I am an Olympus guy, well Olympus and Panasonic or just M43 format fan.

I love their lenses (both brands) and the cameras fill my needs as well as I could want and often better than I expect, especially given the tough environments I feed them to.

In lighting accessories, I have become equally a Neewer, Yongnuo and Godox fan. Budgets being what they are (slim) and actual needs probably not that high, I regularly indulge myself with something from their ranges because they are always good value and so cheap (sometimes ridiculously), that I often need to buy multiple items just to get to free freight thresholds! My last order included a 32” soft box with sexy red trim, and a phone case just to get another S-Clamp (with the soft box effectively free).

I come from 35+ years in store retail environments and I know it is tough.

Recently the school I work with asked me to look at a bricks and mortar store quote for some lighting and camera gear.

For the Rode and Olympus/Panasonic gear I said go with the local guy, but for lighting gear, often sourced from the same base manufacturers in China, but coming through several levels of wholesale, I could not accept that some items were 1000% dearer than the very same thing I had purchased for myself only recently and none were genuinely better for the money*. In some cases an item was literally 10x the price, i.e. add a zero to $14!

To be clear, I am not sponsored or influenced by any force other than my own conscience.

For me Yongnuo came first. Their YN560 mk 3 & 4 strobe units are awesome, for about the same money as a name brand makers flash accessories. Without going into actual numbers, I will use broad equivalents.

For the cost of Canon, Nikon or Olympus’s second to top unit, I can get 3-4 YN’s with an off camera controller. That is an entire portable flash studio setup.

Now first up, these units are not all fancy pants clever like the name brand units. That requires getting the models that you only get 2-3 equivalents for the same money (Godox 685 etc), but they do match them in grunt and durability (except weather proofing, which is rare in any case). They have a decent warranty, but to be honest, I doubt I would bother. When one eventually terminally falls over (literally and/or figuratively), I will simple mine it for parts. Two have had decent falls and survived, so I am confident I can always rely on most of them at any one time and I have extras.

The same goes for the base model Godox units (the 600 series) and the even cheaper Neewer’s. If you do not need TTL control, which is often not the right choice for studio or repetitive work, then these are the same functionality as using a name brand unit. The secret I have found is to use decent batteries, which applies to all brands.

They are however very capable in other feature areas. All of these are 2.4g radio controlled. This was science fiction when I started with flash, but now comes standard on most of these units. Some of the flash units have this feature built in both ways, so they act as backup transmitters or receivers.

I do not blame the retailers for the huge disparity. They have bought a product as they have always done. One that has however gone through several wholesaler’s hands, all taking their cut (often double or more), so that by the time the shop gets the items needed they are (a) paying at least half of the difference in the price themselves and (b) have to pay based on a misleading gauge of it’s real value. Legitimate retail has it’s advantages, but sometimes, the math does not stack up.

The difference with Neewer in particular is you still get a decent level of consistency, quality control and backup with a small manufacturer to user markup, by bypassing the bulk of the wholesale chain.

Extreme cases of bargains to be had, not representative of the average, but findable. I will use a nice light meal for two at a well priced local Tapas bar as my “equivalent” to give you an idea.

• 1x very sturdy C-Stand = meal for 1

• 1x 1.2m steel arm and clamps for same = meal for 1

• 1x YN 560 mk4 flash = meal for 2

• 3x 260cm stainless steel light stands = a little less

• 1x pair of 4’ umbrella type soft boxes/silver reflectors = 4 standard drinks

• 1x 660 bead bi-colour LED light panel with barn doors and battery = a meal for 2

• 1x 530 bead, remote controlled RGB LED panel = same

• 1x 72” umbrella (silver or white) = meal for 1

• 3x light weight and compact, but solid aluminium stands = meal for 1

• 1x TTL, full smarts YN or Godox flash = meal for 1

• 1x 5x7 backdrop, diffuser or reflector/flag cloth = entree

• 1x powerful portable studio grade strobe (AD200) = three nights out for 2

and it goes on.

So, what do you get?

In most cases they are very good copies of an item, sometimes they are a rebrand of the same item, or made from the same sourced parts, sometimes they are a little heavier or older in style or just cosmetically different, but very rarely are they different enough to actually justify the added value of the named item. Very occasionally they are just better than name brand product. The fact is, most accessories are made in China by a third party who will make/sell their wares as they can, sometimes to spec, sometimes they make to sell then find one or more wholesalers.

The premium price tag item may come with a good name, local warranty and good backup (or not), but the product is often, not always, but often, effectively or actually the same. In Australia, most Neewer is sourced from local wholesalers, so they are subject to same laws as everyone else. Godox and Yongnuo has recommended dealers, who for a little more offer extra peace of mind.

Light stands.

Many are so cheap that you can literally buy two to four times as many as you need for so little, that breakages, even the odd screw coming off that you don’t have time to find, can be fixed instantly by just picking up another. The super light weight 200cm stands I bought recently are made of the same parts as many of the better light weight tripods that have been around for ages, so it is more a matter or finding another use for something already made in such large quantities that they are almost costless, than paying for a bespoke design. The reality that there are tripods on the market right now for hundreds of dollars made with these same parts is the “buyer beware” part.

One trick I have learned is to always buy stainless steel stands if possible. When buying black it is hard to pick what is plastic and what isn’t, even for the same price.

Bags.

I purchased a large backpack from Neewer, that is exactly the same as one specialist Drone maker’s premium priced product for one third the price (piping colour is different but nothing else). Bags large and small have been a sub-hobby (addiction) of mine for decades. A name brand bag big enough to hold what I wanted would have cost 3-4 times as much. I love my Domke’s (5+), have had Billingham (3), LowePro (tons-lost count), Temba (2), Filson (2) and many others. Sometimes you just want a smart, useful tote of padded shoulder bag for your flash kit for the price of a T-shirt, not the price of a lens. When they do not cost a bomb, they don’t load you down with guilt when their usefulness wanes.

Lighting mods.

Mods in their many forms are a little different. The stems and spokes of brollies etc are lighter and more prone to damage (but also lighter to tote), their reflectance and diffusion are different (not worse, just different as they all are when compared). The heavy-duty build of the premium brands is missing, but not that of the middle of the road brands and as one expert in the field said, light is light. I have so many (20+), that I am not only bullet proof in depth, but have been able to discover for myself which ones I like to use, all for the price of one premium brand soft box. The excess can then be used to experiment with or as backups. Best value so far are 2x 42” white Godox brollies, often used as reflectors.

Flash units.

Godox is my “smart flash” go to with a 685 AA and 860 Lithium powered models. To these I added the TX1 radio control, all for about the same value as a second from top name brand unit (also AA powered). On M43 format with a 2 stop DOF > aperture > power advantage, these give me about the same power as a portable studio light like an AD200 on a full frame. The AD200 which is fully compatible with these, would then give me a seriously strong light for less than the cost of that brand name flash (with 3 times the power). Their SL series wall-plug lights are also a bargain if you need constant light, but Neewer LED’s are even cheaper and cordless.

Mixing brands was not ideal, but Godox seemed to have risen to the top of the smart speedlite ranks when I was looking.

For “dumb” manual only flash, Yongnuo is my choice, mainly because I purchased my first two when they were “the” disruptor brand. Powerful, robust, consistent and reliable, they are a bargain. I have 5 which is enough (on M43) to light up a group of 30+ with modifiers.

Eneloop Pro batteries, my only non compromise item have literally breathed new life into these. They functioned well enough with good alkaline’s but chewed through them and as they exhausted, some exposures were well under. The Eneloops just go and go. My only issue is I bought too many (30), before I found I could get through a full event shoot with one set of 8!

For constant or mood light, I use Neewer LED’s. A little 176, a Bi colour 660 and RGB 480 give me hair, wall or fill light in many circumstances where time is an issue. The little one is the “10x cheaper” example above, the three, with monster NB 970 batteries came in at about the equivalent of the Godox 860, which is half of a name brand flash etc.

Other stuff.

A set of cut down gel sheets for $5, a quality sunglass model head (matt black) for tests $25 (I found an ugly one in a haberdashers in low grade styrofoam for the same price-that was $2.50 online!), a dozen super-strong clamps $20, and so on.

I could (and often do) go on, but you see where I am going. Local retailers need your business and often work really hard to get it, but in some areas their hands are tied by wholesale systems as old as retailing.

Buy hardware and name brand items from them and you get the support of a local, often for not that much more than a dodgy online source (apply the 10% rule here and remember to add freight), but for those things that look like they should be cheap, think cheap and look around (maybe apply the 100% rule!).

So to cut to the chase;

A stand only has to be solid, reliable and convenient. Durability can be balanced against price/quantity and realistic usage needs and weight can be supplied after (Did I tell you story about the $5 K-Mart 2kg ankle weights?).

Light is light. It needs to be diffused (through smoke, cotton, nylon or poly, not silk of God’s breath), bounced of a surface, or focussed. It needs to be versatile and reliable and it has to be strong enough to work for you when you need, but mostly it needs you to use it well. Light does not get better when you pay more for it but it can get stronger/faster to recycle etc.

I am not naturally tight fisted (see my gaming page if you want to see excess), but over the years I have become wary of wasting money on things that are just tools.

Travel well :)

*case in point, on a recent visit to the same store I came across a rattly, light to medium light stand with plastic joints for $149. Much lower quality than the stainless steel Neewer 220cm ones I picked up recently for $9.15. Yup, real.