The Ultimate Godox TT685N Review!

Our regular readers may know that we are slowly working our way through covering all of the different Godox TT685 flash unit variants. Today, we will be going over our Godox TT685N review that is the Nikon camera variant of the flash system. Now, unlike the Panasonic, Fuji, and to come extent Sony camera variants, the Nikon cameras have a large number of flash units that are compatible with their cameras.

This leads people to usually ask if it is worth picking up the Godox TT685N as a camera flash for Nikon or if they should go with a Nikon flash unit like the Nikon SB-800 AF Speedlight (Click here to check for product prices and availability) instead. Thankfully, Godox has managed to smash it out the park when it comes to the Godox TT685N and they have produced an excellent flash unit in our opinion that has a small price while offering tons of functionality making it an excellent option.

This price to performance balance has lead to the Godox TT685N becoming a very popular flash unit within the community in a short period of time with it earning a number of reviews (click here to read some of them) from independent Nikon camera owners who use the TT685N as their go-to camera flash of choice. These third-party reviews provide some excellent insight into the performance of the flash for photographers who have been using it for extended periods of time.

Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Godox TT685N!

Table of Contents

User Interface And Control System

Unlike some of the competing brands in the camera flash niche that change their navigation menu and parts of their control system with each new release, Godox has managed to keep their systems relatively similar over the years. Thankfully, this is no different from the Godox TT685N making it very easy to pick up and use if you have used the Godox range previously. The intuitive navigation menu design on the TT685N also allows people totally new to using camera flashes or the Godox range to get to grips with it in a short amount of time too.

The control system is based around a single rotary dial, an on/off switch and Seven buttons helping to keep everything as minimalist as possible while allowing you to have a large amount of customization at your fingertips. The buttons perform well in both cold and wet weather allowing you to tweak your flash settings no matter the conditions that you are capturing photographs in and the backlit LED screen ensures that you are able to actually see the displayed text in low light conditions.

[the_ad id=”5467″]

Speaking of the displayed text, Godox has upgraded their LED technology in the TT685N for their screen ensuring that it displays crystal clear letters and numbers making it very easy to read. This used to be an issue with some of their older flash units as they could be a total nightmare to read, especially in low light conditions.

As the requirements of your flash unit can change multiple times over the course of a session, the flash mode button really is a god sent but they are very common on flash units these days, especially ones at this price point. That said though, it does allow you to save a fair amount of time over the course of a session by quickly switching between the various flash modes the camera supports that we will be covering in the next section.

Performance And Functionality

As we mentioned earlier in the article, considering the price point of the flash unit it provides a ton of functionality via its extensive feature list. In turn, this results in some great performance for this price point and has helped the TT685N grow its customer base rapidly. Here are some of the core features that we feel the majority of our readers will use regularly during their flash photography sessions:-

GN60 (m ISO 100, @200mm)
22 steps from 1/1 to 1/128
Master and Slave unit modes
Built-in 2.4G wireless flash transmission
TTL compatible flash
Flash Duration from 1/300 to 1/20000 seconds
High-speed sync (up to 1/8000 seconds)
First-curtain sync
Second-curtain sync
Variable 0.1-2.s recycle time
Around 230 full power flash activations

Now, we would just like to quickly point out that the list 230 flash activations will depend on your flash settings, particularly your recycle times. The shorter the recycle time you choose to use when taking part in flash photography, the quicker your batteries will run empty resulting in fewer flash activations per set of fully charged batteries.

Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!

Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!

Build Quality

In our opinion, the build quality of the TT685N is without a doubt one of the best available at this middle price point in the camera flash unit niche. The flash unit is made from a hardened plastic that is very lightweight while also very robust at the same time. This ensures it is easy to transport at it is lightweight and easy to add to your photography kit bag while also being robust enough to take plenty of punishment while in transit.

[the_ad id=”5489″]

Additionally, the actual flash head itself is connected to the flash body at a very robust ball and socket joint that keeps the two attached. This gives you confidence that they will actually stay together without issue when you choose to turn or tilt the flash head during use as some of the cheaper flashes can feel like the flash head may actually come off in your hand.

The desigin of the TT685N also helps to keep the risk of any overheating issues as low as possible too by disapateing as much of the generated heat as possible with no additional effort required from you. Just to counter this a little though, if you are using your flash unit in rapid succession with a 0.1 second recycle time over an extended period of time then the unit will eventually overheat.

Our Verdict

That concludes our Godox TT685N review and as you can probably tell, we absolutely love this flash unit and feel that it can help improve the vast majority of our readers flash photography performance without the need for a high price tag camera flash. It will make a great little addition to any Nikon camera owners camera accessories and will last you for many years to come without issue.

Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!

Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!

The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Godox TT685N to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.