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Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a detailed review of the Neewer Q120 120ws flash and how it compares to the Godox AD 100 Pro II. Neewer Flashes compatible with Godox X: Z160U, Z2, Z2PRO, Z3, Z3R, Z880, Q120, Q200, Q4, Q4PRO, Q6 | Compatible trigger models for Godox flash units: QZ-S, QZ-N, QZ-C | Purchase the Neewer Q120 @ Amazon https://amzn.to/4uIOYk3 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3SsvD9h
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0:10
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott. Those of you that
0:12
have been following my channel for a
0:13
while know that over the years I have
0:15
covered I think basically all the
0:17
generations of Godox's 8100 flashes. And
0:21
today I'm going to cover what is a
0:23
lowerpriced alternative to the God Ox in
0:26
the form of the newer Q120 outdoor
0:30
flash. Now, as the name suggests, this
0:32
does top the AD100 in terms of overall
0:35
power output. And so it has 120 watt
0:39
second output versus the 100 watt second
0:43
output of the Godox. And so just to give
0:45
you a sense in terms of guide numbers,
0:47
that is a guide number 45 versus a guide
0:49
number 41. So not a radical difference
0:53
obviously, but if you're someone who is
0:54
looking to achieve as much kind of power
0:57
output as possible out of a relatively
0:59
compact flash, that obviously is giving
1:02
you a lot of bang. And as we're going to
1:04
see, a lot of bang for your buck. Newer
1:07
is popular with a lot of you for a very
1:09
good reason. They really nail the price
1:11
to ratio. And for a lot of you, they are
1:15
an affordable alternative to more
1:17
expensive products. And in this case,
1:19
one of the other killer features they've
1:21
got outside of price is within their own
1:24
2.4 GHz Q wireless system. It of course
1:28
does all the same things that you would
1:30
expect out of something like Godox's X
1:32
wireless system, but the interesting
1:34
thing that they have added here is that
1:36
it is cross-co compatible with Godox's X
1:40
wireless system. So, for example, out of
1:43
this trigger, which is Newer's QZS, I
1:46
can actually not only control the newer
1:48
flash, but I can control the Godox flash
1:51
as well. So, I can also use a Godox
1:53
trigger, in this case, the X3N for
1:56
Nikon, and I can control the newer flash
1:59
along with the Godox flashes. Here, for
2:01
example, I've got the X3 Pro, and this
2:04
is the C version for Canon. And once
2:07
again, you can see I'm able to easily
2:09
trigger that. So, what's great about
2:11
this obviously is you can leverage
2:13
existing Godox products that you already
2:15
have. You can mix and match and so that
2:17
you have more flashes. And in my case,
2:19
for example, I love this trigger, this
2:22
QZ S. I actually like this trigger
2:24
better than I do the equivalent Godox uh
2:27
triggers for a couple of reasons that
2:28
I'll detail in just a moment. And what's
2:30
more, for whatever reason, I've ended up
2:32
with multiple Canonbased triggers. I've
2:35
got a Nikon trigger. I've got a Fuji
2:37
trigger from Godox. But my only Sony
2:40
based ones are actually older ones that
2:42
are, you know, kind of outdated at this
2:44
point. And so I'm actually really
2:46
delighted to be able to have a modern
2:47
trigger that's, you know, more compact,
2:50
a little easier to use that I can
2:51
actually use with all of the flashes,
2:53
which I own, which is quite a number of
2:55
Godox products at this point. You also
2:57
have the alternative of using a newer
2:59
app for, you know, making adjustments
3:01
and connecting to the flashes and using
3:03
for that. Transmission distances are
3:06
very similar to God Ooxes in that it's
3:08
up to 100 meters or 328 feet, giving you
3:11
a lot of flexibility on where you're
3:13
going to, you know, have your camera
3:15
position and still be able to trigger
3:17
these without any kind of issue. Battery
3:20
here is a 3000 uh mAh battery which will
3:24
give you up to 420 one or full power
3:27
flashes. And so that is a little bit
3:29
less than the 8100, but remember, you're
3:31
also outputting more light at every one
3:34
of those 1 one flashes. So if you're
3:35
dialing the power down, you're going to
3:37
get, you know, as good, if not better,
3:39
of battery life across there. Now, the
3:42
slowest recycle speed is 1 and 1/2
3:44
seconds. In this case, however, I
3:46
throttled it down to 1 128 power output,
3:48
and you can see I can trigger basically
3:50
as fast as I can actually click it down.
3:53
And so depending on the your power
3:55
output, you can get a very very fast
3:57
recycle time from that. Power cycles
4:00
from 1 one down to 1 to 56. And you can
4:03
control it in even more finite degrees
4:05
than that. Flash coverage is 28 to 105
4:10
mm. And so, you know, basically
4:12
matching, I would say, pretty much as
4:14
good as what you're going to get out of
4:15
any kind of flash at this point. It does
4:18
have a built-in modeling light. And in
4:20
this case, it is very slightly brighter
4:23
than what we have got from the
4:25
equivalent Godox. This is a 3W modeling
4:28
light where we have only a two watt
4:30
modeling light on the 8100. It will
4:33
support up to 18,000th of a second
4:36
high-speed sync, which can be very, very
4:38
useful. And then, of course, the other
4:40
killer app here is the fact that the
4:42
price at full retail is 219 USD MSRP.
4:47
The God Ox is 299 and so we have got an
4:50
$80 savings there right off the top.
4:53
I've used the Q120 over the last about
4:56
three weeks and I have used it in a
4:58
variety of different situations for some
4:59
portrait work. I have used it for some
5:01
product photography. I have used it when
5:04
shooting a bit of like macro style
5:05
photography or just general photography
5:07
where I wanted to add some strobing or
5:09
just you know setup scenarios and
5:11
testing the light. And so here are some
5:13
things that I like and some things that
5:14
I don't like. First of all, things that
5:16
I like the power and the price. This is
5:19
a lot of power and it is a fantastic
5:21
price. This is a great way to get a
5:23
little bit more light output than you
5:26
get out of your typical 100 W second
5:28
flash. And so, it's very useful for
5:30
that. And I think for many people in
5:31
many situations, one or two of these is
5:33
probably going to be all the light that
5:35
you need. I also appreciate the fact
5:37
that it actually includes the magnetic
5:39
uh dome diffuser. And by the way, their
5:42
magnetic ring is compatible with all of
5:44
God O's um you know, accessories that
5:48
work through the magnetic ring as well.
5:49
So, another area of cross compatibility
5:52
that I really like. I love the fact that
5:54
you don't have to buy new triggers if
5:56
you already have Godox triggers. And so,
5:58
that obviously just makes it a whole lot
5:59
easier to take that leaping off point.
6:02
Very, very useful. I also like the fact
6:04
that the battery back here has a USBC
6:06
port that is outward facing, which means
6:08
you can charge it while in the actual
6:11
flash unit itself. What's more, I did
6:13
test and you can power the battery and
6:15
be charging it while you're actually
6:17
using the flash, which means I could
6:19
have it mounted on a light stand
6:22
connected to a Vmount battery and
6:24
essentially not worry about the battery
6:26
running out at all because I can
6:28
continually recharge through that. One
6:30
other thing just on a practical level
6:31
that I really liked is with the Q ZS
6:34
trigger and that is that while it is
6:36
touchscreen, you know, Godox has really
6:37
leaned hard into the whole touchscreen
6:39
thing. I also appreciate the fact that
6:41
there is a little wheel here to allow
6:44
you to control settings. There are a
6:45
number of actual physical buttons on
6:47
there. That just means you have a few
6:49
different control points. Touchscreen I
6:52
find sometimes isn't always as precise
6:54
as what I'd like. For example, if I'm
6:55
trying to set this output right here, I
6:58
can drag my finger across. But if
7:00
there's a really specific output I'm
7:01
putting for, it's a little hard to be
7:03
precise. But what I can do is I can
7:06
actually click through there and just
7:08
very easily go through the, you know,
7:10
the kind of the third stop of degrees
7:12
through there. So that is very very much
7:15
appreciated as well. I also love the
7:17
fact that we have, you know, not only a
7:18
full range of compatibility in terms of
7:20
the magnetic filters, but if you use an
7:22
adapter like this from newer, which is
7:25
relatively inexpensive, you can very
7:27
quickly get into a full spectrum of
7:30
accessories with the Bowen's mount here.
7:33
And so that included, I've used it with
7:34
soft boxes, beauty dishes, and so it
7:37
just means that there's a whole world of
7:38
other accessories that is very easy to
7:40
access by using the adapter here, which
7:43
I certainly recommend doing if you want
7:45
to soften the light output and make it a
7:48
little bit more flattering and different
7:49
settings. How about some things that I
7:51
didn't like? I don't find the design
7:53
language here nearly as sleek as what I
7:56
do Godox's. Godox is really doing a
7:58
great job, even right down to the cases.
7:59
I think that their their cases have a
8:02
really really stylish look. Whereas the
8:04
newer cases, it's it's definitely their
8:06
brand. I've got a number of newer
8:07
products and so it's very familiar kind
8:09
of this gray with the blue accent on it.
8:12
But you know, all of these things from
8:14
the flash unit itself, it's just to me
8:16
it's not quite as as nailed when it
8:18
comes to the design language. And so I
8:21
like that. I also found that it took me
8:23
longer than what I anticipated in terms
8:25
of getting the cross compatibility set
8:27
up. And so you do have to be careful to
8:29
make sure that you have current firmware
8:31
on most everything involved. But there
8:34
was some other settings that I had to
8:36
access that I just wasn't familiar with.
8:38
And so there was a process to make sure
8:39
that I got the compatibility nailed
8:41
down. It took me a little bit longer
8:42
than what I anticipated because of that.
8:45
But again, once I got it set up, no
8:47
problem. But just something to be aware
8:49
of. You may experience some initial
8:50
frustration if you're not really
8:52
familiar with diving into the menus on
8:54
your triggers and your flashes and
8:56
making sure that all the settings are
8:58
appropriate. And I will also say that
9:00
sometimes updating the firmware on some
9:02
of these products can be a little bit
9:05
frustrating as well. And so just the
9:07
whole process takes a little bit more
9:09
steps than maybe what all of us would
9:11
like in terms of just plugandplay
9:12
compatibility. So what's my conclusion?
9:15
Well, I would say that there are two
9:17
clear advantages over the 8100 Pro Mark
9:19
II, and one of those is price at about
9:23
$80 cheaper, but then also the power
9:25
output. You're getting, you know, that
9:27
additional 20 watt seconds of power
9:28
output for less money. And again, while
9:31
the overall design may not be quite as
9:33
stylish, the functionality is basically
9:36
equivalent. And of course, you're
9:38
getting greater power, cheaper price. I
9:40
love that. Obviously, the killer feature
9:42
here is this cross compatibility with
9:44
Godox products. The ability to use my
9:46
Godox triggers to control this flash,
9:49
the ability to use the newer trigger to
9:52
control the Godox flash. All of that is
9:54
just fantastic. I love that. And so, I
9:57
will say at the end of the day, this is
9:58
has really impressed me in terms of just
10:00
the functionality and the practicality
10:02
of it and also the ability to just merge
10:06
these systems together. just means that
10:08
I have one more tool in my arsenal when
10:09
I'm wanting to do strobe work where I
10:12
can mix and match. And of course, I love
10:14
this trigger and I love having this even
10:16
to now control my Godox flashes on my
10:19
Sony cameras. All of that adds up too. I
10:22
think the Q120 is a great value for
10:25
money. And certainly if you don't have
10:27
triggers already, pick up one of these
10:29
QZs or not necessarily S, whatever your
10:31
camera system is because it's a really,
10:34
really great trigger. It works well. And
10:36
bonus, you get to use it to control your
10:38
Godox flashes as well. If you want more
10:40
information, you can check out the links
10:42
in the description down below, and they
10:43
will take you to places where you can
10:44
research things more thoroughly. As
10:46
always, thanks for watching. Have a
10:48
great day, and let the light in.
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