I compared four strobes designed for on location OCF:
- Profoto B1x
- Godox Witstro AD400Pro
- Westcott FJ400
- Paul C. Buff Link
I have been considering changing systems for over a year now, so I’ve been trying to pay attention to what the market has to offer. I paid close attention to the six categories that were personally most important to me, and a few other categories of interest.
I was a bit surprised at the results. I knew that the industry had caught up with Profoto, so that was no surprise. What I didn't expect was that the "new kid on the block" FJ400 held it's own in so many categories. Also new to this class of strobes is the Link, which also held up very well, although some of its edge came from its 800w/s max power, the strongest of these four strobes.
I gathered data, made a fancy spreadsheet, and here’s what I learned.
Weight
I’m not getting any younger, and it’s not getting any less breezy here in the Tennessee Valley. I love using large modifiers, so top heavy light stands is something I’d like to minimize as much as possible.
From lightest to heaviest:
AD400: 4.63 lbs
FJ400: 5.4 lbs
B1x: 6.6 lbs
Link: 8.9 lbs
Edge: AD400
Power
Disclaimer: This category is the least "fair" of them all. I didn't set out to compare four strobes that had the exact same power; my goal was to compare the strobe I already own (Profoto B1) with the three strobes that I would purchase first if I were to change systems. Profoto doesn't have a 400w/s "all in one" strobe, and neither Godox nor Westcott has a 500w/s strobe. Paul C. Buff only has one on-location OCF strobe in the game, its 'Link,' and I was curious to see how it would stack up in some of the other key categories. So in this comparison, I'm simply comparing the raw power that each strobe has to offer.
That being said, this one isn’t even close. The Link comes in with a whopping 800w/s of power. The B1x has 500w/s, and the AD400 and FJ400 each have 400w/s.
Edge: Link
Battery Life
Batteries are rechargeable, and we should always have backup batteries on hand, so is this really important? I mean, it’s not the MOST important thing, but no one likes to be interrupted from their “flow” by a dead battery. So yeah, it’s important.
“Pops” at full power:
FJ400: 480
AD400: 380
B1x: 325
Link: 250
(Note: Flash power comes into play here, and this time it puts the B1x and Link at a disadvantage. Obviously, the more power a flash produces, the more "juice" per pop it uses.)
Edge: FJ400
Recycle Time
This is important to all of us, I’m sure. The more quickly your flash can recover between shots, the more it stays out of our way. The less we have to think about our gear, the better. Here is how long each flash takes to recycle when firing at full power:
AD400: 0.9 sec.
FJ400: 0.9 sec.
B1x: 1.9 sec.
Link: 3.5 sec.
(Note: Flash power comes into play here, also. It's no coincidence that the flash powers closely parallel the respective recycle time of each strobe. It would be interesting to test the strobes at equivalent power levels. For example, cutting the Link’s power by half to see how its recycle time measures up the the Godox and Westcott strobes.)
Edge: AD400/FJ400
Flash Duration
If you shoot motion with strobes, flash duration is crucial in certain situations. I understand this isn’t important to most photographers, but I compiled the data, so here it is:
At full power:
Link: 1/520
B1x: 1/400
FJ400: 1/280
AD400: 1/230
At minimum power:
Link: 1/17300
AD400: 1/12340
B1x: 1/8000
FJ400: 1/7000
Edge: Link
Price
If money isn’t an issue, we’d just buy all four of them, right? :) But it is a consideration. Darn!
Let’s take a look at the raw numbers first:
FJ400: $569
AD400: $649
Link: $896
B1x: $2490
All things being equal, you’d just pick the lowest number and declare a winner. But all things aren’t equal, so let’s try to level the playing field a bit. Here is a breakdown how how much you’d be paying per watt second:
Link: $1.12
FJ400: $1.40
AD400: $1.60
B1x: $4.98
This really comes down to what one’s needs are. Sure, the Link comes in significantly less expensive when you consider how much more power you are getting than the others. There may be times when you need 800w/s to overpower the sun, for example. But how often? For most of us, probably not very often. So it likely comes down to the AD400 or the FJ400 if we’re being practical. Those costs are so close that perhaps it wouldn't be prudent to look at only the price as a determining factor of which to choose.
Edge: Inconclusive/relative
Other Considerations:
Color consistency - Paul C. Buff’s Link won this category decidedly, with only a +/-50k variance on color temperature. Both the B1x and the FJ400 performed with +/-150k variance, while the AD400 was the most erratic at +/-200k.
Wireless range, remote to strobe - This was another category with a very clear winner. The FJ400 has a wireless range of 985 feet. The B1x has a range of 1000 feet, but if it’s in HSS mode, it can only reach 330 feet. The AD400 and Link came in at 328ft and 325ft, respectively.
Remote - As far as cost goes, the Godox remote is the most affordable at $69. (Westcott: $100, Paul C. Buff: $200, Profoto: $439).
Fun fact: the Westcott remote is darn near universal, having modes for Nikon, Canon, Panasonic Lumix, Fuji, Olympus, and Sony (although Sony shooters will be required to pick up a $20 hot shoe adapter. But still!). Pretty impressive. Clearly this is something that any of the companies could have done. But only one actually did it. Kudos to Westcott!
Country of origin - If you care about this, then here you go:
Paul C. Buff: USA (Tennessee)
Westcott: USA (Ohio)
Profoto: Sweden
Godox: China
Edge: ‘Merica!!
My Conclusions
Choosing an off-camera flash system isn't all about specs. It's not a completely objective process; what's important to me may not be important to you, and vice versa.
An area I didn't even cover in my comparison is the variety and quality of light modifiers for each brand. That factors into our decision as much as anything, although it's difficult to gather data regarding modifiers since there are so many third party manufacturers that release extremely high quality products for each brand of strobe.
So who wins?
For photographers that are new to OCF, the practical decision seems to be between the Godox and Westcott brands. They are cost-effective and (reportedly) reliable. They each offer a line of affordable strobes at varying power outputs, all packed with features, making it easy to build a very versatile arsenal of strobes.
For me, a Profoto user since 2017, it gives me a lot to think about. On one hand, I could sell my entire Profoto kit at a generous used-gear-markdown and still be able to rebuild a kit of Godox or Westcott strobes that is equal to or even larger than my current collection. On the other hand, I already have what I have. It works and I've been very happy with it. However, with those large modifiers I prefer comes toppling stands and costly repairs--and I can tell you that Profoto repair costs present the same budget issues as does purchasing their products!
So in the end, it's up to each of us to look at the information we have, apply it to our workflow, and then, yes, whip out the credit card. Because no matter what happens, we're always going to be buying something, aren't we?
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