Which flash should I buy?
It’s the most common question I get and while it looks to be a simple honest question (and it is), the answer is anything but simple. The quick answer is “it depends”. The lazy answer would be “Just buy an AD200Pro because everybody else has one.” But that might not be the right answer for you. I want to match you up with the best solution. So the questions I have in return are:
What type of photography do you do?
Where would you like to use flash? In a studio setting? Inside on location? Outside in the shade? Outside in the sun?
What problem would you like flash to solve for you?
What other flashes do you current own?
Which camera system do you use?
How important is weight and portability?
How important is battery-powered vs AC-powered?
What budget range do you want to stay in?
There are more questions related to these, but these are the core that help me guide you to a solution.
What is the warranty?
Great question! And this is a major point of different to consider as not every Godox retailer even honors the warranty. True and sad story. The stated warranty from Godox is one year for defects. Here’s where it gets tricky; in the USA, the retailer is responsible for honoring and facilitating all warranty claims. Which means, if you have a warranty issue you go back to the retailer, not to Godox. The real and tangible problem is that some retailers will tell you that you need to contact Godox for warranty issues. That is wrong, and it gets you stuck in an endless loop and left out in the cold. That really sucks, and it infuriates me when I see folks posting about it in online forums. Fortunately, there is a good option: MoLight. At MoLight, I not only honor the warranty on all flashes purchased here, I double it to two years for all flashes that are 100ws and larger, and honor the original one-year warranty on all speedlights and our proprietary lines of softboxes and modifiers. Defects are thankfully quite rare, but if you run into one it will typically be within the first 30 days of use. That’s pretty common with electronics defects; if something is going to fail, it will fail early. If you encounter a defect, you simply contact me and I arrange to have the item replaced or repaired. The warranty on LEDs from Godox and Golden Eagle is two years. The warranty on speedlights and batteries is one-year. All other items in the store have a one-year warranty against defect as well.
Are repairs available?
Yes, MoLight is one of the few places where you can get many Godox flashes repaired. You can see the list of repairs we offer here. Or, simply contact us if you have a question regarding a repair. And, yes, we will fix gear that you purchased elsewhere. Just know that MoLight customers get a 10% discount for repairs on gear purchased here.
Where are you located?
MoLight is based in Wisconsin. Our administration office is in DeForest, and our shipping/warehouse facility is in Windsor. Both are suburbs of Madison, the state capital, and are minutes away from the local UPS and FedEx shipping hubs. The address for each are listed below:MoLight HQ
707 W Lexington Pkwy
DeForest, WI 53532
MoLight Warehouse
4530 Kenworth Dr, #7
Windsor, WI 53598
Are Godox and Flashpoint compatible with each other?
Yes. Flashpoint is one of several “rebrands” of original Godox flashes. These rebrands can make it very confusing for consumers, unfortunately. It’s a major reason why I chose to keep the Godox brand on all flashes and NOT rebrand everything as “MoLight”. MoLight is the name of my store brand, and I do brand all of my unique and proprietary modifiers under that brand as well. But all of the flashes I sell are Godox-branded, and Godox is the OEM for all of the flashes.
How fast do you ship? What shipping service do you use?
If we get an order in the morning we can often ship it the same day! Otherwise, orders are shipping the next shipping day (M-F). We utilize FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, and USPS Priority Mail, and select the service that is the best match based on the size of the package, where it is going to, and how long it will take. Overnight and air shipping are available on request. Please contact us and we are happy to provide a quote. Because of our shipping volume we have negotiated attractive overnight shipping rates. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty pricey. But much less than you would pay on your own; in some cases it is less than half of what you would pay.
What is the typical shipping cost?
Most orders are shipped with one flat-rate shipping fee of $9.95 (some repairs and oversized items have a higher shipping rate). Order a bunch of flashes, lightstands, and softboxes that will be shipped out in multiple large boxes? It's just one $9.95 shipping fee. Unlike places like Amazon, we do not build shipping into the prices of many of our products. In fact, all of our Godox products are priced at the minimum allowed price.
Can HSS (high speed sync) freeze motion?
Not really. HSS actually sucks at freezing motion. It’s a common misnomer. Folks interpret the “high speed” part as meaning that it is best for freezing motion, when in reality it can contribute to motion blur. Here’s why: when your flash kicks into HSS it stops acting like a normal flash with a single pop and quick dissipation. Instead, it pulses many times – more than 30,000x in one second – in order to act more like a continuous light instead of flash. I’m not going to go into paragraphs of details here. Just suffice to say that continuous light is not good at freezing motion. However, what is best at freezing motion is a very short flash burst. You would see flashes that have very fast t.1 times. This describes how quickly the flash burst itself dissipates. A fast t.1 time is excellent at freezing motion. In general, I have found t.1 times of 1/3000th to be fabulous at freezing just about any type of human motion. Most of the AD series from Godox has very quick t.1 times at 1/8th power or lower. In addition, the QT series of studio lights from Godox are among the very best, if not THE best, at freezing motion with fabulously short t.1 times.
Why should I buy from MoLight?
Oh, so many reasons, so little time! Here are the key points:
- MoLight is America’s Top Rated Godox Retailer for a reason. No one can match our legendary customer service and support. Ask around. This isn’t just puffery. It’s the main reason MoLight exists.
- You not only get quick answers to your questions, more importantly, you get the correct answers to your questions. MoLight was founded by and is run by a master photographer: Michael Mowbray, M.Photog., Cr. (that’s me). I was one of the first photographers in the US to fully switch over to Godox, and I use all of this gear in my studio and on location. In my 27-year career there is very little that I haven’t photographed, so I draw upon this relevant experience and expertise when making recommendations.
- MoLight doubles the warranty to two years on all Godox flashes 100ws and larger, and actually honors and supports the warranty (unlike many other retailers).
- MoLight gives back to the photography industry through education at conferences, workshops, webinars, podcasts, social media groups, and online videos.
- MoLight is a small family-owned business. When you support MoLight you are supporting a business much like your own.
- MoLight customers receive 10% off repair services, and as one of the very few places to get repairs we will be here for you if your valuable lighting gear falls down and goes boom.
- MoLight is a great place to find unique lighting tools that are difficult to find anywhere else. From the BloMo studio fan to the Rolling Scrimflector to the fantastic line of Golden Eagle LEDs, come to MoLight when you need something awesome and cool.
The Mo Family