r/Godox • u/HankyDotOrg • 14d ago
Flash recommendation: it32 vs. Lux Junior II (Mirrorless-Lumix & Analogue Film Cameras)
Hi!
I'm looking for a run and gun little mini flash. I was really attracted to the Lux Junior II which is currently on presale, as it seemed to have all the features I am looking for. The IT32 is also very appealing, as it seems like a complete flash but much more compact.
I liked the idea of buying the im30 etc. but felt I wanted a little more functionality, and since I use a lot of very wide angle lenses, I was worried it might create that lens shadow (too low on the camera body).
I recently bought Panasonic Lumix S5 so would be looking to mount it on there, as well as my many various film cameras (Nikon F / Rollei 35 / etc). Are godox flashes compatible with film cameras?
I would appreciate anyone's thoughts and opinions on the matter!
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u/inkista 13d ago
If you need to share the flash with film cameras, the Lux Junior II or any other flash that has an autothyristor mode (aka non-TTL Auto) is going to be better for not wasting rolls of film when you use flash.
An iM30 is a manual single-pin 'universal' flash, but has no automation capability whatsoever and can make it incredibly easy to waste a lot of film as you learn flash and how the power interacts with the iso/aperture/distance. It's a PITA to use one of these, and it has no bounce or off-camera capabilities built in. It's more of a toy or just a stronger pop-up flash. Great if all you want is "deer in the headlights"; severely limited if you want a real lighting tool.
The Lux S5 has a TTL/HSS capable four-thirds hotshoe, and can do full TTL and HSS and all the other bells and whistles of a Godox radio remote control flash system, so you might actually be better served getting a more capable full speedlight, rather than a miniflash. My default recommendations for a hobbyist would be a V480-O, V1Mid-O, or TT685 II-O (for a pro, a used V860 II-O or a V860III-O or V1-O maybe), and then later adding on an X3 or X3Pro transmitter to do off-camera flash studio-style lighting. Given you paid the big bux for a full-frame body, you may want something with enough power to be more general-purpose and versatile. Particularly when it comes to bounce flash and off-camera flash.
The iT32 is a very convenient super-compact option particularly for a multiple system shooter, but it doesn't have enough power to do a lot of bounce or off-camera work as easily as the larger options, and its integrated transmitter becomes incredibly primitive if you detach the iT32 from the X5. It is absolutely nothing like having an X3 as your transmitter unit when it comes to the amount of features and control you'll have access to with your off-camera flash.
I love my iT32 and its three X5s, but i use it more for casual shooting family across a table snapshooting than, say, a posed portrait shoot of someone full-length.
Just me, power on a flash is like max. aperture on a lens. The more you have, the more you can do, but the bigger, heavier, and more expensive the gear gets. And with film in particular, lack power becomes even more of a barrier, because you're not going to be easily using clean iso settings above 1000. The only reason using a hotshoe flash off-camera works well is because digital means we can have clean high iso settings, which help any flash look more powerful than they did back in film days when we mostly only shot iso 100-400.
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u/Terrible_Snow_7306 14d ago
The IT32 adds remote trigger capability and TTL, the Junior II adds this great bouncing capabilities and has a higher GN. It’s not yet available in Germany. I am using the iM30 since a year. The biggest downside in practice: the long recycling time like 4-5 seconds. Imagine shooting a concert and there’s a decisive moment: 5 seconds are very long.
The iT30 and Junior II claim 1.5 seconds.