The Godox AD300 pro is a versatile wireless flash that makes for a great location light, packing an effective combination in terms of size and weight (190mm in length, 1.25kg in weight) For its form factor, it’s remarkable that the Godox AD300 can provide 300Ws of power, proving a 50% power increase over the AD200 without a whole lot of extra size and bulk. For me personally the Ad300 pro hits the sweet spot for location lighting and for horse portraits it’s an ideal light in my opinion.
For over 4 years I was pairing to Godox 200’s with the B head which effectively gave me 400ws and although the extra power was useful, the combined weight and size of all of the components were not so great. I also found that I rarely required 400ws of power, but did need more than 200ws of power.
Around about the time that my Godox AD360 bulb blew, the AD300 had been announced and although the power from the AD360 was perfect for 85% of my lightings needs, one of the problems with my original AD360 for horse portraits was the loud pop it produced and the fact it was made up of separate pieces, rather than just one unit. When I read about the AD300 pro, it seemed like an ideal piece of lighting kit in relation to my needs.
For the horse portrait shoots that I do, my lighting kit requirements are, is it compact, light and will it provide more punch than an AD200? Another factor that appealed to me was is if I could reduce other kit like brackets and the bulk of lighting modifiers, then the AD300 would hit the sweet spot lighting wise.
I think Godox have designed a very well thought out light with the AD300 pro, its compact, fairly light and has a good light output for its size and the Godox Mount offers some great advantages in relation to three specific Godox Mount lighting modifiers.
The AD-R12 Long Focus Reflector has a more even 55° spread of the beam and the silver diffused interior has a uniform yet specular distribution of light. The AD-R12 also provides an effective increase in light efficiently, effectively providing an addition full stop of light. Setting the AD300 at full power with the AD-R12 at 20 feet, with light meter set to ISO 200 at 1/200th, I was getting F/72 So I could easily use the AD-R12 at over 20 feet for hard light horse portraits and in comparison, to other long throw reflectors, the AD-R12 is very compact.
The AD-S65 Softbox was the first Godox mount softbox I purchased due to its size, it has a silver interior which provides good specular light, but if you like specular light, I would suggest buying the AD-S85.
After buying the AD-S65 I did think about purchasing an AD-S85, but as none of my softbox’s have white interiors I became more and more interested in the AD-W65 and the AD-W85, I spent a while thinking about which would be better suited to my needs and decided to go with the AD-W65, and I prefer the light quality of the AD-W65, it’s a really versatile modifiers and the light quality is very nice and look different to the AD-S65. The advantages of the AD-W65 are that specular highlights are reduced, so you can get very nice-looking soft light without the highlight sheen, but if you want more secularity, then either go with the AD-S65 or 85.
Like everything in photography, no single bit of kit is ideal for every situation and you have to work out what kit best meets your needs, but if you are looking for a really portable lighting solution, then the AD300 is definitely worth looking into
