Godox V480 Flash Impressions

My trusty SB-700 had been acting up a bit recently, and while looking for a similarly sized replacement flash I stumbled upon the Godox V480.

The Godox V480’s announcement totally fell off my radar - I knew about the V1’s successors (the V1 Pro and V100), the V860III, as well as the myriad of retro-styled flashes and mini flashes, but somehow I did not catch the V480’s announcement. Really strange.

On paper it looked like a perfect replacement for my SB-700 - similarly sized yet lighter, supports Godox X wireless system natively, and has a very competitive pricing (read: cheaper than a used SB-700). Took the plunge and ordered one during Black Friday sales, and have use it on my assignments for the past 1 month without any issues.

Here are some of my initial impressions of the flash, as well as some of my observations and thoughts after using it for several assignments in the past month.

Initial impressions out of the box:

• Really lightweight! I double-checked the specifications sheet - the V480 with its lithium battery inserted weighs pretty much the same as a bare SB-700; with 4 AA batteries inserted into the SB-700 it would weigh about 100g heavier than the V480. It is just a touch smaller than the SB-700, and coupled with its lightweight it balances well on the Z5II.

• Touch screen is responsive, and the menu items are easy to understand. While most of the menu items do not require digging through the manual to understand what they change, I did have to look through the manual to figure out how to get the sub-menu to appear - in case any one is wondering the same thing, either swipe down using the touch screen or double press the power button to activate the sub-menu.

• The material used for the flash seems robust enough for everyday use, though this remains to be seen after using it for a longer period of time.

• The white diffuser cap that comes with it feels like an afterthought for the product as there is no proper locking mechanism for it.

• The flimsy plastic tab on the battery somehow irks me a little.

After using the flash for a while, my observations are:

• Regarding its performance as an on-camera flash, I have no complaints at all. It recharges really quickly (thanks to the Li-ion battery pack), and can go down to 1/256 power if needed. Furthermore, I can disable the automatic zoom head (which when enabled would shift the zoom head to match the focal length used), which helps keep the flash consistent when using it in Manual mode.

• The touch screen is intuitive, and switching settings on the fly is easy with either the touch screen or the mechanical dial. However the touch screen does become a fingerprint magnet, so I highly recommend using a screen protector for it.

• As I do not wear glasses, my forehead does come into contact with the touch screen often when shooting through the viewfinder. While I have not had unexpected changes in settings so far, sometimes I could notice that certain items were highlighted (usually the zoom head focal length), and thus I could foresee accidental changes due to forehead touching the flash might be a concern. This can be circumvented by using the “Lock” function, though unlocking it to change settings do take a bit more time as it requires a long-press of the selector button.

• The diffuser cap is attached via a slip-on action and the held in place just by frictional forces. Without a proper locking mechanism it feels that it could pop out on its own (and there seems to be several reports online mentioning this), so I just use the flash without the cap.

• The flash head swivels and tilts smoothly - even without a lock they stay in place once set. The tilt also has clicks at marked angles.

• The modeling light helps a lot in focusing in low-light situations. Since mirrorless cameras cannot use the red AF-assist beams of the older speedlights for focusing, having this modeling light not just helps with autofocus but with subject detection as well.

• For Nikon users, with Auto-FP enabled in your camera, the flash automatically toggles between normal flash mode or high speed sync based on the shutter speed set, i.e for the Z5II, at 1/200s or slower it haves normally, and goes into high speed sync at 1/250s or faster. Some other models of Godox flashes and triggers do require you to turn on HSS settings on the flash/trigger itself, which if not enabled would force the camera to limit your shutter speed to 1/200 when attached to the hot shoe. On this note, even if you set the V480 flash to HSS initially and see the HSS flash icon on the screen, once you fire the flash in a non-HSS mode the HSS icon would disappear, but that is nothing to worry about. Similarly, with Auto-FP enabled the HSS icon would appear when the flash fires at shutter speeds faster than 1/200.

• TTL has been improved in recent years, and the V480’s TTL is consistent

• The USB port on the flash is for firmware upgrades only, and cannot be used to charged the battery. Similarly, even if you open the battery door, the battery cannot be charged when it is placed in the flash, presumably to prevent accidents or electrical leakages. It is safest to remove the battery entirely from the flash by pulling the white plastic tab (which still irks me till now) and charging it outside the flash body. The battery is not held in place by any locking mechanisms, so a light tug of the tab would eject it from the battery compartment.

tl;dr: The Godox V480 definitely exceeded my expectations in terms of its performance, and am very satisfied with my purchase. It is lightweight, small, recharges fast and fires consistently. While it could be used off-camera with its native Godox X wireless system support, I think it finds itself more at home as an on-camera flash.

That being said, I do think the flash’s handling could do with some minor improvements, namely:

• Having a physical toggle switch for locking and unlocking the touch screen/settings (hopefully in a V480II?). However, the current V480 could definitely use a “Disable touch screen” function via firmware upgrade.

• Having a proper locking mechanism for diffuser cap, and perhaps optional colored caps sold separately.

• Having a proper locking mechanism for the battery (like how the EN-El15’s are held in place in the cameras), so we can do away with the white tab.