash exposure data from the camera’s metering system. I’m testing the Fuji XF mount (or the Z3-F), which utilizes Fuji’s TTL flash protocols. I did use it on Sony cameras as well, but it will only work as a manual flash there. The Z3-F is the first to arrive, but Viltrox will soon release Z3-C (Canon), Z3-S (Sony), and Z3-N (Nikon) units as well.

Controls

Many flashes have moved to touchscreen controls, but the SPARK Z3 utilizes a very simple control scheme that I suspect a lot of people will appreciate. At the back of the flash you’ll find a control wheel and a mode lever.

The control wheel allows you to control output from 1/1 to 1/64 in a total of seven levels. This isn’t as finite control as what higher end flashes allow, but it is also rare to have any kind of output control in such an inexpensive flash. There’s no guess-work here – just turn the wheel!

The lever on the right (designed to look like another wheel or cog) has three positions – OFF | A (TTL) or | M (Manual). In TTL mode the wheel on the left doesn’t play a function. I actually wish it doubled as a flash compensation dial, allowing one to tweak TTL output a bit, but if you want that you’ll need to rely on manual control.

There is a single light on the top of the flash that will either show green (when ready) or red (when recovering after flashing), but there are no lights associated with the OFF lever on the back. I did find it was easier to forget to turn the flash off because of this, but the flash (fortunately) will enter sleep mode after 15 minutes and will require powering the flash back on (cycling to off and then to A or M) to resume operation.

SPARK Z3 Output

The Spark Z3 is a 26W/s unit, which is a bit of a confusing metric, as once upon a time fixed lights and/or studio strobes where measured in W/s figures, while on-camera flashes were measured in a guide number. Apparently doing that math isn’t particularly easy, as I’ve struggled to find a way to convert the 26W/s to a guide number. That amount of power is about a third of what the better high end flashes bring to the table, though those units will cost 6-10x as much. You can control that output in a total of seven steps via the rear control wheel, so what follows is a look at what the scene looks like shooting at F3.6 and a shutter speed of 1/160th second (using the new Viltrox Pro AF 56mm F1.2 XF). First you’ll see the scene at 1/64th output, then, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, then 1/1 output.

The SPARK Z3 does include a plastic diffuser you can pop over the flash head to scatter and mute the harshness of the lighting output a bit.

Using this comes at the cost of raw power output, of course, and I found that I lost about 1.5 stops of light the diffuser attached. I had to drop to F2.2 to get a similar level of light.

Combining the diffuser with TTL gave the most natural looking result, with warmer, more even lighting.

But I’ve cropped out the worst part of the image to get the 16:9 ratio for my video review. If we look at the mantle above the chair (which has a glossy finish), you’ll see the worst part of that “flashed” look – a big shiny reflection of light.

This is one of the main challenges with a flash that cannot be bounced (which makes the light output harder to modify). You have limited means of mitigating the harsher light of an on-camera flash.

Things are better without reflective surfaces, however. This comparison shows the flash being used softly for fill, and while the flashed look (right) is different than the natural light version on the left, I would say that it has its own charms. Some of the shadowed areas are filled, and the whole image is a little softer.

The little modifier is useful (and I would recommend using it unless you need maximum output), but the inability to angle and bounce the SPARK Z3 is my least favorite thing about it.

Portrait Work

My favorite use of flashes is for adding a bit of fill to my portraits to reduce shadows and allow me to better match the subject with the background. In this shot, for example, I could put the subject in a shaded area to avoid the harsh midday light (this was shot at about 1 PM in August) but the flash allowed me to fill the light so that the background (beyond the shaded area) doesn’t look harshly blown out.

I used the SPARK in another setting and utilized the flash to fill the scene and enable my subject to stand out a bit more.

You can see that the TTL did a nice job with this shot:

Because I can’t angle the flash, I had to make sure to rotate the camera so the flash was on the outside and not flashing the ivy in the foreground.

At closer distances the flash worked fine via TTL and didn’t overexpose the scene. This allowed for more of a lighting contrast between the subject and the relatively close background, which worked nice for a monochrome.

As noted, I used the SPARK Z3 in manual mode on my Sony a7RV during a review of the Sigma 200mm F2 | SPORT. This requires a bit of trial and error (unless you’re a strobing genius), so you can get results like this if the output isn’t set right.

This is also the byproduct of having a massive lens on the camera and no way to tilt the flash angle!

That being said, a little tweaking of the output, and I got this:

If you take a closer look, you can see the little flash catchlight in there.

The bottom line is that while this isn’t a sophisticated or high end strobe tool, it could be genuinely useful as an inexpensive, compact option to keep in your camera bag for moments when you want to add a little light to a scene. The fairly robust built in battery (1800mAh) is rated for 650 1/1 flash shots, so should hold a decent charge for the moments you need it. You can recharge it in roughly 70 minutes via USB-C from pretty much anything (it is only drawing 5V/2A, so most any powerbank will do). There is a USB-C port on the side for easy access.

Aesthetics

Viltrox calls this a Cyberpunk-inspired design. That means shapes and contours, yes, but mostly it means a cutout on the top that exposes the circuit board. It does look very cool and raises the style level far above what we typically see on a cheap flash. I’ve reviewed the Gunmetal Grey version (a bit more traditional), but there is also a “Tundra Green” version that is even flashier.

It looks pretty cool mounted on my camera

What’s more, this flash only weighs 144g, so it will have minimal impact if you throw it into your camera bag.

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Things I Like

Usable amount of power
Simple but effective controls
TTL seems to work effectively
Big enough battery for all day shooting
Easy to recharge battery
Very inexpensive
Stylish design
Sturdy connection

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Things I Don’t Like

No ability to tilt, bounce, or pivot flash
Fewer ways to avoid the worst aspects of flashing
No master controls

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Conclusion

If you’re serious about strobing, you’ll almost certainly want a more sophisticated, flexible unit than the Viltrox SPARK Z3. But if you’re looking for an inexpensive and stylish want to add a little lighting versatility to your kit, then the SPARK Z3 stands as an excellent value. It has a generous amount of light output, looks cool, and packs enough internal power to last all day. I can recall testing small flash units that only got about 1/5th of the amount of shots you can get out of one charge on the SPARK, so I’m very impressed that its battery is so robust. This is a very stylish little unit for just right over $50, so this feels like a low-risk investment in a flash that is compact enough that you can just leave it in your bag for those moments when it comes in handy. Not bad, Viltrox, not bad.

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Purchase the Viltrox SPARK Z3 @ Viltrox (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 5% off) | B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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