Godox AD200 Review

Introduction

The Godox AD200 Speedlite was released in November 2017. It is a powerful portable flash with an interchangeable flash head (bare bulb or speedlite head) and has primarily been designed as an off-camera flash since it fixes to a light stand rather than to the camera hotshoe. It is ideally suited as a radio slave unit when paired with the Godox XPro-C controller. It’s a little bit heavier than your average speedlite and it looks and feels like a brick but with a guide number of 60m at ISO 100 using the bare bulb in a standard reflector (equivalent to around 28mm) it can certainly pack a punch and has around 3x the power of a typical speedlite. Great for shooting outside in the middle of the day or filling a large octabox. The AD200 supports high speed sync and E-TTL II and is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery capable of 500 full power flashes from a four-hour charge.

The Godox AD200 was released in April 2017

Guide Price

£240.30 / US$249 (guide price only, updated 05 March 2021)

Lencarta (UK) / Amazon (UK) / B&H Photo (US) / Adorama (US) / Amazon (US)

* note that Adorama have rebranded this flash as the Flashpoint eVOLV 200 TTL

Compatibility

The Godox AD200 is compatible with the Canon ETTL II flash system and therefore suitable for most Canon EOS cameras. The AD200 features an integrated transceiver that works with the Godox X radio system and can be controlled using either the XPro-C, XT32C or X1T-C controller.

Godox AD200 Specification

Power Output

Guide Number (bare bulb) 60m @ 28mm (standard 5″ reflector) & ISO 100
Guide Number (using Speedlite flash head) 52m @ 35mm & ISO 100
Speedlite power is usually given as a Guide Number (GN) and can be shown as a distance either in metres (m) or feet (ft or ‘). Manufacturers typically give the Guide Number when the flash is zoomed at it’s maximum focal length (mm), in the case of the AD200 this is 28mm when using a standard 5″ reflector (AD-S2). Just for comparative purposes the Canon 600EX II-RT has a GN of 28m at 28mm and ISO 100. Comparing f/2.8 to f/6 is just over 2 full stops of power or 4 times the power!! When measured in practice using a large soft box the actual output of the AD200 seems to be closer to 3 times the power of a Canon 600EX II-RT which is still a great result considering its small and compact size.

If you want to compare the power output of the AD200 with larger studio lights / strobes then it’s best to measure the power output in terms of watt-seconds rather than using guide numbers. As its name suggests the AD200 packs a hefty 200Ws (watt-seconds) at full power. By comparison the larger and more expensive Godox AD400 Pro delivers 400Ws of power producing a full one stop more output.

Zoom Head

No. Zooming is not possible with this unit.

Flash Head Tilt & Swivel

The AD200 doesn’t follow the typical speedlite design and the flash head and body are fixed together in one solid unit. However it is supplied with a light stand adapter which allows the flash to be angled and positioned however you want.

Manual Exposure

Manual / output settings: Yes – 1/1- 1/128
Manual steps: 1/3 stop intervals
[note that the AD200 Pro version has a power output of 1/1 to 1/256 and can only be adjusted in increments of 1/10 stop]

ETTL Exposure

Canon E-TTL II with flash exposure compensation (FEC), flash exposure lock (FE lock) and flash exposure bracketing (FEB) 

Wireless Communication

Radio Wireless (RF) 2.4GHz Slave
Adopts the Godox radio wireless X system
Slave only, receiver maximum range approximately 100m when being being controlled by an on-camera Godox XPro-C transmitter.
No. of groups: 5 (A, B, C, D & E)
No. of channels: 32
Master/Slave: Slave unit only

Optical Wireless
No optical wireless

Auto-Focus (AF) Assist 

The speedlite head has an in-built LED light that helps with focussing in low light conditions. It’s not very powerful but better than nothing.

Other Features

High speed sync (HSS): Yes (up to 1/8000 sec)
Second-curtain flash sync: Yes
Modelling flash: Yes LED modelling lamp with speedlite head but it’s really dim and the light on my mobile phone is brighter.
Custom function: 6
Flash settings from camera menus (with compatible cameras only): No
External flash exposure sensor (S1, S2): Yes
PC terminal: Yes 3.5mm sync port
Flash Duration: 1/220s to 1/13000s (speedlite head), 1/220s to 1/11300s (bare bulb)
Flash duration display: Yes the t=0.1 duration can be displayed after each shot in the LCD by selecting this option in the Custom Function menu F6
Colour Temperature: 5600K +/- 200K
Stable Colour Temperature Mode: No, this can only be found on the AD200 Pro version.

Batteries & Recycling Time

Battery: Lithium-ion battery 14.4V / 2900mAh
Recycling time: Approx. 0.01 to 2.1 sec
Number of flashes (approx): 500 full power flashes
External power supply: No
Charging time: 4 hours

Build Quality

Dust and water resistance: No
Mounting foot material: Metal
Size: 168 x 75 x 50mm (flash head not included)
Weight: 560g (not including battery and flash head)

Included accessories:

• Godox AD200 TTL
• H200 Speedlite Flash Head (rectangular Fresnel head)
• Bare Bulb Flash Head
• Flash Tube (bulb)
• Lithium-Ion Battery (14.4V, 2900mAh)
• Battery Charger and Cable
• Stand Lightstand Mount AD-E2
• Carrying Case

Compatible accessories: 

• Godox X-series radio trigger such as Godox XPro-C, X1T-C, X2T-C
• H200R Round flash head
• Godox AD-L LED light head
• Extension head cord EC200
• Replacement lithium-ion battery
• Bare bulb protection cap AD-S15
• Godox New AD-M reflector set (for use with bare bulb)
• Godox AD-S2 standard reflector with soft diffuser (for use with bare bulb)
• Godox AD-S11 Honeycomb & Colour filter set to fit the AD-S2 5″ reflector
• Godox BD07 barn door with honeycomb grid and 4 colour filters (for use with speedlite head)
• Godox FT200 replacement flash tube
• Godox AD-S7 folding soft box/beauty dish set (for use with bare bulb)
• Godox Conical Snoot (for use with bare bulb)
• Godox AD-S17 Wide angle diffuser 180 degrees 12cm diameter (for use with bare bulb)
• Godox AD-S3 Beauty Dish (for use with bare bulb)
• Godox standard reflector with umbrella slot (use with bare bulb)
• Godox S2 Speedlite bracket for Bowens mount light modifiers
• Godox S-Type speedlite bracket with Elinchrom mount (S-EC bracket)

Godox AD200 Manual

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Page last checked and updated 17 February 2021