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Godox AD200 Pro II Pocket Flash Review | Big Improvements?
Dec 12, 2024
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a detailed review of the Godox AD200 Pro II second generation "pocket flash". Is this the one to buy? | Check out the text review: https://tinyurl.com/Ad200IIda | Purchase the Godox AD200 Pro II at B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/4fGja8l | Adorama https://howl.link/9ml9w69x23hzx | Amazon https://amzn.to/49w7mn8 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3BBqGCW | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3OXm7G5 | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/4ixHEmA
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Table of Contents:
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0:00
[Music]
0:06
[Music]
0:10
hi I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today
0:12
to give you my review of the godox 8200
0:15
Pro Mark 2 now the 0d pro Mark I is an
0:19
update to go God ox's popular ad22 200
0:23
pocket and I use that term loosely flash
0:25
that blends portability with relatively
0:28
high power 200 WATC out put I reviewed
0:31
this early one in 2019 and as I have
0:35
spent time with the new Mark I version I
0:37
can see that there's a lot of key
0:38
upgrades that makes the flash more
0:40
versatile more easily controllable and
0:43
it comes at the same price of
0:45
$349 as the previous model it has the
0:49
shape of an on camera flash kind of the
0:52
same profile but this is an off camera
0:55
flash that will require a flash trigger
0:58
to actually use it now it's optimized
1:01
for use with God ox's new X3 triggers
1:03
but it will work with their older
1:05
triggers too so let's talk about some of
1:07
the upgrades that they have built into
1:09
this one of the key ones comes with in
1:12
improving the air flow for the cooling
1:14
we now have a motorized fan that is on
1:16
both the fral head and then also the
1:19
Bare Bulb head that goes on there and so
1:22
uh that gives you a significant
1:24
Improvement in terms of the cooling and
1:27
thus the amount of flashes you can get
1:29
before the unit will go into overheat it
1:32
also has a vastly improved modeling
1:35
light performance and so it's improved
1:37
in terms of the output it's brighter it
1:40
also you have much more control of it
1:42
now rather than just being an on andof
1:44
situation you have full control in uh 1
1:47
percentage depths from 0 to 100 you have
1:50
the ability to control the Kelvin value
1:53
from 2800 quite warm all the way up to
1:57
6,000 which is quite cool with obviously
2:00
incremental steps all along the way so a
2:03
much improved that and more
2:04
interestingly they have also improved
2:06
the Bare Bulb head as well to where it
2:09
has the similar modeling light and now
2:11
in a little bit more of a ring light
2:13
type configuration which could be an
2:15
interesting side application for that
2:18
another key Improvement that they've
2:19
given is that there is now an LED
2:21
indicator light on the side that will
2:23
allow you to identify which flash is
2:26
being used in which particular group and
2:28
so you can assign different Val vales
2:30
and so as you look across varied flashes
2:32
you can see a visual representation of
2:34
which flash is in what group and so it
2:36
can help you for individualized control
2:38
over them you also have now have the
2:41
ability to do a full Wireless sink with
2:44
the X3 trigger it's only compatible with
2:46
the X3 trigger but if you run through
2:49
that uh if you you know if you're not
2:50
comfortable kind of setting up your
2:52
settings more individually you can do a
2:54
quick sync in that way and make sure
2:55
that this you know trigger is paired
2:58
with this Flash so on and so forth one
3:01
of the huge improvements to me that I
3:03
really I had to go back and realize just
3:05
how much it was improved is the vast
3:07
difference when it comes to the menu and
3:09
the LCD screen I going back the old
3:13
flashes menu system is really really um
3:16
primitive and uh low contrast difficult
3:19
to see whereas the new one by comparison
3:22
just really looks fantastic uh it's very
3:24
bright it's very easy to navigate uh it
3:27
really is kind of a higher level
3:29
instrument in that regard um much more
3:32
professional in terms of navigation and
3:34
much easier to use another thing that
3:36
they have added to this is that if you
3:38
are looking for um even quicker flashes
3:42
they have add a a fast charge port where
3:46
you can hook up a a a separate propack
3:48
which is going to be obviously a a
3:50
separate accessory but a prop pack
3:52
battery pack that will allow you to fire
3:54
even faster and of course for longer as
3:57
well you also have a little bit more
3:59
prec ision when it comes to manual
4:01
adjustments and so you can now do as as
4:04
precise as
4:05
1512 um measurements and so just gives
4:08
you a little bit more control over the
4:10
output and so definitely some pretty key
4:12
upgrades to the overall handling and
4:15
performance of The Flash itself so let's
4:17
talk about some things that I like I
4:19
really do love that new screen and the
4:22
new menu it is it is much improved much
4:24
easier to navigate and much easier to
4:26
kind of figure out how to change the
4:28
setting that you particular want and of
4:30
course it's also much easier to actually
4:33
visualize and see at a glance whereas
4:37
before you're going to have a much more
4:39
complic complicated situation I also
4:41
really enjoy the improved versatility of
4:44
the modeling lights and how that both
4:47
the frenal and Bare Bulb heads are
4:49
improved the active fans are ex
4:53
definitely better in terms of being able
4:54
to get more actual flashes before you
4:57
get into an overheating mode now frankly
5:00
I'm rarely using in a kind of situation
5:02
where I'm just you know strobing at high
5:04
power again and again and again and
5:05
again and actually running into that but
5:07
some of you that are operating
5:09
particularly maybe in a studio type
5:10
setting where you're just hammering off
5:12
a lot of flashes you may have run into
5:14
overheating issues with the previous
5:16
Flash and you're going to find that you
5:18
have much higher threshold and from the
5:20
test that I've seen you're that's going
5:22
to be particularly true if you're using
5:23
HSS high-speed sync flashing where this
5:27
can almost double the output of the
5:28
older one the difference using the fral
5:31
head is a little less pronounced but or
5:33
you know kind of typical TTL type
5:35
flashing but if you're moving into the
5:37
HSS you will see definitely a difference
5:40
I also really appreciate the fact that
5:42
the charging has been streamlined here
5:45
the old charging even though the
5:47
batteries are similar the old charger
5:49
had this big charging brick along with
5:53
you know a typical AC chord and so by
5:56
the time you put together this whole
5:57
configuration you've got quite a large
5:59
large assembly whereas the newer flash
6:02
has this very compact little USBC
6:06
powered and it gives you a little AC
6:07
adapter and so by the time you run just
6:10
a USB to C to USBC cord between the two
6:14
you have a very Consolidated package
6:16
there and so that to me is just a big
6:18
practical Improvement I would like to
6:20
see them actually take it a level higher
6:22
and just to incorporate the USBC
6:24
charging right into the battery itself
6:26
I've seen it dumb even with say camera
6:29
batteries and so I think it certainly
6:30
would be possible for them and that
6:31
would just allow them to even further
6:33
simplify the process to where if someone
6:35
had multiple batteries they could just
6:37
pop off a battery put a USBC uh you know
6:40
charging cord right into the battery
6:42
itself and be charging on the fly it
6:44
would just eliminate a little bit of the
6:45
additional kind of clutter that's in the
6:47
bag itself let's talk about some things
6:49
that I don't like once again this shape
6:53
uh you know the the emphasis is that
6:54
well it's it's a pocket flash you have
6:56
to have really really huge pockets for
6:58
that to actually light into and so while
7:01
it's a little bit more streamlined a
7:03
form factor for portability it also
7:05
means that you are much more restricted
7:07
when it comes to using adapters and so
7:10
once again we're having to go to an
7:12
adapter like this if we want to get into
7:15
a Bowes type Mount situation obviously
7:18
that really kills the overall
7:19
portability of The Flash itself if
7:21
you're having to use a an adapter like
7:23
that to get into B bones Mount modifiers
7:26
and unfortunately the changes to this
7:28
head in terms of the cooling and then uh
7:31
even more noticeably the change into the
7:33
Bare Bulb head means that any of the
7:35
existing modifiers you might have had
7:37
for the 8200 Pro previously none of
7:41
those are likely to work with the new
7:43
Flash unit and so that's going to be
7:45
frustrating for those of you that maybe
7:46
have made some investments into the
7:48
system and now you feel like you know
7:51
your the Investments you've made are
7:52
going to be be lost one other thing in
7:56
that be because we've moved to more of
7:57
an active rather than a passive cooling
8:00
here it means that you really need to
8:02
leave the flash on uh to let that fan
8:05
run for a while if you've really gotten
8:06
the flash hot otherwise it's going to
8:08
take a lot longer for that head to cool
8:11
down because it's not designed to have
8:13
the same amount of just passive air flow
8:15
through it it's a little more sealed and
8:17
so heat is going to be retained in there
8:20
if you don't leave the flash on and
8:21
allow that actual powered fan to run a
8:24
little bit so just something to keep in
8:25
mind so my conclusion is this I used the
8:29
8 200 uh Pro Mark I flash for a couple
8:32
of different portrait sessions and it
8:34
worked just like like I expected it to
8:37
work uh in that the power was was good
8:40
it was fairly easy to control from the
8:42
uh actual triggers themselves and I was
8:45
you know experimenting this time also
8:47
with using uh putting Nikon into the mix
8:50
and so something that I've not
8:51
previously done but what I found that in
8:53
my portrait sessions is that I was able
8:55
to get the light that I wanted and and
8:57
and shape it roughly in the way that I
8:59
want wanted and so I have really no
9:01
concerns I've been using godox flashes
9:04
now for I would say not quite
9:06
exclusively but nearly exclusively for
9:08
about six years at this point and I've
9:10
never had one fail on me of course every
9:12
new generation of trigger that comes
9:14
along you have to learn the you know the
9:17
the ergonomics of how you select control
9:20
and this one is moved to the new X3 is
9:22
moved to much more of a a touchscreen
9:24
type interface and so you have to become
9:26
more familiar with how to navigate to
9:28
where you want on it but overall uh
9:30
quite easy to use and one thing I like
9:31
because of the compact size of this one
9:33
is that once you've actually taken the
9:35
battery pack out and you're carrying it
9:36
in the flash itself this actually pops
9:38
really nicely down into the slot that
9:40
was designed for the battery and so now
9:42
you can have your trigger right in the
9:44
original pouch with the flash unit
9:47
itself now I will say this that if you
9:49
already own the 8200 Pro and you're
9:51
comfortable with it um you're you're
9:54
comfortable with navigating and maybe
9:56
you don't need the modeling light to the
9:57
same degree maybe even invested in some
10:00
modifiers for it then I don't know that
10:03
there's a really a huge compelling
10:04
reason to upgrade to the new 8200 Pro
10:07
Mark I at the heart it's still the flash
10:09
unit with the same power output and yes
10:12
because of better cooling you may get
10:13
more flashes um before it overheats but
10:17
you're going to get largely the same
10:19
performance and so I don't know that
10:20
it's necessarily warranted under that
10:22
circumstance but at the same time while
10:24
this is always competed with more
10:27
expensive flashes because of the power
10:29
that you have for the price you're
10:31
getting it for the new Mark I version at
10:34
$350 it's not just competing on price
10:36
but now I think it's even more
10:38
competitive on Merit not just in the
10:40
power output but also in the feature set
10:43
and the control scheme that you have
10:45
it's com it's much more compelling and I
10:47
think much more competitive with more
10:49
expensive units so at the end of the day
10:51
it's a pretty easy recommendation to me
10:53
if you're in the market for a Flash and
10:56
you're not already invested in the
10:57
original 8200 Pro if you want more
11:00
information you can check out my text
11:02
review that's linked in the uh
11:03
description down below there's also some
11:05
buying links there where you can either
11:07
explore a little bit more thoroughly but
11:09
also you can get good deals on this unit
11:12
as well as always thanks for watching
11:14
have a great day and let the light in