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As common readers already know, “for elements solely” discount-priced eBay postings suggestive of gadgets which might be (for one cause or one other) now not useful, are sometimes fruitful teardown candidates as dietary supplements to merchandise which have died on me personally. So, once I just lately noticed a no-longer-working Godox V1 digicam flash, which sells new for $259.99, listed on eBay for $66, I jumped on the deal. For teardown functions, sure. But additionally, for reuse of its still-functional equipment elsewhere. And, because it seems, to unravel a thriller, too.
I’d lengthy needed to get contained in the V1 for a go searching (though its formidable price ticket had acted as a deterrent), partially due to its strong function set, which incorporates:
Excessive 76 Ws peak energy (5600K coloration temperature)
Quick (~1.5 sec) recycle time, and 480 full-power illuminations per battery cost cycle
Supplemental 2 W “modeling lamp” (3300K coloration temperature)
28-105 mm zoom head (each handbook and auto-sync to digicam lens focal size setting choices)
0°-330° horizontal pan and -7°-120° vertical tilt head
A number of digicam shutter sync modes
A number of publicity management modes
Auto (digicam sync) and handbook publicity compensation modes
Digital camera autofocus-assist beam, and
Final, however positively not least, multi-flash grasp and slave sync choices
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04.03.2024
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And partly as a result of this machine, like lots of the flash items from each Godox and different third-party flash producers reminiscent of Neewer, is available in varied choices that assist a number of producers’ cameras. Within the case of the V1, these embrace (differentiated through single-character suffixes within the in any other case an identical product identify):
C: Canon
N: Nikon
S: Sony
F: Fujifilm
O: Olympus/Panasonic, and
P: Pentax
That every one apart, what most likely caught your eye first within the earlier “inventory” picture was the V1’s atypical spherical head, versus the extra widespread rectangular configuration present in items reminiscent of Godox’s V860III (a number of examples of which, for varied cameras, I additionally personal):
The basic rationale for each merchandise is their various output-light protection patterns:
Now, about these earlier-mentioned equipment:
The VB26-series battery utilized by the V1 can also be conveniently additionally utilized by Godox’s V850III and V860III flash items, in addition to the corporate’s RING72 ring mild (optionally, together with the four-AA battery power-source default), and with Adorama’s Flashpoint-branded equivalents for all of those Godox gadgets, a number of of which I additionally personal:
Right here’s the capper. Shortly after shopping for this preliminary “for elements” Godox V1, for which the flash unit itself was the one factor nonfunctional, I got here throughout one other closely discounted V1 that, because it turned out, labored advantageous however was lacking the battery and charging cable. Guess what I did? 😉
About that battery cable…readers with lengthy reminiscences could recall me mentioning the VB26 earlier than. The sooner dialogue was within the context of the Olympus/Panasonic model of the V1 (i.e., the V1O), which had include the unique VB26 battery, and which I discovered couldn’t be charged from a USB-C energy supply despite the fact that the battery charging dock had a USB-C enter; a USB-A to USB-C adapter cable (together with a USB-An influence supply) was as an alternative mandatory. Effectively, in testing out the battery this time, I absentmindedly plugged it and its companion dock right into a useful USB-C energy supply (and USB-C to USB-C cable) that usually finds use in charging my Google Pixel Buds Professional earbuds…and all the things labored advantageous.
On reflection, I remembered the sooner failure, and in striving to determine what was totally different, I observed that the battery this time was the newer VB26A variant. I’d identified that each it and its even newer VB26B successor held a bit extra cost than the unique, however Godox presumably fastened the preliminary USB-PD (Energy Supply) shortcoming within the evolutionary course of, too (the charging circuitry is contained throughout the battery itself, apparently, with the dock appearing solely as a “dummy” wiring translator between the USB-C connector and the battery terminals).
Sufficient of the prep dialogue, let’s get to the tearing down. What we’re taking a look at as we speak is the V1C, i.e., the Canon variant of the V1 (right here’s a person handbook):
I’ve lengthy assumed that the varied “flavors” of the V1 (and flash items prefer it) have been primarily an identical, save for various sizzling shoe modules and totally different firmware builds operating inside. Though I gained’t be dissecting a number of V1 variants as we speak, the truth that they share a standard 2ABYN001 FCC certification ID is a “bit” of a tipoff. I hope that this teardown may even shed a minimum of a little bit of added mild on the accuracy-or-not of this speculation.
Open the field, and the goodies inside come into preliminary view. The cone-shaped white factor (silver on the opposite aspect) at prime is a reflector, a retailer bundle adder meant for “bounce” makes use of:
As-usual accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for dimension comparability functions are the first equipment: the usual USB-A to USB-C charging cable under the coin, and to the suitable, top-to-bottom, the battery, AC-to-DC converter (“wall wart”) and charging dock:
A closeup of the wall wart, full with specs:
The underside of the battery, this time (as beforehand famous) the “A” model of the VB26:
And the charging dock, widespread to all VB26 battery variants:
Raise out the case containing the V1, and several other different equipment come into sight under it. At backside proper is a mini stand to which you mount the recent shoe when the flash unit isn’t being instantly put in on/managed by the digicam (i.e., when the V1 is in wi-fi sync “slave” mode). And above it’s one other retailer adder, a goodie bag containing a lens cleansing material, a brush (helpful when, for instance, rigorously brushing mud off the picture sensor or, for a DSLR, the mirror) and a set of sentimental gloves.
Flip up the case prime flap, and our sufferer comes into preliminary view:
Right here’s a view of the bottom, with the flash head near-vertical. The V1 has dimensions of 76x93x197 mm and weighs 420 g with out the battery (530 g with it):
Right here’s one (working mode-dependent) instance of what that LCD panel appears to be like like with a turned-on useful V1:
Flip the V1 round for the entrance view, with the pinnacle on the similar near-vertical orientation:
A closeup of the label (notice, too, the small round “gap” under the suitable nook of the label; file it away in your reminiscence for later, when it’ll be essential):
And of the translucent entrance panel, alluding to a few of what’s inside:
The round part on the backside is for the focus help beam, and to its left you’ll be able to faintly see the wi-fi sensor used to sync the V1 (in both grasp or slave mode) with different flash items that assist Godox’s 2.4 GHz “X” protocol in addition to standalone transmitters and receivers:
Now’s nearly as good a time as any, by the best way, to point out you Neewer’s reminiscent-named Z1:
The V1 and Z1 look the identical, are equally featured, and each use the two.4 GHz ISM band for wi-fi sync functions. Simply don’t attempt to sync them to one another as a result of the protocols differ.
Right here’s a straight-on closeup of the V1 flash head:
That round space on the prime, which is towards the bottom in regular operation (when the flash head isn’t pointed towards the sky, that’s) is the modeling lamp, continually on when activated versus a standard “flash”. Right here’s what it appears to be like like on, once more with an alternate useful V1:
And listed below are examples of the modeling lamp in use.
The ring across the outdoors of the flash head lens is metallic, by the best way, affording a chance for straightforward attachment of varied magnet-augmented equipment:
Lastly, some aspect views; first the left (when considered from the entrance), containing the compartment “gap” into which the battery is inserted:
And now the suitable, containing the battery latch, launch button and contacts:
The flash head at each extremes of its tilt vary:
And a closeup of the QR code sticker on this aspect of the flash head:
Again to the right-side battery compartment closeup. Within the earlier picture, you might need observed what seemed like a protecting “flap” to the suitable of the cavity, and above the battery-release button. In that case, you’d be proper:
The spherical feminine connector on the prime isn’t for headphones. It’s a 2.5 mm sync twine jack, for mating to a digicam or transmitter as an alternative choice to a sizzling shoe or wi-fi connection. Beneath it’s a USB-C connector used to connect with a pc for updating the flash unit firmware. On a hunch, I mated this supposedly “lifeless” V1 to my Mac and was shocked to search out that the flash unit was acknowledged. I may even replace its firmware, in truth, and all with out a battery put in:
Despite the fact that this V1’s all-important illumination subsystem is DOA, it’s apparently not all-dead!
Final, however not least, let’s take a look on the sizzling shoe:
As beforehand talked about, my working idea is that this (together with the software program operating contained in the machine) is the important thing differentiator between the V1 variants. It’s (maybe unsurprisingly) additionally the most typical factor that breaks on V1s:
So, I’ll be holding onto this a part of the machine long-term, each for just-in-case restore functions and for one more experimental challenge that I’ll let you know about later…
Did you discover the 4 screws holding the recent shoe meeting in place? Let’s see if their removing allows us to get inside:
Right here’s the eliminated sizzling shoe meeting, each within the “unfastened” and “latched” positions (managed by rotation of that gray button you see within the pictures):
And right here’s what’s inside:
Subsequent step, take away the 4 “nook” screws whose heads have been obscured by white paste in earlier pictures:
The outer bracket piece now lifts away:
Leaving an assemblage that, for already talked about causes, I’m not going to additional disassemble, with a purpose to protect it for potential future use:
Sadly, though this preliminary disassembly step gave me a teaser peak on the insides, I wasn’t but seemingly capable of proceed farther from this finish:
So, I returned my consideration to the flash head (the opposite finish), round which I’d remembered seeing a set of screws that held the plastic cowl and metallic ring in place:
Beneath it was a Fresnel lens.
From Wikipedia:
A Fresnel lens…is a sort of composite compact lens which reduces the quantity of fabric required in comparison with a traditional lens by dividing the lens right into a set of concentric annular sections…The design permits the development of lenses of enormous aperture and quick focal size with out the mass and quantity of fabric that will be required by a lens of standard design. A Fresnel lens will be made a lot thinner than a comparable standard lens, in some instances taking the type of a flat sheet.
With the Fresnel lens eliminated, the Zenon tube meeting comes into clear view:
In case you have a look at the underside, you’ll see a two-rail “monitor” on which it strikes forwards and backwards to implement, together with the fixed-position Fresnel lens, the zoom perform.
I used to be capable of unclip the brackets holding the fronts of each halves of the pinnacle meeting collectively, however additional progress eluded me:
So, I subsequent tried peeling away the spherical rubberized items overlaying each ends of the “tilt” hinge:
A-ha! Screws!
Now for the opposite aspect…
You understand what comes subsequent…
And now, one half (the decrease half, to be exact) of the flash head enclosure lifts proper off:
I initially thought that this mysterious purple paste-covered doodad may be a piezoelectric speaker, for producing “beep” tones and the like, and its location coincides with the “gap” under the label that I confirmed you earlier, however…once more, maintain that thought:
We now get our first clear views of the flash head insides. Try, for instance, that sizeable heatsink for the modeling lamp LED!
4 screws maintain the meeting in place throughout the different half-enclosure. Let’s eliminate these:
Liftoff!
Right here’s our first glimpse of 1 aspect of this specific PCB. Have a look at that huge inductor coil!
Disconnect a few ribbon cables:
Tilt the meeting to the aspect:
Subsequent, let’s take away the modeling lamp LED-plus-heatsink assemblage:
The 2 are sturdily glued collectively, so I gained’t proceed additional in attempting to pry them aside:
Now let’s take away the PCB from the white plastic piece it’s usually connected to:
Let’s look first on the now-revealed PCB bottom. First off, unsurprising thoughts you given the excessive present stream concerned however nonetheless…have a look at these thick traces:
See these two switches? The motor position-controlled Zenon tube bumps up in opposition to them on the far finish of its zoom journey vary, seemingly disabling additional movement in that course (why there aren’t comparable change contacts on the rails’ different ends isn’t clear to me, nevertheless):
Lastly, notice the red-color, white paste-capped machine within the higher proper nook. Its “TB” PCB marking, together with the wire operating from it to the Zenon tube, suggests to me that it could be a thermal breaker meant to briefly disable the flash unit if it will get too sizzling. Concepts, readers?
Let’s now flip the PCB again over to the aspect we glimpsed earlier:
Time for a short divergence into flash unit operation fundamentals. Within the “recharge” interval between flash activations, a sizeable capacitor (which we haven’t but seen) will get “crammed” by the battery electron stream. No less than a few of that saved capacitive cost then will get “dumped” into the Zenon tube. However right here’s the trick…the Zenon tube’s illumination time and depth differ relying on the digicam’s desired publicity traits. So the place does any “additional” present go, if not wanted by the Zenon tube?
Initially, the surplus electrons have been as an alternative shunted off to one thing known as the quench tube, a wasteful method that each restricted battery life and unnecessarily lengthened recharge time. These days, both gate turn-off (GTO) thyristors or insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) as an alternative discover use in reducing off the present stream from the capacitor, saving remaining cost for the subsequent Zenon tube activation. I’m admittedly no energy electronics design professional, so I can’t confidently say which method is in use right here. To help the extra knowledgeable-than-me readers amongst you (quite a few, I do know), notice that the 2 gadgets above the coil are S6008D half-wave, unidirectional, gate-controlled rectifiers; the IC above them has the next marks:
EIC
SN
5M
Once more, I say: additional insights, readers?
Earlier than shifting on, let’s take a more in-depth have a look at that zoom motor:
And now, let’s work out find out how to get inside that hinge (the place, I think, we’ll discover that aforementioned sizeable capacitor). Trying intently on the ends I’d beforehand uncovered, I observed two extra screws on every, however eradicating them didn’t seemingly get me any additional alongside:
Within the technique of unscrewing them, nevertheless, I noticed that I hadn’t but confirmed you the pan vary supported by the pinnacle:
And within the technique of doing that, I observed extra screws beneath the pan hinge:
That’s extra prefer it (though I’m now inside the principle flash physique, not but the hinge above it)!
Let’s begin with the now-detached again panel:
The LCD behind it’s seen by way of the clear part, clearly, however don’t overlook concerning the ribbon cable-fed multi-button-and-switch array under it:
That very same panel piece from under, with one other have a look at the ribbon cable:
And at last, that very same panel piece from above:
Let’s return to that earlier inside view and get these 4 screws off:
The multi-button/change meeting now lifts away straightaway:
And that black piece then pops proper off, too:
Right here’s a cross-section view of the round multi-switch construction:
And with that, let’s return to the multi-sided construction we noticed earlier, inside the principle physique:
Subsequent are a sequence of sequential wiring disconnection pictures; there are a number of ribbon cable harnesses, as you’ll see, a few of them terminating within the tilt hinge above and a few passing by way of the lean hinge to the flash head above it:
With the entrance half of the principle physique shell now free and clear, let’s have a look at what’s inside:
That factor towards the underside middle, with a blue/black wire combo popping out of it, is the aforementioned focus help beam. However what concerning the one within the higher left, with purple and black wires popping out of it? Right here’s a prime view of the front-half piece; notice the “gap” at backside proper on the corresponding exterior location:
Bear in mind the thriller machine contained in the flash head, with a reminiscent red-and-black wire harness and exterior “gap”, that I initially thought was a speaker and requested you to recollect?
I’d initially realized it wasn’t a speaker once I took my useful V1, activated its “beep” perform and discerned that the sound wasn’t coming from there. However once I noticed the second comparable device-and-hole, I grabbed my useful (and absolutely assembled) V1 once more and realized that when (and solely when) the flash head was pointed horizontal and ahead, the 2 “holes” lined up. My working idea is that one of many gadgets is an IR transmitter with the opposite an IR receiver, and that this alignment is how the flash figures out when the person has each the pan and tilt settings at their “regular” default positions. For what cause, I can’t but exactly kind out; there’s no indication I can discover within the person handbook that the V1 operates any otherwise when pan and/or tilt are in any other case oriented. However conceptually, I may think about that the flash’s built-in controller and/or linked digicam may be focused on realizing whether or not the unit is getting used for standard or “bounce” functions from an working mode, publicity setting and/or different standpoint. As soon as once more, readers: concepts?
At this level, by the best way (and talking of flash heads), the highest half of this a part of the case spontaneously disconnected from the pan-and-tilt hinge meeting:
Returning to the principle physique, let’s see what’s inside. Again, full with the LCD (the on/off change is within the decrease proper nook):
Proper aspect:
Left aspect (notice the battery latch, contacts, and so forth. initially highlighted earlier than):
Entrance, with an preliminary “reveal” of the first “energy” PCB (though there’s loads of analog stuff within the earlier flash head-located PCB too!):
Prime:
And backside, revealing a secondary “digital” PCB that we’ll talk about additional shortly:
There’s another PCB of notice, truly, which isn’t seen till after you take away two screws and disconnect the LCD meeting, then flip it round:
Right here’s the place the principle system controller will be discovered, subsequently why I check with it as the first “digital” PCB. It’s the APM32F072VBT6 (PDF), from a Chinese language firm known as Geehy Semiconductor. All the product household, as you’ll see from the PDF, accommodates dozens of members, based mostly each on the Arm Cortex-M0+ and Cortex-M3. This specific SoC proliferation (on the prime of the desk labeled “APM32 MCU-ARM Cortex -M0+” within the PDF, in your ease of finding it) integrates a Cortex-M0+ operating at 48 MHz together with 128 Kbytes of flash reminiscence and 16 Kbytes of RAM. I can’t discover a discrete flash reminiscence chip for code storage on the PCB; the IC within the decrease proper nook is a LMV339 quad-channel comparator, and just about all the things else listed below are connectors and passives. Oh, and the speaker’s to the left of the comparator 😉.
Right here’s a aspect view, exhibiting the USB-C and a pair of.5 mm sync connectors:
And flipping the meeting again over, in addition to flipping the LCD upside-down, you’ll discover that this aspect of the PCB is successfully clean, save for the earlier-noted energy change:
Subsequent, persevering with with the “digital” theme, let’s look extra intently on the bottom-mounted PCB:
This one requires a little bit of background clarification.
I’ve already informed you that the first 2.4 GHz transceiver system for multi-unit sync functions is upfront behind the purple translucent panel, and also you’ll see it once more shortly. However there’s one other 2.4 GHz transceiver system within the V1, this one Bluetooth-based and designed to allow flash unit configuration and management from a wirelessly tethered smartphone or pill together with a Godox (or Adorama) app. That’s why, unsurprisingly now that you already know the background, the 2 dominant ICs on this aspect of the PCB are Texas Devices’ CC2500 low-power 2.4 GHz RF transceiver and, to its proper, TI’s CC2592 front-end RF IC. Flip the PCB over:
and once more, unsurprisingly, you’ll discover the embedded Bluetooth antenna.
Lastly, let’s look extra intently at what I referred to earlier as the first “energy” PCB:
Most of the ICs listed below are much like those we noticed within the earlier flash head-located PCB, reminiscent of two extra of these mysterious ones labeled “EIC” however now with barely totally different second- and third-line marks:
EIC
SK
5B
And on the opposite aspect:
is extra analog and energy circuitry, together with a sizeable capacitor on the backside (albeit not as sizeable as I think we’ll see shortly!).
Talking of which, let’s shut by trying intently at that tilt hinge meeting. Right here it’s from the entrance:
Prime:
and again:
All are pretty unmemorable. The left aspect isn’t a lot much less boring:
No less than till I tilt it barely, revealing a inexperienced tint indicative of a PCB inside:
The correct aspect is kind of a bit busier, with wiring harnesses previously operating as much as the flash head:
Much more titillating once I once more tilt it, in addition to shifting wiring to the edges:
And talking of wiring (and titillating relocation of similar), right here’s the underside:
Cautiously, each as a result of I don’t know precisely what’s on the opposite aspect and, if I’m proper and it’s an unlimited capacitor, whether or not it’s absolutely discharged, I proceed:
Monumental capacitor, certainly!
Refilling this sizeable “electron gasoline tank”, people, explains the 1.5 second recycle time between flash activations, and makes the 480 activations per battery recharge all of the extra exceptional:
And with that, barely greater than 4,000 phrases in, I’m finished! Not fairly “in a flash”, however I nonetheless hope you discovered this teardown as attention-grabbing as I did. Pontificate together with your ideas within the feedback! And in closing, get pleasure from these two insides-revealing restore movies that I discovered throughout my analysis:
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line publication.
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