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This is the Speedlite that both amateur and professional photographers have been waiting for, for a long time. The ultimate portable on-location flash strobe Speedlight, ideal for shooting weddings, portraits, events, fashion, sports, fitness & advertising. With that in mind it’s hard to argue that this flash isn’t good value given the feature set and the built in triggers, both slave and master mode. The TT685 Speedlite has an 8-stop power range (1/1 to 1/128 power), with flash durations between 1/300 second to 1/20,000 second for sharper images whilst maintaining colour accuracy throughout its power range which opens up a whole world of possibilities. User Friendly
Well, what can we say? It’s a flash. The Godox TT685 II N has image quality that you wouldn’t be able to tell apart from Nissin, Profoto, Yongnuo, Flashpoint, etc. Flashpoint by Adorama often rebrands Godox lights anyway. If anything, just know that it’s pretty weak still. If you’re using f2.8 zoom lenses, you might find that the Godox TT685 II N outputs too little light. So with that said, you’ll go for exposure compenation or put it in manual mode. If you’ve been using flashes for years though, this is nothing else. At wider apertures, it will do a pretty decent job for sure. Extra Image Samples The connecting joint on the tt685s that attaches the body and head of the flash together offer a full 0-360° horizontal pan with a -7-90° verticle tilt to allow you to easily bounce the flash when needed. Although a few compeating camera flashes on the market in this price range also offer a full 0-360° rotation these days, the majority don’t so it is nice to know that you can fully rotate the Godox tt685s if needed. Additionally, the actual connection joint on the flash unit is solid and does not feel weak or as if you are about to rip the flash in two when adjusting its pan or tilting angles either. I’m very happy with the quality of the images I’ve taken with the Godox TT685. It certainly feels like it could compete with the best flashes on the market quite comfortably. I’m not sure it has the best recycle time on the market, but other features, such as its use of wireless technology, make up for it. Value for moneyCheaper - AA batteries are cheaper in the short term, whether these are rechargeable batteries or single use ones. You don’t need to fork out for a spare Li-Ion battery The metering is exactly the same, I've found the Godox flashes tend to overexpose by 0.5-1 stop so I usually dial in -1 FEC to make sure I don't accidentally blow the highlights. I have to admit that the SB-910 is far more consistent here. It's a minor annoyance but not the end of the world for a flash that's so much cheaper. It has all the same features as the TT685. So it supports TTL and HSS. Using master mode you can control remote slave flashes. You still can't adjust zoom on a remote flash from the LCD. The master/slave mode works just works and is pretty uneventful if you've used other Godox flashes.
The biggest problem I had was the confusion between optical transmissionmode and radio mode. What was happening was I'd set one flash to master, the other to slave and sometimes it would work...sometimes not. Thankfully a fellow photographer, Frank Wood on Facebook pointed out the little symbols that I had missed. The lightning bolt was optical, the antenna was for radio. If you are confused about what to use, let me say this. Set both to radio. Ignore optical transmission mode. I have no idea why they even bothered. I don't know a single person who would use it. As a result,I haven't made up my mind yet how I feel about the build quality. Or maybe what I should say isthe build quality is nice but maybe quality control needs improvement? FEATURES EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc.
Our Verdict
This a review of the Godox v860ii speedlight or Ving 860 mark ii if we're being completely accurate but the short version is just easier to type. This flash is the successor to the very popular Ving 860 flash which was I think the first speedlight to use li-on batteries instead of the traditional 4xAA batteries.
The likelihood is that you will decide on whether the V860III or the TT685II is best for you based on this difference alone. The V860III enjoys having a Li-ion battery that has the capacity to provide up to 480 full power flashes on a full charge. In contrast the TT685II is not able to house a lithium battery and instead has space for 4 x AA batteries. Of course these batteries can be rechargeable ones, in fact Godox recommend you use Ni-MH rechargeable batteries as the full power flash estimate provided by Godox (330 full power flashes) is based off of using them. The preference here is really on the user, as there are positives to using each type of battery:I've realised that I've become a bit of a speedlight junkie. Currently I have nine.Well it would have been eleven but I gave a couple away to bring me down to seven. Now after buying the Godox TT685N speedlights, it's inched up again. In my defence (in case the wife is reading) the Godox's are supposed to help me rationalise the number of flashes I need to carry. So if all goes to plan then I should be able to reduce the number. Read my Godox TT685N review to see if I can reach my goal. The flash coverage range of the tt685s is also variable between 20mm to 200mm while also having a guide number of 60, ISO 100 making it ideal for most photography niches. If you are involved in run and gun style flash photography then this makes the Godox tt685s a solid fit as it takes little to no set up to capture a decent photograph requiring minimal effort on your part. The tt685s also fully support high-speed sync up to 1/8000 seconds, first and second curtain sync, flash exposure compensation with manual stops in one-third increment as well as a few other less used features that we doubt most photographers will need. There’s nothing special or unique about this flash, and for the price point there probably shouldn’t be. Optic transmission with even illumination and stable output. 2.4G wireless transmission with all-in-one functions and 100 meters further transmission distance. I have no finger nails so I find it impossible to get the bounce card/wide angle diffuser up without using a coin or something to lever it out.
In recent years Godox have started making a name for themselves as a provider of top quality and dependable photography lighting that users don't have to break the bank to own. In terms of speedlights, the Godox V1 is their top-priced model on-camera flash featuring a round head that provides soft natural lighting effects. In addition to this, Godox are on their third iteration of the exceptionally popular VING series with the V860III - effectively a Godox V1 but fitted with a fresnel head. At first glance the new TT685II could easily be mistaken for the V860III, however there are a number of differences that we’ll cover in this blog that will help you decide which of these is better suited to you. Out with the old, and in with the TT685II Just like in previous tests I have used my Sekonic lightmeter to measure the power of the Ving 860 flash and compared it to my TT685 & Nikon SB910 flashes. I'm not very surprised to find that the v860ii produces the same amount of power as the Godox TT685. That’s a lot of money to pay for a speedlight and the SB5000 wireless features don't even work on any Nikon older than the D500.So here's where we use the flash in the real world. In my case to photograph weddings in Nottingham. So far,I've used it at three weddings so I think I've got to know this flash quite well. In this shot, I’m about 50 meters away from my son with my Fujifilm X-T3 and the XF50-140mm f2.8 R LM OIS WR lens (zoomed all the way in). The flash fired with no problems! Usability The Godox v860ii has the same features as the TT685andlikeallthe new Godox flashes, the trigger is now built inside so you no longer have to clip the FT16s triggers to the side like the older model of Ving.
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