0:11
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today
0:12
to give you my review of the Viltrox
0:16
flash. What's this? Yes, for once it is
0:20
not a new lens from Viltrox, but they
0:22
have a brand new flash called the Spark
0:25
Z3, which is an extremely compact,
0:28
stylish on camera flash with 26 watt
0:32
seconds power output, a built-in battery
0:35
that'll give you 650 full output flash
0:39
before it runs out and a price tag of
0:41
only 55 bucks. If that sounds
0:44
interesting to you, then stick around
0:45
and we're going to dive into the
0:46
performance of this, talk about its
0:48
strengths and its limitations, and
0:50
whether or not it is the flash that you
0:52
should consider. Now, in full
0:54
disclosure, this flash unit was sent to
0:56
me by Viltrox for evaluation. However,
0:59
they have had zero input in this review,
1:01
and my findings are my own. This is a
1:04
completely independent review. So, let's
1:06
start with a quick discussion of what
1:08
this is. This is an on camera hot shoe
1:10
flash. As you can see, it can operate in
1:12
TTL mode and then also as an optical
1:15
slave unit. However, that is not in TTL.
1:18
There is no wireless. And so, this is
1:20
going to be triggered optically. But you
1:22
do have two options here. There's a
1:23
switch on the side that allows you to
1:25
switch between S1, which means that it's
1:27
going to basically work with the pre
1:29
flash or the main flash um when it's
1:31
going to be triggered by that. Or you
1:32
can put it into S2 mode. In S2 mode,
1:35
it's actually going to skip the pre
1:37
flash and only flash with the main
1:39
flash. and so it doesn't interfere uh
1:41
with your your pre flash uh from your
1:44
main unit. And so it does have a little
1:45
versatility there. However, there are no
1:48
wireless protocols built in and it
1:50
cannot function as a master unit again
1:52
other than being an optical trigger for
1:54
something else or a dumb type setup
1:57
rather than a smart setup. That being
1:59
said, it does utilize very effective
2:01
TTL. And so I'm testing the initial unit
2:04
that's being released which is for
2:06
Fuji's TTL protocols. And so this is the
2:10
but there is upcoming units for Canon,
2:13
Nikon, and Sony, all available as well.
2:17
And so, um, if it works as well on those
2:19
platforms as it did on Fuji, that's
2:21
encouraging to me because TTL
2:23
performance seems to be quite excellent
2:25
at a variety of focus distances, giving
2:27
me a nice amount of flash without over
2:29
flashing. Now, you also have the option
2:31
of using this as a manual flash. So
2:34
there is a dial on the back that will
2:35
allow you to go through seven steps and
2:38
then so you can go from 164th output up
2:42
to one one to one. And so just give you
2:44
a quick look at what that looks like.
2:46
Here is from 164th then at 132nd 1/16th
2:53
1/2 and then full one one output. And so
2:56
you can see that you know it is
2:58
effectively stepping up the output. And
3:00
so that means that while this is
3:02
designed with the TTL protocols for
3:04
Fuji, you can use it on other flash or
3:06
other cameras and other camera systems
3:09
manually. More on that in the portrait
3:11
section coming up. So let's talk about
3:12
the aesthetics along with the physical
3:15
controls here. They call this cyberpunk
3:18
uh inspired. And so really what that
3:20
comes down to is some some forms and
3:23
shapes that are molded onto it. But the
3:25
biggest thing is that on the top there
3:27
is a clear window that allows you to see
3:31
for half of it down into the circuit
3:33
board of the lens. And so it gives it it
3:35
does give it a stylish look that is
3:36
definitely a cut above the basic flashes
3:38
you would expect for this kind of price
3:40
point. It comes in two finishes. I'm
3:42
testing the a little bit more
3:44
traditional gunmetal gray. There's also
3:46
a brighter tundra green. And so if
3:48
you're really looking to make a
3:49
statement, you can try out the Tundra
3:51
Green. This weighs in at just 144 g. And
3:55
so it's not only a compact form factor,
3:57
but it's not going to take up too much
3:58
weight in your camera bag. So all of
4:00
that is good. Those of you that aren't
4:03
big fans of the increasing move towards
4:05
touchscreen controls on a lot of recent
4:08
flashes are going to love this because
4:10
we have got the most analog of control
4:12
systems. Here on the back there is the
4:15
wheel that I've mentioned that allows
4:17
you to just rotate and it says right on
4:20
it what level of output you're at. By
4:22
the way, it's great. It works really
4:23
fast and so you can very quickly set
4:25
that. So I have no problem with that.
4:27
Next to it here, we also have a lever
4:29
that allows you to switch between it
4:31
being turned off into automatic or TTL
4:34
mode. And then to the right, it will rot
4:36
rock into the manual mode. So you can
4:39
control that. As mentioned already,
4:40
there is a switch on the left side that
4:42
allows you to go um into the the slave
4:46
modes where it's going to be optically
4:47
triggered by a master unit. There's also
4:50
on the side there is that USBC port that
4:52
is there and that USBC port is what is
4:55
going to recharge the internal battery.
4:58
More on that in just a moment. Now I
5:01
will note that if you because there's no
5:03
there's not a lot of like things
5:05
lighting up on here. There is a single
5:06
thing that lights up on the top one um
5:09
you know green button that is also just
5:11
the test trigger and it will show green
5:14
when it's ready, red when it's not.
5:16
However, if you're looking at the back,
5:17
you're not going to see anything like
5:18
that. I found that it's not difficult to
5:21
forget to turn it off because it is just
5:23
a a physical dial. Uh, however, it will
5:25
go into sleep mode after 15 minutes. So,
5:27
it's not entirely dumb. It will go to
5:29
sleep to save the preserve the battery
5:31
life. However, when you come back, you
5:32
may think your flash is dead. It's not.
5:34
You just have to power cycle on and off.
5:36
So, you need to go to off and then turn
5:38
it back on, and then it will be up and
5:40
ready to go. It actually cycles quite
5:42
quickly, as we'll get to in just a
5:44
moment. So, I mean, don't worry, it'll
5:45
quickly come back alive once you do
5:47
that. And and so outside of that, it's
5:50
very basic and straightforward. The one
5:52
thing that's included, which we'll
5:53
detail in just a moment, is a an in a
5:56
diffuser, which is hard plastic that
5:59
just pops over the top of that and will
6:00
help to scatter the light output uh for
6:03
that. So, easy to use, easy to bring
6:05
along. So, let's talk about the power
6:07
and the output. So, first about the
6:09
internal power. This has an 18,800 mAh
6:12
internal battery. And what really
6:15
impressed me is that this is actually
6:16
rated up for up to 650 full one to one
6:21
flashes. And so that's a really
6:23
impressive amount. That's all day use,
6:25
you know, even for a wedding
6:26
photographer. And so that's really quite
6:28
impressive there. And uh I I mean I I
6:31
remember some of the earlier flashes
6:32
that are you know compact flashes that
6:34
I've reviewed before. I'm accustomed to
6:36
seeing anywhere between 130 to maybe 200
6:40
flashes out of uh you know the batteries
6:42
that would be you pop into there. So
6:44
this is actually really impressive to
6:46
get that amount of of light cycles and
6:49
that's one to one. So if you're shooting
6:50
at anything less than one one you know
6:52
you could easily go for a thousand
6:54
cycles before the battery needs to be
6:55
recharged. That's pretty impressive. I
6:57
will also note that the recycled ch uh
6:59
time at one one is 1 second. So not bad.
7:04
So just to give you an idea, if I go to
7:06
say let's say 1/8 uh power output, it's
7:09
instantly ready to go again. However, if
7:11
I go all the way to 1 one, there's a bit
7:13
of a pause 1 second before I'm ready to
7:15
go again. However, even just going down
7:17
to 1/2, it's a very quick pause before I
7:20
can go again. And so a recycle time is
7:22
is pretty impressive for such a small
7:25
unit like that. Now, that internal
7:27
battery is takes 70 minutes to charge
7:29
and that's via USBC. However, it's a
7:32
really flexible charge and so anything
7:34
that can put out 5V 2 amp equivalent is
7:36
going to be able to charge it and that
7:38
includes most power banks and so very
7:40
flexible in that regard. Now, in terms
7:42
of the output, it is a 26 watt second
7:44
output and that is a very usable amount
7:48
of of light. Uh it's it's very hard. I I
7:52
researched and maybe some of you will
7:53
know how to do it and if you do let me
7:54
know how to how to basically convert
7:56
from watt second to a guide number which
7:59
is more traditional in flashes this
8:01
size. I didn't really find an effective
8:03
way to do that and so if you know how
8:05
please let me know but uh basically
8:08
that's about a third of the light output
8:10
of you know the flashes full-size flash
8:13
units that cost hundreds of dollars and
8:15
so um it's but it's it's not so it's not
8:18
a massive amount of light but it's a
8:19
very usable amount of light in a typical
8:21
size room or even shooting outdoors I
8:23
found it fine for fill light with a
8:25
single subject if you're shooting you
8:27
know backlit outdoors with a group may
8:30
not be enough for that But you know in
8:32
in a lot of situations it was sufficient
8:34
and certainly for many situations
8:35
indoors it is plenty of light you know
8:38
assuming that the venue is not too
8:41
Using the diffuser I found cost about
8:44
one and a half stops of light. However
8:47
if you can get away with it do use it
8:49
because the light is just it's softer.
8:52
It's more pleasing. I found gives it a
8:54
little bit of a warmer feel and and so
8:57
um you know it's it's just less harsh.
8:59
And of course, you know, that is the
9:01
main problem with a flash unit like
9:03
this. So, how about for portrait work?
9:05
As noted, it is enough flash to be able
9:09
to do some of the key things that I want
9:10
to do, which is mostly around filling.
9:13
So, in this particular series, I was
9:15
shooting um midday in August and so
9:19
about 100 p.m. And so, the light is very
9:22
harsh. So, I wanted to put the subject
9:23
in the shade for the setting, but it
9:25
also meant that the background that
9:27
wasn't in the shade would be very
9:29
bright. So, being able to use some fill
9:31
light to balance that to where the
9:33
background isn't blown out, I found to
9:35
be very useful and I got pleasing
9:37
results in that kind of setting. I also
9:39
moved into a fulllength setting where I
9:41
was needing more light output, but I
9:44
found that I got, you know, decent
9:45
results in that setting. um the images
9:48
look the way that I wanted with just
9:50
enough fill light to where it still
9:51
looks natural. Doesn't look too
9:53
different from available light other
9:54
than the subject is better filled
9:57
against the background. Also helps with
9:58
a little bit more subject isolation in
10:00
that setting. I did a series with my son
10:03
Ryan right before he went off for
10:05
university and found that in shooting at
10:07
a variety of settings, I got good
10:09
metering and so it wasn't overpowered or
10:12
underpowered but nicely filled. So that
10:14
looked good. I also found in that
10:16
setting that, you know, for example,
10:17
with this shot with the ivy, because you
10:19
can't direct the light, it's just like
10:22
this. It was important to instead of
10:23
shooting like this where the flash would
10:25
illuminate the ivy on the left, I needed
10:27
to rotate like this to make sure that
10:29
the flash lighting was staying outside
10:31
of that. So, you know, you don't have as
10:33
much control over positioning the light.
10:34
So, you may need to do a little bit of
10:36
that through the physical controlling. I
10:38
did also shoot with it on a manual mode
10:40
on a Sony camera just to see what that
10:41
was like. And so obviously it's a little
10:43
bit of trial and error unless you're an
10:44
expert with strobing and and so you know
10:47
that meant that I got some bad results
10:49
like this but I also got some really
10:51
beautiful results like these for example
10:54
and uh you know if I zoom into one of
10:56
those you can see the you know it's tiny
10:58
but you see the little catch light in
10:59
there and and so that certainly was was
11:02
nice. Now I mean limited downsides here
11:04
is that there's limited ways to modify
11:06
that light. There is no bouncing,
11:08
there's no tilting, there's no rotating.
11:10
So, a lot of the ways that I like to use
11:12
a flash, I can't do. And so, I don't
11:14
love it for that. I also found that that
11:17
last series I showed on Sony, I was
11:18
using a really big lens. In this case,
11:20
it was the Sigma 200 millimeter f2. So,
11:22
it's a fairly squat lens. And so, I did
11:25
feel like because I can't adjust the
11:27
light that with a thicker lens coming
11:30
out there, it was blocking some of the
11:31
light and that had a negative impact on
11:34
some of the the images. And so, you
11:36
know, just be aware of that. So, let's
11:38
talk about some of the things that I
11:40
like. It is a very usable amount of
11:42
power for such a inexpensive flash. You
11:44
know, that is it's not a massive amount
11:46
of light, but it's a very usable amount
11:48
of light. Far far more than what you
11:49
might expect for a typical built-in
11:51
flash or most compact flash units. And
11:54
so, I felt like it was a very decent
11:56
amount of light for the form factor
11:58
here. I also appreciated that while the
12:01
controls aren't complex, they are
12:03
effective. They're simple but effective.
12:05
And a lot of these compact units, you
12:07
don't really have any like controls
12:08
built into the flash unit itself. So, I
12:10
liked having controls. I liked having
12:12
manual controls because that meant that
12:14
while it's may not be optimal, I can use
12:16
it on basically any camera system and as
12:18
long as I dial in the right amount of
12:20
light, no problem. And so, uh, that was
12:22
appreciated. I also appreciated that
12:24
when you're shooting it on the correct
12:25
platform, in this case Fuji, um, the TTL
12:28
seemed to work very well. I didn't end
12:30
up with any situations where I felt like
12:32
that the the flashlight was either too
12:34
much or too little, but it seemed to be
12:37
just about just right all the time. And
12:39
so that is great. I appreciate the very
12:42
very effective amount of battery life
12:44
here. The fact that you can get enough
12:47
shots out of a charge to basically last
12:50
all day, even in, you know, heavy duty
12:52
shooting. And so that's great uh and and
12:55
unexpected in a flash unit this size. I
12:58
also appreciate that the USBC and the,
13:00
you know, relatively modest power
13:02
requirements for that means that it's
13:04
very easy to recharge. You know, if you
13:05
have a power bank along with you, you
13:07
can recharge it and so that you can keep
13:09
going. And with a 70minute recharge
13:11
time, that's for a full recharge. Even
13:13
if you only had half of that time, let's
13:15
say if you're driving to a different
13:17
location, you put it on and you charged,
13:19
you really could extend your shooting,
13:21
you know, almost indefinitely with just
13:23
a little bit of chunks of time like
13:24
that. Of course, I have to point out
13:27
that it's extremely inexpensive. It's a
13:29
very lowrisk investment. Uh with a
13:31
discount code, you can get it for right
13:32
over 50 bucks. You know, that's, you
13:34
know, provides tremendous value as long
13:36
as the flash itself is sufficient for
13:38
what you need. I'll give them points for
13:40
a stylish design. It doesn't look like
13:42
every other flash unit out there. So,
13:44
bonus there. I also appreciate the fact
13:46
that we've got a sturdy connection here.
13:49
It's just a wheel style, but I mean it's
13:51
it's it feels tough and durable and so
13:54
it takes all the guesswork out of there.
13:56
It's just, you know, you lock it in,
13:58
it's not moving anywhere, and this
14:00
doesn't feel like it's going to break
14:02
anytime soon. And I know some of you
14:03
have had concerns with the plastic
14:05
locking tabs on some of the other flash
14:08
units that I've tested before. This
14:09
feels pretty sturdy here. So, all of
14:11
that is good. How about things that I
14:13
don't like? Well, the biggest things
14:15
that I don't like is that you've got a
14:16
limited way to use this flash. There's
14:18
no tilt. There's no bounce. There's no
14:20
pivoting. And so that just means that
14:21
there are fewer ways to modify the
14:24
light. There are fewer ways to control
14:25
the light. And thus my second thing I
14:29
don't like, there are fewer ways to
14:30
avoid the worst aspects of flashing,
14:33
namely uh getting, you know, reflections
14:36
on shiny surfaces, that kind of flashed
14:39
look that isn't natural. And so it's
14:42
harder to avoid that with this, even
14:44
with that little modifier. And then of
14:46
course, you know, this is more of a
14:47
nitpick in a unit this inexpensive, but
14:49
there are no master controls. And so
14:51
this is not a gateway to controlling
14:53
more complex flashes unless you're just
14:55
using on an optical trigger, which is
14:57
not not really what you want. And so
14:59
there are so many great ways to get
15:01
wireless control over multiple flashes
15:03
at this point. And the Spark Z3 is not
15:07
the way to achieve that. So, my
15:09
conclusion is is that if you're serious
15:11
about strobing, you'll probably almost
15:13
certainly want a more sophisticated,
15:15
flexible unit than the Viltrox Spark Z3
15:18
flash unit. But if you're looking for an
15:20
inexpensive and kind of stylish way to
15:22
add a little bit of lighting versatility
15:24
to your kit, then it does stand out as
15:26
being a really strong value. It has a
15:28
generous amount of light output. It
15:30
looks cool. It uh packs enough internal
15:32
power to last all day. And I also
15:35
appreciate the fact that of course it
15:36
weighs in at only 144 grams. And so if
15:39
even if you just keep it in your camera
15:41
bag, the fact that it has great built-in
15:43
power, you know, unlike using like say
15:46
just like rechargeable AA batteries in a
15:48
flash, I always found with flash units
15:50
like that, if they sat in my bag for a
15:52
few months, by the time I went to use
15:53
them, the batteries were basically dead.
15:55
Something about these internal cells
15:57
that holds a charge much, much longer.
15:59
So you can throw it in your bag, it's
16:01
light enough to forget about it, and
16:02
then just pull it out when you need it.
16:03
And I think that is really the most
16:06
useful application for this. Of course,
16:08
the fact that it is so inexpensive means
16:10
that it's a low-risk investment in
16:12
something that maybe you don't use all
16:13
the time, but there will be moments you
16:15
say, "Hey, I'm glad I had that." And if
16:17
that sounds like a possibility for you,
16:18
then check out the Viltrox Spark Z3
16:21
flash unit. More information can be
16:23
found by looking the description down
16:25
below. As always, thanks for watching.
16:27
Have a great day and let the light in.
