Did you know that many digital cameras these days don’t have a built-in flash? Of course, a “pop-up” flash has always been a rare or nonexistent feature on a high-end pro camera. Lately, however, even the compact entry-level cameras are lacking this useful feature. That is why today we are comparing a whole set of compact flashes from two different brands: we’re looking at the Godox iM20 & iM22, versus the Zeniko ZF04 and ZF08.
If you’re just starting out as a casual photographer who likes to capture portraits on-the-go, or you’re a serious content creator who needs to be able to capture almost any type of subject with a minimal amount of gear, you’re going to want to read further! With these flashes weight next-to-nothing, (~20-35g) and being no bigger than your earbuds holder, one of these flashes likely belongs in your camera bag, or in your pocket!
First, we’re going to talk about who should be considering these four flashes. (What type of photography do you do? What is your style of content creation?) Then, we’ll dive deeper into the detailed pros & cons of all four flashes, and compare them directly to see if we can identify any specific “winner” that we recommend the most. With that said, let’s dive in!
Godox iM20 & iM22 VS Zeniko ZF04 & ZF08 | Who Should Buy It?
Content Creators (Professional & Entry Level)
Most content creators got their start using nothing more than a phone. Maybe you’re an influencer on Instagram / TikTok, or you’re a long-form content creator on Youtube or for a written blog. Either way, you’re used to a “kit” that is incredibly compact and simple.
This often means that you’re either uninterested or unable to carry around a very large camera, let alone a bag full of accessories. All of these folks might be able to benefit from having an ultra-portable pocket flash, if they do portrait photos of any kind.
Beginner & Everyday Photographers
Maybe you’ve been using a camera for a very long time, and you already know that you love taking pictures. This is infinitely more common today, thanks of course to phones! Or, maybe you’re just getting serious & passionate about photography, and you’re not sure what your future holds as an artist.
Either way, it’s important to keep in mind that more and more cameras these days do not even include an on-camera flash at all. Or, if they do, the brightness is not very strong at all. So, again, if you’re photographing people, products, or anything that requires lighting, having an ultra-portable flash can serve you very well.
Travel Photographers
If you do any kind of travel, you might be globetrotting around the world as a content creator, or you might be backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail. In any case, there are many times, many locations you’ll visit, where carrying any sort of traditional hotshoe strobe flash is absolutely out of the question.
At the same time, travel content creators are the most likely to experience highly challenging lighting conditions, with extremely low light, harsh light, or other obstacles that are out of your control. Therefore, you guessed it: even more reason to always have an ultra-portable flash with you!
Godox iM Series VS Zeniko ZF | Pros & Cons
With all of that in mind, there are four different ultra-compact flash options that we want to compare today. We’re going to cover the Godox iM22 VS Zeniko ZF08, and the Godox iM20 VS Zeniko ZF04. These four “tiny” hotshoe flashes have a few things in common:
- They’re ultra-compact; all four of them fit into the palm of my hand!
- They’re super-simple to operate; There’s an on/off button, power up/down buttons, and intuitive flash power level indicator lights.
- They have a built-in battery, that is charged via USB-C
- They don’t have any angle/direction adjustments; direct flash only
- They don’t have any wireless triggering capabilities
Beyond this, there are a few subtle differences between the two different brands and between each brands’ two models. We’ll get into this next!
Price & Value
First and foremost, (for better or for worse) many photographers and content creators are likely going to look at the price tags. Then, they’re going to look at the overall features, and try to deduce the value from that.
With that in mind, we can first note that the Godox iM20 and iM22 are priced the same, ($33.90)and offer mostly the same features. The biggest difference is in their design; visually, the iM22 is taller, while the iM20 is a low-profile flash like both of the Zeniko flashes.
The Zeniko ZF flashes, on the other hand, have more significant differences between the two. The ZF04 is quite a bit smaller than the ZF08, which also means it is both less powerful (bright) and has shorter battery life.
Design & Aesthetic
Here’s something that might be important to many folks, though not everyone: There are some slight stylistic differences between the brands. Specifically, although their functionality is similar, the Godox flashes are a touch more advanced because they offer power adjustments both up and down; the Zeniko flashes only have one adjustment button that cycles through the brightness/power.
On the other hand, when it comes to the aesthetics, I believe that the Zeniko flashes might appeal more to the folks with retro style cameras; the chrome versions are a beautiful pairing. The Godox flashes have a white option, which doesn’t match chrome cameras as perfectly.
(By the way, the Zeniko ZF04 only has two brightness levels, and a slightly smaller battery, which makes it a noticeably more limited product in-use. More on this next…)
Lastly, I must give a nod to the Godox iM22, again, for its dissimilar design versus the other three: It has a bit more of that “pop-up” look, which you may or may not prefer.
Power & Performance
The three larger flashes, the iM20, the iM22,and the ZF08, all offer about the same maximum brightness. They also have the same number of power levels, too; 1/1 power down to 1/16 power.
The ZF04, on the other hand, is about 1.5 stops darker than the ZF08, and only offers two power settings, 1/1 and 1/2.
What about compared to the average camera’s pop-up flash? In my limited testing, I found that compact digital cameras that do have a built-in flash are somewhere in the range of what the Zeniko ZF04 offers in terms of brightness. This means that the three brighter flashes are going to be ~1.5 stops brighter than most compact cameras’ built-in pop-up flashes.
Considering that these flashes all project light in a fixed direction, (that is, straight at your subjects!) …their brightness is more than enough for almost any camera and lens combination, with almost any type of subject. Even using a relatively “slow’ kit lens with an f/5.6 or f/6.3 aperture at the long end, you’ll still have plenty of light (Even from the ZF04) to illuminate people’s faces. That is, as long as they’re relatively close to the camera.
A head-to-toe portrait, or any farther-away subjects, might start to become difficult to adequately light, especially with the ZF04. You’ll likely need a slightly faster lens such as an f/2.8 aperture, and/or you might want to raise your ISO to 400 or 800.
One final note about the flash power: The actual guide numbers (measured brightness level) are not specified by either manufacturers of these compact flashes. So, this means that if you’re a film photographer, I would highly recommend grabbing the nearest digital camera and doing some testing before you rattle off a whole roll of film with any of these flashes at full power! With just a little bit of testing, you’ll know what flash power to use for, say, an ISO 400 film with an f/1.8 lens, and a subject that is ~6 ft away from the camera.
Image Results
This is where I must be slightly critical of all four flashes. I will give a slight nod to the Godox iM22, however, and I’ll explain that in a minute. First, let’s talk about the inherent nature of an on-camera flash: It is very direct, and therefore, the light is a bit harsh.
If you’re a professional photographer who is used to a large on-camera flash that has a swivel head you can angle around and bounce the light off a ceiling or wall, (such as the Godox V100 which we recently reviewed) …then you’ll feel rather restricted with any of these four compact flashes.
However, it is to be expected for a flash so tiny. Indeed, I suspect that even if they could have a swivel feature, the full-power brightness would be so reduced, that the overall lighting effect would become near-zero, unless you were using an f/1.4 prime or similar.
Lastly, notice that three of these four flashes are very low-profile. This puts the light source relatively close to the lens itself, so, if your subject is a normal distance from the camera, (say, a head-to-toe portrait with a ~50mm or equivalent lens) …then you won’t really notice harsh shadows being created by the flash. The exception to this is the Godox iM22, which is designed differently, and extends the strobe upward a tiny bit. For closer subjects, this will give your subject a slightly more noticeable shadow shadow, and of course the shadow will “move” to the side of your subject any time you capture a vertical image.
Also, the iM22 will provide significantly better results if your lens is large enough (especially with a hood attached) to encroach into the range of light from the flash. This can result in an annoying shadow effect that definitely gets worse as your lenses get more wide-angle. (The above example is with an ultra-wide lens, to exaggerate the effect and so that you can see the evenness of light distribution.)
Honestly? This is a bit of a toss-up between all four flashes; they all are going to offer about the same imagery results.
(On that note, we can also mention that all four flashes have about the same color temperature, too.)
Battery Life
- The ZF04 offers 372 full-power flash “pops” per full battery, and the ZF08 offers 440 pops.
- The Godox iM20 and iM22 both offer 440 full-power flash pops per full battery.
On the one hand, the Zeniko ZF04 is fully charged in 40 minutes, and still provides 372 flash firings. On the other hand, however, that’s noticeably less total power than the other flashes, and they don’t take very long to charge, either, just 70 minutes.
Versatility VS Alternatives
This is where I will mainly make suggestions about which other options you might consider, because these four flashes that we’re comparing today, quite honestly, do not score maximum points for “versatility”. In other words, if the drawbacks of these simple flashes outweigh the benefits of their portability or affordability, here are your other options:
If you do a lot of both photo and video, then you might want to consider a constant light. A light such as the Godox Litemons (Pocket Size) could be a perfect addition or alternative. Their constant light allows you to seamlessly switch between creating photo and video content, and they have the added bonus of being able to dial the light color temperature from 3200K to 6500K. At $24, you could own both a Godox Litemons and a Zeniko ZF04 for just about $50!
However, if you do a lot more photo than video, and you’re looking for a pocket-sized strobe flash that doesn’t have the same limitations as these “micro” strobes, the other excellent alternative is a flash like the Godox iA32. Not only is this flash brighter than all of these four flashes, it offers one key feature that can make a huge difference: The ability to rotate the flash head, and bounce the light off a ceiling, wall, or a reflector or other light modifier. If you do candid portraits a lot, having this ability will make a massive difference in the quality of light. Of course, note that as soon as you bounce your light off a ceiling or something, you’ll have to significantly increase the flash power, and likely also use a very fast aperture such as f/1.4 or f/2, while also likely raising your ISO, too. At $49, a Godox iA32 is a useful, versatile alternative that is worth the added price and lesser portability.
All in all, considering the price ranges of all these products, it’s possible that you’ll choose to own multiple accessories. Especially if you do a lot of both photo and video, sometimes adding more than one tool to your arsenal is inevitable. Thankfully, with how affordable and portable these compact lights are, you’ll be able to meet your needs without breaking the bank.
Compatibility
Because of their simple nature, all of these flashes are going to be compatible with any camera that has a basic flash hotshoe. In other words, as long as the camera works with flashes, these will work on it.
However, there is indeed some subtlety to this statement, because many cameras have various shutter modes which might cause conflict. In general, you’ll want to make sure that your camera is using its mechanical shutter, and not a fully electronic aka “Silent Shutter” mode. Oftentimes this will hinder or stop flash compatibility. For the cameras that do not have a mechanical shutter at all; there are usually some menu settings that allow you to ensure that the fully electronic shutter is reading out the sensor in a way that is compatible with all hotshoe flashes.
The only other compatibility note to remember is that most cameras have a maximum sync speed, usually 1/200 sec. So, don’t use a faster shutter speed than this, unless you know for certain that your camera can do it!
Conclusion | Godox iM Series VS Zeniko ZF Series
All in all, these ultra-compact flashes are a wonderful little option for photographers and content creators. Absolutely “miniature” compared to most hotshoe flashes, the four hotshoe flashes take the term “portable” to a whole new level.
Their main drawback, of course, is the fact that they can mainly only light a subject one way; very directly. Yes, you can get creative with long exposures, double exposures, and maybe you can use some minor diffusion if you’re doing close-up photography. But in general, they deliver only one creative style of light: edgy, “harsh” lit imagery. This works perfectly for some subjects and situations, but not so much in others.
Considering the prices and the portability, all four flashes can suit a need. Our recommendation? Get the Zeniko ZF04 if you’re really and truly on a budget and just looking for something tiny that you can toss in your camera bag or pocket. Oppositely, get the Godox iM22 if you want something almost equally compact, but you’d rather have as many features and as much flash power as you can get for your investment!
Zeniko ZF04 Camera Flash
Zeniko ZF08 Camera Flash
Godox iM20 Camera Flash (USA)
Godox iM22 Camera Flash (USA)
Godox iM20 Camera Flash (UK)
Godox iM22 Camera Flash (UK)
