Godox V860II-N TTL Flash

[Silversnapper]

I am considering purchasing a Godox V860II-N flash gun to marry up with my D810 for close-up/macro photography using a home-made diffuser similar to one I used successfully on another marque of camera (apologise for the bad language ). My I tap into the collective wisdom of members for opinions on the suitability of this unit, bearing in mind that funds are very much limited. Of course, any other advice on the subject would also be more than welcome.
TIA

 

[Clovishound]

I have the Godox tt685, which is very similar to the flash you are considering. I believe the main difference is the li-on battery of the 860 vs 4 AA batteries used in the 685.

I use mine almost exclusively for macro work using an AK diffuser. I have been very happy with it's performance. The only down side for me was the learning curve. Once I got used to navigating the different controls, I had no issues with that. I would happily recommend it. I preferred the 685 over the 860 due to being able to have an inexpensive backup set of batteries in the field, and inexpensive replacements down the road when the batteries reached the end of their lifespan. FYI, I use NiMH batteries in my 685. The 860 has a quicker recycle time, but that's not an important feature for me. YMMV

As a side note, I used a home made diffuser of similar design to the AK for several months and got very good results. I spent the money on the AK to get into something more durable than the cardboard/duct tape and t-shirt material of the home made unit. Results were slightly better for the AK.

Here's a couple shots using the 685 and diffuser.

 

[Silversnapper]

I have the Godox tt685, which is very similar to the flash you are considering. I believe the main difference is the li-on battery of the 860 vs 4 AA batteries used in the 685.

I use mine almost exclusively for macro work using an AK diffuser. I have been very happy with it's performance. The only down side for me was the learning curve. Once I got used to navigating the different controls, I had no issues with that. I would happily recommend it. I preferred the 685 over the 860 due to being able to have an inexpensive backup set of batteries in the field, and inexpensive replacements down the road when the batteries reached the end of their lifespan. FYI, I use NiMH batteries in my 685. The 860 has a quicker recycle time, but that's not an important feature for me. YMMV

As a side note, I used a home made diffuser of similar design to the AK for several months and got very good results. I spent the money on the AK to get into something more durable than the cardboard/duct tape and t-shirt material of the home made unit. Results were slightly better for the AK.

Here's a couple shots using the 685 and diffuser.

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I must have tuned into your wavelength because since I made my first post I spotted the battery information - which came as a surprise. I have a bucketful of rechargeable AA batteries which power most of my stuff so this is the preferred option and the model you recommend sounds just the ticket so I'm off to search for one.
The diffuser you mention is way out of my price range, however, I do have a number of diffusers I've been using over the years so I'm sure that adapting those won't pose a problem.
Thanks for the quick reply and the info, it's much appreciated.

 

[hark]

I have that one as well as the one Clovishound mentioned. The V860II-N works great, but its battery swelled which made me have to buy a replacement at $39. That flash hadn't been used a lot either; however, I was told swelling is caused by humidity. The thing is I run the AC during the summer so not sure if humidity was the factor.

So before I purchased a replacement battery, I sat on the fence deciding whether to put the money into another battery or if I should opt for a second TT685 II. Ultimately I ordered the battery and use both flashes.

The TT685 II is an excellent option though. For the TT685 II as well as my previous Nikon flashes, I use rechargeable AA batteries. Since I don't need fast recycle time, the AA batteries are fine. Moving forward, I think I'd only get a flash that accepts AA batteries after having the issue with the rechargeable battery from the V860ii.

 

[Silversnapper]

I have that one as well as the one Clovishound mentioned. The V860II-N works great, but its battery swelled which made me have to buy a replacement at $39. That flash hadn't been used a lot either; however, I was told swelling is caused by humidity. The thing is I run the AC during the summer so not sure if humidity was the factor.

So before I purchased a replacement battery, I sat on the fence deciding whether to put the money into another battery or if I should opt for a second TT685 II. Ultimately I ordered the battery and use both flashes.

The TT685 II is an excellent option though. For the TT685 II as well as my previous Nikon flashes, I use rechargeable AA batteries. Since I don't need fast recycle time, the AA batteries are fine. Moving forward, I think I'd only get a flash that accepts AA batteries after having the issue with the rechargeable battery from the V860ii.

Thank you both for your replies and I can confirm that I have found and ordered a TT685 II that is within my budget and hopefully it should arrive tomorrow. It seems I will be spending my weekend learning how to use it in practice.

 

[Clovishound]

What diffuser(s) are you using? I have used the small soft box, the small pop up fabric one that slips over the lens, a homemade "cone" and the AK. All seem to work well, but I prefer the cone style the most. The nice thing about the small fabric one is portability. I can slide it into the laptop pouch of my backpack and it takes up virtually no space at all. Pull it out and pop it on the lens and you're good to go. I get a little more light, and a little better diffusion from the "cone" style.

Glad my post made you consider the 685 and saved you some money. It's a great flash IMO.

 

[hark]

Thank you both for your replies and I can confirm that I have found and ordered a TT685 II that is within my budget and hopefully it should arrive tomorrow. It seems I will be spending my weekend learning how to use it in practice.

As with any flash units, try to allow time between flashes so the unit doesn't overheat. But macro shouldn't take full power flashes so you should be fine. Repeated full power flashes is another way to overheat a unit. If you are able to learn manual flash, that will be the most consistent option over TTL. Have fun!

 

[Silversnapper]

What diffuser(s) are you using? I have used the small soft box, the small pop up fabric one that slips over the lens, a homemade "cone" and the AK. All seem to work well, but I prefer the cone style the most. The nice thing about the small fabric one is portability. I can slide it into the laptop pouch of my backpack and it takes up virtually no space at all. Pull it out and pop it on the lens and you're good to go. I get a little more light, and a little better diffusion from the "cone" style.

Glad my post made you consider the 685 and saved you some money. It's a great flash IMO.

Not having done any serious hand-held macros for many years I will have to search the loft for the diffusers I used but I did find this image on an old drive. As I recall, it did become my most used one at the time, however, I'm sure I can design something better this time around.
Note: I obscured the camera maker out of respect for this forum.

I'm sure this pose will be familiar to most macro shooters:

Sadly, advancing years and my constant companion Arther Itis, make such acrobatics a distant dream.

 

[Clovishound]

I find a small, folding footstool really handy when I'm out shooting macro in the back yard.

 

[Silversnapper]

I'm pleased to say that the TT685 II arrived yesterday evening and what a nice bit of kit it is, now I have to sit down and RTFM. I've ordered some stuff to make a couple of diffusers with - arriving Monday, and plan on doing some online research into popular diffuser designs - all hints and tips most welcome.

 

[Clovishound]

What style are you looking at initially? My favorite style is the cone shaped. Remember, the larger the diffuser, the more diffuse the light will be. The bad news for them is that they are not easily made collapsible for easy storage and carrying in the field. Unfortunately, the one I made went in the trash after I purchased the AK, so no pictures. I simply took a piece of white cardstock and turned it back on itself in a large cone. I secured it with duct tape and trimmed the large end flat, with a cutout on the bottom where the camera lens would be. I made a small rectangle from some scrap foamcore that fit snugly over the end of the flash and duct taped that inside the small end of the cone. I then cut a piece of white t-shirt material and duct taped it over the large opening of the cone. I found that this home made diffuser worked extremely well, and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the light quality from this and a commercially available product, although the AK has an edge in that department. I considered making another from more durable material, like plastic sheeting, but I liked the fact that the commercial product comes apart for easy portability, although I usually just leave it assembled during the insect season, when I'm shooting a lot with it. The $100 or so I paid for it wasn't an issue for me, although I realize it might be for some.

To be honest the small pop up style fabric diffusers that slip over the end of the lens, work very well and are very cheap ($10 and under on Amazon). Even the small soft boxes work well and are under $20.

Good luck with your new flash, and I'm looking forward to seeing some images using it.

 

[Silversnapper]

Thank you for your insight Clovishound. I don't think I could handle one of the large diffusers so my present thinking is for a similar, but hot shoe mounted version of the one above, possibly with a sort of 'cowl + diffuser' at the working end. I'll fire up the ancient old grey cells and see what I can come up with and post the results here.

 

[Silversnapper]

After my last post, and impatient as I can sometimes be, I remembered that I had an old Pringles box in the garage so I retrieved it, carved it up a little, clipped on two layers of kitchen towel and this is the result, my first diy diffuser for over fifteen years.

I do some tethered shooting of close-up and macro work (just fun stuff) and I was keen to try out the old-fashioned way again so I set up these three 25mm 'ish tall figures, lifted the camera to my eye and was horrified to realise that my shaky hands made composing and focusing a real challenge, even with the OS doing it's best. I took about 23-30 shots and I only got a couple with the eyes 'nearly' in focus so much more practice is needed. This is one of the 'nearly'....a simple convert from RAW to JPEG and resize, nothing else.

And so the saga continues ....

 

[Clovishound]

Great quick and dirty diffuser.

For something a little more durable, you might consider a white plastic bottle. Maybe something like a quart bleach bottle. It may produce a slightly softer light than the foil liner on the inside of the cardboard can you used for this.

 

[Silversnapper]

Great quick and dirty diffuser.

For something a little more durable, you might consider a white plastic bottle. Maybe something like a quart bleach bottle. It may produce a slightly softer light than the foil liner on the inside of the cardboard can you used for this.

Thanks. The diffuser shown in #8 was made out of a white plastic milk bottle, alas, there's still a litre of milk left in mine at the moment otherwise I would have used that. I have 1 Black and 1 White, A3 x 0.5mm polypropylene sheets coming on Tuesday for me to play around with and hopefully come up with a more robust design.

 

[Clovishound]

Do an internet search (if you haven't already) for DIY macro flash diffusers and you will find a lot of creative designs.

 

[Silversnapper]

Well this really sucks. Whilst exploring the various functions on my new Godox TT685iiN, somehow I inadvertently got it into LOCKED mode. The manual make no mention of this but I found a couple of videos on the 'net explaining that holding down the menu button for about 5 seconds will unlock it - that failed. Another video said to reset the unit by simultaneously holding down the two RST buttons - that also failed.

I have email Godox Support but in the meantime I was wondering if anyone here had had a similar problem?

 

[Clovishound]

At the 3:00 position of the control wheel is a small "lock" symbol. Press the control ring down right next to this symbol and hold it for a few seconds. I accidentally lock mine every now and then.

 

[Silversnapper]

Many thanks @Clovishound, I completely missed that symbol and I did RTFM.

I have been trying to address my shaky hand problem as mentioned at #13 and I am trialling a method I first learned about some 20 years ago from my inspiration at that time, which is using a thin pole as a support in conjunction with an L bracket on the camera. The idea is to clasp the pole and the bracket handle together as this picture shows and it really does add some stability. Of course it has it's disadvantages but hey, if it keeps me shooting it can't be all that bad.

BTW, this isn't me and I'm sure Brian won't mind me using this photo of him in action.

 

[Clovishound]

Is Brian the one in jeans or the one dressed in all black?