Off-Camera Flash Solution for the Fuji X-E2

I prefer off-camera flash any day to the pop up flash on any camera. I have written many articles on it here on the blog. Just put in the phrase "off-camera" in the search field I have on the blog and you will see many posts talking about doing this with my Nikon system.

Now I have a Fuji X-E2 and wanted off-camera flash solution. I stumbled on the Neewer TT850 flash [$104.95].  This is a totally manual flash. When using 2,000 mAh eneloop batteries in a SB900 it will give you a maximum of 200 cycles. The TT850 blows its competitors out of the water. Even without a way to plug in an external pack, who needs one, just carry extra battery or two. But who shoots more than 650 full power strobe shots at a shoot? With just one extra battery you can shoot up to 1300 full power shots.

The flash has a guide number of 100.

You could trigger it a few ways.

1. On the camera hot shoe
2. S1 - Mode [Normal Slave] 
3. S2 - Mode [2nd Flash Slave]
4. Wireless Trigger

The flash was designed to work with the Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger [$27].

• Set power ratios of up to 16 groups of remote flashes
• Switch the on-or-off of the modeling light or AF-assist beam & buzzer
• Manual triggering of flashes
• Two modes of power ratio display
• Quite convenience to mount onto your camera's hot shoe

Nikon just has three groupings of A, B or C. This has 16 different groups. That is a lot of flashes you could control all from the camera.

Here you can see I am able to control the power easily from the remote. This is great for shooting on the go. You cannot change the zoom from the remote.

Here you can see the setup. Fuji X-E2 with the 55-200mm lens. The Neewer TT850 on light stand off at 45º. The Neewer 433MHz Wireless 16 Channel Flash Remote Trigger to fire the off-camera flash and control the power from the camera.  Also on the flash I added the MagMod flash modifier system.

MagMod is a magical flash modifier system that frees your speedlite flashes from velcro, straps, and adhesives by geniously incorporating the invisible powers of magnetism.

Each modifier is a designed as a single molded piece of high-quality silicone rubber that is sleek, compact, easy to use, and dead simple.

I was using the gel holder with a 1/4 CTO and two of the grids stacked.  Keeping the light mainly on the statue of the soldier.

Now I just took some photos. I used a tripod and this let me drag the shutter for some pretty long exposures. This way I could shoot at really low ISO and keep the background from going too dark.

Fuji X-E2, XF 55-200mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/7.1, 1/8, Flash set at 1/128 power.

Fuji X-E2, XF 55-200mm, ISO 1000, ƒ/7.1, 1/30, Flash set at 1/64 power.

The really great thing is I am changing the power from the camera.

I recommend getting a second battery for the flash. All three were only $171.35 on Amazon. We have Amazon Prime which gave us free shipping. 

You could get four flashes using the FourSquare system by LightWare.  For under $500 you could have four flashes and one remote. For around $530 you could have four flashes and four remotes. 

This is a great option for any camera system and especially for the money.