Godox MS300V 300Ws Compact Studio Flash with LED Modelling Lamp

The MS300V is a good first studio flash. It's a 300Ws mains-powered head that measures just 12.6 x 16.7 x 28.3cm with its cover on, so it fits in a small home studio and travels easily to school, pet or portrait sessions.

Power runs over six stops, from full down to 1/32, in tenth-stop steps. At full power it recycles in up to 1.8 seconds, and a ready beep (which you can switch off) tells you when it's set to fire again. The backlit display is easy to read in a dim studio, and the 10W LED modelling lamp dims from 100% to 5%, letting you see your lighting before you shoot. Because it's LED rather than halogen, it stays cool enough for enclosed modifiers like snoots and Fresnel lenses.

A 2.4GHz receiver is built in, so Godox X-system triggers such as the X1, X2, XPro, XProII and XT-16 can fire it, change its power and switch the modelling lamp. It also works with PiXAPRO ST-III, ST-III+, ST-IV, ST-IV+ and Pro AC triggers, and the optical slave can be set to ignore a TTL pre-flash.

The Bowens S-Type mount takes beauty dishes, softboxes and reflectors. A second MS300V also makes a tidy background light for lifting a painted canvas backdrop behind your subject. Please note the reflector is not included.