Best small flash for Leica Q / Q2 for indoors

[trstahly]

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I have a Q2 arriving Wed and I will use it a lot in restaurants for pics of me and my wife or four of us. Also around my large warehouse building in some low light conditions and pics of our pets inside the house at night. My iPhone 13 pro max and 14 pro max are not up to lower light pics. I want to have some kind of automatic "small" flash for some fill in with far better IQ and RAW files I can work with. 

Curious to find out from those with experience which flash they like to use with a Q or Q2.

Off the topic while I am not a big black and white shooter the video I watched on the Q monochrome is quite amazing. Who knows with detail and low light like that I may have to get one.

Thanks

Terry

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[trstahly]

I forgot to mention the two I am looking at which one do people with experience feel works best on the Q's?  The SF20 or SF-D24 which are not that easy to find now. Are there any other flash units I would want to consider?

[Siriusone59]

During my search for a small flash, I strongly considered the LightPix labs Q20ii.  Really liked the fact that it could be used remotely, small size and inexpensive...downside was that it is manual only, you must select the output.

My laziness won out although my wallet suffered as I chose the sf-40 instead.  TTL mode that can be varied works well as a fill flash. 

[Herr Barnack]

I have the SF-40 flash - that is what I would recommend for the Q2.  B&H has them in stock at the moment if you would like to take a look:  https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1192186-REG/leica_14624_sf_40_flash.html

[trstahly]

Thanks Herr, I ordered a mint one on Ebay I was looking at the SF20 & SF-D24 and actually they are about an inch taller than the SF-40 which means a lot to me and it is a more capable flash. Looking forward to it.

[Buck777]

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the Godox lux junior. Works well on the Q2.

[Herr Barnack]

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@Buck777  That's an interesting little flash unit - what are your thoughts on its guide number of 39.4?  Is that enough light for most applications?

[SirBlunder]

Anybody else using this Godox Lux Junior on a Q or Q2? 

Can anybody else recommend a SMALL flash (no TTL needed) for a Q besides the Fujifilm EF-X20 which is now going for $400+ used (or the official Leica flashes that are HUGE)?

Looking for an affordable, small flash that I can throw onto my Q2's hot-shoe for indoor/nighttime shooting. 

[liggy]

1 hour ago, SirBlunder said:

Anybody else using this Godox Lux Junior on a Q or Q2? 

Can anybody else recommend a SMALL flash (no TTL needed) for a Q besides the Fujifilm EF-X20 which is now going for $400+ used (or the official Leica flashes that are HUGE)?

Looking for an affordable, small flash that I can throw onto my Q2's hot-shoe for indoor/nighttime shooting. 

Haven’t tried it on the Q2 yet but there’s no reason it shouldn’t work.

Not really powerful but people are definitely attracted to it and love the look.  Brought it out on NYE for a party and it was a hit.  I don’t often use flash so shooting in manual is not a hardship. 

Apologies for the lousy pic - tried the iphone in Portrait mode during the party. 

 

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Edited January 23, 2023 by liggy

[marchyman]

1 hour ago, SirBlunder said:

Can anybody else recommend a SMALL flash (no TTL needed) for a Q besides the Fujifilm EF-X20 which is now going for $400+ used (or the official Leica flashes that are HUGE)?

FlashQ?  https://www.lightpixlabs.com/collections/frontpage/products/flashq-q20ii-black

Not very powerful and manual only.  Works  both on an off camera with a built in detachable transmitter. About the size of a pack of cigarettes if you remember what those looked like!

[SirBlunder]

2 hours ago, marchyman said:

FlashQ?  https://www.lightpixlabs.com/collections/frontpage/products/flashq-q20ii-black

Not very powerful and manual only.  Works  both on an off camera with a built in detachable transmitter. About the size of a pack of cigarettes if you remember what those looked like!

This one looks cool, and I've seen some other comments about it here and other places online.. but it's still pretty big! Really want something simple and discrete. 

Loved the tiny flash on my Ricoh GRII... came in handy ALL THE TIME and added only a little bit of bulk/weight to the camera. Surprised there isn't a SUPER small and simple (but premium) flash in the market. 

Honestly I love the idea of getting the EF-X20... I just can't justify spending $400 (absolute minimum) for a used copy. Feel like these are in vogue because of Greg Williams. 

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[liggy]

1 hour ago, SirBlunder said:

This one looks cool, and I've seen some other comments about it here and other places online.. but it's still pretty big! Really want something simple and discrete. 

Loved the tiny flash on my Ricoh GRII... came in handy ALL THE TIME and added only a little bit of bulk/weight to the camera. Surprised there isn't a SUPER small and simple (but premium) flash in the market. 

Honestly I love the idea of getting the EF-X20... I just can't justify spending $400 (absolute minimum) for a used copy. Feel like these are in vogue because of Greg Williams. 

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I must be missing something.  These were barely $100 last time I looked (admittedly years ago)

$400?  Yikes.  The Nissin i40 would be a cheap and cheerful solution imo.

[SirBlunder]

12 hours ago, liggy said:

I must be missing something.  These were barely $100 last time I looked (admittedly years ago)

$400?  Yikes.  The Nissin i40 would be a cheap and cheerful solution imo.

Yup. Wild. Extremely limited quality and again I think Greg Williams is driving demand. 

 

The Nissin i40 is cool... just way too big. The beauty of the Q2 is that it's small and relatively discrete. Throwing that i40 on basically doubles its size. 

Wish something small and discrete, just powerful enough to take photos of people in a dimly lit room, existed!

[BrettWayne]

20 hours ago, SirBlunder said:

Yup. Wild. Extremely limited quality and again I think Greg Williams is driving demand. 

 

The Nissin i40 is cool... just way too big. The beauty of the Q2 is that it's small and relatively discrete. Throwing that i40 on basically doubles its size. 

Wish something small and discrete, just powerful enough to take photos of people in a dimly lit room, existed!

I’ve been doing quite a bit of looks at this for my CL and future Q2M. Only options are either:

- Leica SF{x} or Godox XProiiL+{a flash} or ProFoto for TTL / HSS and bells and whistles. ¥¥¥¥¥

- Everything else without TTL / HSS in purely manual or flash auto mode. ¥
 

If you want small and  powerful how about a Nikon Speedlite? You’ll notice that the Leica and Nikon shoe contacts are the same so you can fit anything in the SB line. A vintage SB27 can be had for $20. Just figure out what GN you need and cruise EBay etc .. ? 
 

Note that a lot of older Speed lights have Automatic mode with a power sensor which is separate from TTL. Another to look at is SB-15 which is more retro than 27. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by BrettWayne

[Fotoklaus]

For using in A-Mode (preselect aperture/  time/ ISO at the camera) Nikon SB30, Sunpak PF20XD, Metz 34 CS-2, if size does matter.

[SirBlunder]

On 1/25/2023 at 5:05 AM, Fotoklaus said:

For using in A-Mode (preselect aperture/  time/ ISO at the camera) Nikon SB30, Sunpak PF20XD, Metz 34 CS-2, if size does matter.

Loving the look of the Sunpak PF30X... Anybody ever use this one with a Q or Q2? 

Pretty affordable. Might be worth a try just because of the cost alone. 

[Daniel C.1975]

My EF-X20 from my long time ago x-System days died. It was a nice flash, but eating through batteries like hell and with very long charging times in between. 

I also still have the x-system Nissin i40, which is a great little flash, but not that little. 

As I am now for years used to use flashes in manual mode I was searching for a replacement for the EF-X20 which I used as small fill-in flash and was really flabbergasted on how crazy the used prices for it meanwhile. 300-400 Euros. This flash is not in the least worth this money. Not in the least. 

 

However, thanks to this thread I got aware of the  Godox Lux Junior, which I will receive this afternoon. I will report out soon. 

 

[Daniel C.1975]

Hi, 

 

so, the Godox Lux Junior has arrived. 

I bought it at amazon.de for 85 Euro quit. Within the Amazon parcel was the box of the flash wrapped in plastic with a huge Made in China sticker and the sticker of the importer and some conformity sticker. 

If the Chinese know something than to give even such lower cost product a premium packaging. Once the wrapping was removed the box showed a Leica'este felling. Very sturdy nice black box with naming and photo and a magnetic lit to oben the box. Ah, forgot: on the outside of the box, held by the wrapping, was a diffusor which seems not be part of the original packaging. In the box the flash. The flash is of a good enough quality, nothing special, but it also does not feel cheap. 

In the box:

- the flash

- a flash-sync cable

- a soft material pouch

- a manual

Outside of the box: A perfectly fitting diffusor. 

The square size of the top-view is 7x7cm. 

In manual mode you can only adjust the flash in full f-stops from 1/64 to 1/1 of power (1/64; 1/32; 1/16; 1/8; 1/4; 1/2; full). To help to find the right adjustment, there is a free spinning dial in the middle to adjust f-stop and iso based on distance (no real adjustment, just to support what to adjust).  Very simple. 

I would have liked to get down to 1/128 of the power for more flexibility (but the Fuji was no better) and I would have liked to see half-stops for the adjustment. However, here comes the diffusor as a nice help. A, it diffuses quite nicely and B, it reduces the flash-power by roughly 2 f-stops - just an estimation after the first few minutes. 

Auto-Mode is funny. It is not really auto through a sensor or so, but seems to be a fixed flash value for f2.8; Iso 100 and a max. distance of 4m. To adjust you can play with the cameras aperture or Iso, but the flash-power is always the same. 

On the side is a switch to put the flash into slave mode: 1 = triggered by a flash without ttl-pre-flash; 2 = triggered by flash with ttl-pre-flash and Off. Quite nice for a simple flash set-up at home with my Nissin i40. 

Batteries are 2x AAA - I would have preferred 2x AA, but let's see how well this will work out.

 

Out of the box the flash worked flawless. There is a very slight click when changing the dial with a nice feel. Colour temperature seems to be fine too. 

 

Overall a simple, nice looking and inexpensive manual flash which also can be used as a slave. All I can have asked for for the money.  

The Fuji EF-X20 was for sure a a bit nicer flash with a more premium feel, but this one is good enough and as easy to adjust manually.  

Attached a few fotos on the Q2 and the SL2s incl. the diffusor.  

 

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Edited January 27, 2023 by Daniel C.1975

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[Daniel C.1975]

And two selfies with and without diffusor. Manual 1/15s, one at f4 the other with f2.2 (didn't adjust accurately to f2) and fixed iso 200. And yes, I am very tired on this Friday evening  

RAW directly ooc. In front of me are the two living room lamps, which at larger aperture contribute of course more to the overall exposure. Flash was at 1/64 - as far as I remember. The photo with the diffusor is not 100% accurate in focus. Disclaimer: This is no test, just an example  

 

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Edited January 27, 2023 by Daniel C.1975

[SirBlunder]

Daniel -- Thanks for all this great information!!! I had started writing a reply, then got distracted some work, and when I came back, you had made all your posts. 

Your post is going to be VERY helpful to those finding this thread for years to come. 

Looks great on the Q2 and appears to be of decent enough quality, especially for the $. Size looks right. Only question I have: How long does it take to recharge between shots?

I'm basically between this one that you got, some small old/used clip on Fuji (NOT the $400+ one we've discussed), or the smallest Sunpak I can find. 

PS -- I have that same grip which I've stopped using in favor of the thumbs up (which I love), but obviously can't have two accessories in my hotshoe at once.