Historically, I’ve shied away from strobes and speedlights. Sure, I have a 12-year-old set of Paul Buff AlienBees B800 strobes that I’ve used a bit. But 95% of my photography is done in either natural light or using constant light sources – most of my product work is done with LED constant lights. And despite the fact that I’ve got a couple of DSLR era Canon Speedlights in the gear closet, I’ve done remarkable little work with speedlights. Recently I decided I was going to try and push myself and get better into learning more flash photography, and decided I would start with getting a new speedlight from this decade.  When I attended the B&H sponsored Bild Expo in June, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Godox booth – Godox has done what most Chinese manufactures done in every electronics segment in which they enter – disrupt with low prices and impressive capabilities. But I really, really didn’t want to yet another product from a Chinese brand. And neither was I looking to spend $1249 or even $499 for mid or top-of-the-line options from Canon. But at a Dodd Camera annual sales event, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the Westcott company representative and learned about the FJ80 II.  TheFJ80 II comes in two different flavors – one which is “multi-brand” in its functionality, and one version that’s strictly for use with Sony camera bodies.  As a Canon user, I picked up the multi-brand version, but was thrilled that I could use it with other cameras I own, like the Fujifilm X100VI for example.   Here are the key specifications:

• Power Output: 80Ws
• Power Range: 9 Stops
• Recycle time: .05-1.5s
• Battery: USB-C Rechargeable
• Full-Power Flashes per Charge: 500+
• Modeling Light: 3W LED, ~5500k
• Price: $369.00 retail

Like most modern speedlights, the FJ80 IIhas a round flash head. The theory here is that a round flash head produces a light pattern that’s closer to what photographers are used to from studio strobes and beauty dishes – soft edges, more even falloff, and more “natural-looking spill.” Rectangular heads often created a hotspot-in-the-middle, sharp edges on the sides kind of pattern. Round heads smooth that out. I don’t really have enough experience with rectangular flash heads vs. round to confirm or deny. But I also suspect that another reason (perhaps the main reason) for round flash heads is better compatibility with magnetic modifiers. I actually picked up a nice magnetic Westcott Diffusion Dome for the FJ80 II that works great – easy on, easy off.

The FJ80 II with the Westcott Magnetic Diffusion Dome

Hands down, the best feature of this speedlight is the colorful, clean, and bright touchscreen interface. Navigating a speedlight menu system could not be made to be easier than this. It’s gorgeous and well laid out – the interface is probably better than any of the competing speedlights on the market.

The color touch screen on the back of the FJ80 II is a standout feature

Because I intend to use the FJ80 II off camera, I ended also picking up the FJ-X3 wireless flash trigger. Handy for not only using with the FJ80 II off camera, but also using with other Westcott lighting products like the FJ400 II…which I have my eye on to replace my old Paul Buff strobes.  It’s easy and fast to sync the trigger to the flash and select your desired group and channel.

The display is excellent on the FJ-X3 and the controls are dead simple, and works extremely well with the FJ80 II.  A camera mounted speedlight opens possibilities, but for true creativity, you need the capability to have speedlight off camera so it can be positions where every needed to create the desired light on the subject.

To see some sample photos taken with the FJ80 II speedlight, click here.

I’m extremely pleased with both the FJ80 II speedlight and the FJ-X3 trigger, and plan to practice with each during the winter months.  If you’re a pro shooter who shoots a lot of weddings and receptions, you might be able to justify the $1000.00 price tag on a Profoto A10.  Or you might be considering the Godox V100 at a more reasonable $350.00.  But for just a bit more ($369 but often on sale) you can have the Westcott name and the peace of mind of US based after sale support (in Ohio no less).  Make mine Westcott.