Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
If I have to and have no other choice. Then I do use the AD200 as a fill flash for group photos. In which case I put one of them into my Magbox and it is usually enough power. Occasionally I use two to give my 400Ws but I loathe to do it. Since it means I am totally out of options and taking photos in those sorts of conditions aren't ideal.
The on/off switch at the side has been changed. The original AD200 switch was not easy to find if you don't know what you are looking for. I've had assistants who have never used the AD200 be unable to find it. The Pro switch feels a bit better and more obvious. It's a small improvement but hardly groundbreaking. The very first LED light designed for the AD200. Being honest I was disappointed. There’s no ability to focus the light and there’s not many LED’s so the power output was also pretty poor. It made it wholly unsuitable for lighting speeches at weddings. Only times I used it was to find my car keys at the end of the evening in my camera bag. Godox H200R - Round HeadFlash power can now be controlled by 1/10 increments and minimum power is now 1/256 rather than 1/128 on the original Godox AD200. The speedlight, fresnel head is by far the most useful for weddings due to the plethora of light modifiers available already.
If you’re not familiar with the Godox AD200 flash. Prior to the AD200, if you wanted a portable flash solution for location shooting. Your choices were extremely limited. Sure you could use a single speedlight but outdoors the humble speedlight was limiting. Combining them together was a cumbersome affair. As I said, I’m not going to ramble on about specs but for a review, it does make sense to at least list the most important features: Power The Maggrip fits over the Fresnel head. Just make sure you take care and don’t cover the heat vents. The Maggrip does JUST about fit over the H200R head but it’s not recommended. I’ve seen plenty of people split the rubber this way.For me the most exciting change was really the flash holder/umbrella mount. That says a lot really! Godox have added a couple of small holes in the chassis which the flash holder now fits into when tightened up. The flash will no longer accidentally come loose and rotate around like with the non-pro version. This is a big improvement and had this been on the original AD200, I would have never have bought the Magshoe’s! There! If you are a stats nerd then fill your boots! 🙂 Suffice to say it pretty much has all the features you'd expect from a modern flash and some you'll probably never use. Interface Technically not a Godox AD200 accessory but I think it’s fair to say that this is the light modifier of choice for most wedding photographers. The reason is because more powerful, I can use a lower power setting to emit the same amount of light and minimise the flash recycle time. For example if using speedlights I had to use 1/4 power to light a scene. With the AD200, I could shoot at say 1/32 and have almost unlimited flashes whereas on the speedlight I'd have to wait for the battery to recycle. This means if something unexpected happens. I don’t need to worry about the flash recycle time and I can concentrate on capturing the moment.
It is worth noting that the AD200 Pro does have a recessed LCD screen which should help though I still remain sceptical it would survive a 2m drop. Using my Sekonic light meter I have tested the Godox AD200 against its bigger brother the AD360 as well as the trusty Godox v860ii. For the bare bulb test I have used the same 5" standard reflector. For the Fresnel head I did not use any modifier. Testing was done from a distance of 3m. Godox V860ii @ 35mm It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of the Godox AD200’s. In fact I own three now with one AD200 pro. The latter I only bought since it was at a really good price. Otherwise I wouldn’t have done so. With the introduction of the AD200. Suddenly we had an all in one solution that used the Fresnel head. Suddenly we could use all the light modifiers designed for speedlights! Something us wedding photographers did a lot.
The reason I use the AD200’s indoors rather than speedlights is simply because of the power. And by that I don’t mean I shoot at full power. No no! That’d be retina scorching after a while. At weddings, the Godox AD200’s are my main flashes for pretty much everything. Outdoors for groups. Portraits. Indoors, I use them to light speeches, first dances and occasionally if the situation demands, wedding ceremonies. The photo above was taken just before sunset with a single Godox AD200 using the Magmod & Maggrid/Magsphere from camera left. And single AD200 behind the bride & groom with fresnel head, no modifier. Three years after their release, there are imitators but no-one close to competing with this innovative flash. The Godox AD200's really are the perfect mix of flexibility, portability as well as being great value for money. To get into the custom menu, long press the C.Fn button which is also the test fire button. One of the first things I recommend you do if like me you will be using this for weddings is switch off the beep. This is F01 and it should be set to OFF.
The answer for me is ‘no’. Not for wedding photography anyway. The changes are too small to justify the extra money. And the power adjustments for 0.1 instead of 0.3 is actually very annoying for weddings since it slows me down. I remember vividly when it was announced. I remember thinking “This looks like the perfect flash for wedding photography” In my first review I concluded that it was the best flash you never knew you needed. Since then a lot has changed. There are now quite a number of accessories available for the AD200 and Godox have built an entire ecosystem of flashes and add-ons you can buy. Taking wedding photos in the middle of a sunny day is something I avoid if at all possible. The sun is just not very flattering to your subjects. Plus trying to overpower the sun means using a lot of power.You can change groups by pressing the GR/CH button and change to a different channel by holding down the same button for two seconds then using the dial to choose which channel you would like. The unit feels chunky and solid in your hands. With the battery and flash head, the AD200 is definitely heavier than a speedlight. As always, the aim of this review isn’t going to be full of stats and shooting test objects. I will be focussing on what I’ve found to be important (and what’s not) from using it as a busy wedding photographer in Derby& Nottingham over the past few years. The main addition is colour stability mode which keeps the colour temperature within 100 Kelvin. This is not really an issue wedding photographers will care about but if you are a studio/commercial photographer then this could be a feature you want to pay for. Overall the LCD is perfectly usable. My only minor quibble is I'd like to have seen the rear LCD to be a little brighter. It can be hard to see in bright sunlight but it's not a big deal.
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