GODOX SK300II Studio Strobe Flash Kit The Godox SK300II it the smaller model in the low-budget SKII series. The stronger is the 400Ws type (I do not understand why are they so close to each other in power output). The SKII already has got an X-receiver, so any Godox 2.4GHz X flash-trigger or Master flash is able to control the SKII strobes. It could be a good set up when you have a speedlight or Witstro system for location jobs, and a 230V studio strobe system in the studio, and all these share the flash trigger, they can be mixed or replace each other no matter of they are TTL or Manual ones. This is the biggest advantage of Godox’s X-system. I’ve used the very simple and manual SK300II strobe with Godox’s high-end TTL+HSS trigger and they’ve worked together. Build Compared to other studio strobes the SK300II is quite small, it is made of somewhere better, somewhere worse material, but in turns it is very lightweight. We can find an LCD screen and microswitch buttons on the back as well as a rotary knob for power-level adjustment, and two types of flash-sync sockets: a jack-type and Godox’s own USB-type one. Since this flash had built-in receive, there is hardly any need for the USB-type sync connector except when you use the old 433MHz Godox triggering system with the FT-16 dongle. Tilting the strobe on a light stand is easy with its big lever, its mechanism has ribs inside so it can easily hold heavier modifiers. The flash tube is O-shaped, protrudes from the houseing and has a 150W tungsten modelling light in the middle with glass protection. Unfortunately the modelling light does not turns off during the flash so the photographer should be aware of this while using open apertures. The Godox SK300II is packed with an umbrella-reflector, and you’ll find the light bulb and the mains-cable in the package. Operation The strobe’s light is somewhat stable. “Somewhat” means that there may be 0,1-0,2EV fluctuation. Unfortunately this is even more severe when I use the Godox XPro trigger but I don’t know why. I’ve tried it with a Sony-version, maybe a Canon or Nikon version would be better. But with the Sony there were 0,4-0,5EV fluctuations as well which is very noticeable on the shots. If this fluctuation is added to a power adjustment on the strobe, it can happen that you adjust +1/3EV on the flash and the power will be +1EV more from one shot to the next because of the addition despite the fact that you only adjusted +1/3EV. The strobe’s power does not fluctuate all the time however it flashes precisely 80-90% of the pops so this means 1-2 shots out of 10 will be a bit misfired (btw it fluctuates upwards all the time so some of the shots will be brighter). Anyway you can adjust the flash-power on the back with a rotary knob from 1/1 to 1/16 in 0.1EV increments. Yes, you’ve read it well, the lowest power setting is only 1/16 but consider that this is only a 300Ws flash. If you use the Godox XPro for controlling, you’ll be able to adjust the power only in 1/3EV increments – maybe the above mentioned fluctuation is caused by this difference. Moreover the XPro trigger allows to go down until 1/128 but then the strobe will remain and fire on 1/16 obviously. Color consistency In case of color stability this flash has performed well. The WB on lowest power is about 5500K, and 5700-5800K at 1/1 setting and with a tiny magenta shift on both. This is not an IGBT flash so this is usual. The flash duration is 1/2000s – 1/800s according to Godox which is quite fast. These types of flashes are usually about 1/220s. Although we do not know that these values are according to t0.1 or t0.5 metering. I guess it’s t0.5 but then it is still a good performer.