What Does Zoom Mean on a Flash? What Does It Do?
Flash zoom controls how the light is spread, adjusting to match your lens’s focal length for better coverage and efficiency. In this video, we’ll explain what flash zoom is, how it affects your photos, and when to adjust it for the best results. Whether you need a wide spread for group shots or a focused beam for portraits, understanding flash zoom will improve your lighting. Stay tuned for a simple, beginner-friendly explanation!
This video is from our Off-Camera Flash Photography Course.
Video Summary:
This tutorial explains the zoom function on an external flash, which controls whether the light is a wide spread or a narrow, concentrated beam. The flash can be set to Auto Zoom, where it automatically adjusts its beam angle to match the focal length of your lens (wider for wide-angle, narrower for telephoto). This is ideal for events. You can also manually override the zoom for creative control, using a narrow beam on a wide-angle shot to create dramatic, focused lighting in portraits. The video also covers the white panel accessory, which forces the flash to its widest (14mm) coverage to fill every corner of a scene.
Timestamps:
0:38 – Locates the zoom function on the flash (Godox V860II), showing it set to Auto (A), where it automatically syncs with the lens’s focal length.
1:56 – Demonstrates Auto Zoom in action: zooming the lens in/out changes the flash’s zoom setting automatically.
2:34 – Explains the practical use: For a distant subject (zoomed in), a narrow beam concentrates light efficiently. For a group shot (zoomed out), a wide beam covers the scene.
4:22 – Shows how to override Auto Zoom and switch to Manual (M) Zoom. This allows you to set the flash beam independently of the lens focal length (e.g., a narrow 200mm beam on a wide-angle lens).
5:40 – Suggests creative uses for manual zoom, like creating dramatic portraits by illuminating only part of the subject.
7:19 – Practical Demonstration: Compares shots taken with the flash off-camera.
* 7:50 – Wide lens (18mm) + Wide flash zoom (20mm): Light spreads to cover the scene evenly.
* 8:50 – Wide lens (18mm) + Narrow flash zoom (200mm): Light is concentrated on the subject, creating dramatic fall-off and dark corners.
* 9:32 – Telephoto lens (135mm) + Wide flash zoom (20mm): Even lighting across the frame.
* 9:58 – Telephoto lens (135mm) + Narrow flash zoom (200mm): Light is tightly focused, creating a spotlight effect.
10:34 – Introduces the white panel accessory. Pulling it out automatically sets the flash to its widest beam (14mm), useful for illuminating the entire frame of an ultra-wide scene.
11:41 – Compares 20mm flash coverage vs. 14mm (with white panel), showing how the wider setting fills in more light in the corners.
