Godox IM30 Pro Review – A Compact Fill Flash for Small Cameras

Hands-on experience: What the IM30 Pro is really made for

Before getting into the individual features of the IM30 Pro, I want to put my testing setup into perspective. For most of the test, I used the flash with a fairly large camera and lens combination. That is not really what the IM30 Pro is designed for. The flash is made for smaller cameras and lenses, where its compact form factor makes much more sense and where it can sit close to the camera without getting in the way.

I also tested it with a Rollei 35 SE, although I have not received the developed images from the lab yet. This turned out to be a particularly interesting combination, because the small analogue camera fits the concept of the IM30 Pro much better than my larger Sony bodies. For the test, I used the IM30 Pro both directly on the camera and off-camera as an optical slave together with a Godox IT32, which is one of the more interesting entry-level flashes currently available.

A surprisingly useful fill flash

In the studio, I mainly used the IM30 Pro as a fill light. The idea was not to use it as the main light, but simply to bring a little more light into the face of my model and open up some of the shadows.

For this purpose, the output is sufficient. The IM30 Pro is obviously not a particularly powerful flash, but that is also not really the point. When used relatively close to the subject, there is enough output to noticeably lift the darker areas of a portrait without completely changing the lighting setup.

The same principle also works outdoors. As a small fill flash, the IM30 Pro can help bring some light back into the shadows, especially when photographing a subject in less-than-ideal natural light. You should, however, keep your expectations realistic. This is not a flash designed to overpower the sun. In direct midday sunlight, its relatively small output simply limits what you can achieve.

That distinction is important because I think the IM30 Pro works much better when you think of it as a compact fill flash rather than as a small replacement for a more powerful system flash.

The simple connection has advantages and disadvantages

One of the more unusual aspects of the IM30 Pro is its very simple hot shoe connection. Instead of using the modern multi-pin connections found on many current camera systems, it essentially relies on the old-school single centre contact.

This means you lose some of the communication you would get with a dedicated system flash. In my testing with Sony cameras, for example, the flash also cannot be used with the electronic shutter. At least with the Sony cameras I tested, flash operation requires the mechanical shutter.

On paper, that might sound like a disadvantage, and for a modern camera user it certainly can be. At the same time, the simplicity of the connection is also what makes the flash interesting.

Because it does not depend on a proprietary communication system, it can be used with a much wider range of cameras. This includes older digital cameras and, more interestingly, analogue cameras.

That makes the design feel much more intentional when you pair it with something like the Rollei 35 SE. The flash does not look completely out of place on a small analogue camera, and its simple operation fits the experience quite well.

It feels almost like using an old automatic flash

The auto mode is another part of the IM30 Pro that I found particularly interesting when using it with an analogue camera.

Instead of relying on TTL communication between the camera and flash, you essentially set the ISO and aperture yourself. The flash then determines the appropriate flash output within its capabilities.

This reminds me much more of how you would use a simple automatic flash with an older analogue camera. You don’t have a modern camera and flash constantly exchanging information. Instead, you set the relevant parameters and let the flash handle the duration of the exposure.

As long as the camera remains within its flash-sync range and the flash has enough output for the scene, the result can be surprisingly straightforward.

I actually tested this outside a studio as well. At a festival, I used the IM30 Pro to take a photo of my girlfriend, and the result worked quite well. The flash provided enough additional light to make the exposure work, while still giving the image that direct-flash character.

There was, however, one rather obvious problem: my lens cast a massive shadow into the scene.

The problem with larger cameras and lenses

This is where my testing setup becomes important again.

With a large modern camera and a large lens, the compact design of the IM30 Pro can work against it. Because the flash sits so close to the camera, the lens can physically obstruct the light and create a noticeable shadow.

That is exactly what happened at the festival.

It is not necessarily a flaw in the flash itself, because the IM30 Pro was never really designed around a large professional camera and lens combination. But it is something to keep in mind if you are planning to use it with a larger mirrorless setup.

With a small camera, this is much less of an issue. The closer the flash sits to the optical axis without being blocked by the lens, the more natural the concept becomes.

For my own larger setup, this was one of the reasons I decided to experiment with the flash off-camera instead.

Using it off-camera while keeping the direct-flash look

For the studio test, I used another flash as the main light and moved the IM30 Pro away from the camera. I still kept it relatively close to the camera, though.

The idea was to retain some of the characteristic direct-flash look while avoiding the physical limitations of mounting the flash directly on my camera.

This turned out to be a much more interesting way of using the IM30 Pro with a larger camera system. Instead of trying to make this tiny flash behave like a conventional speedlight, I could use its compact size to my advantage.

The IM30 Pro could provide a small amount of frontal fill while the other flash handled the main illumination. This gave me more control over the balance between the direct flash and the main light without requiring another large light source directly around the camera.

It also demonstrates one of the more interesting aspects of the IM30 Pro: its usefulness isn’t necessarily limited to being mounted directly on the camera.

A welcome addition: tilting the flash

If you do decide to use it on-camera, there is another improvement compared with previous models. The flash assembly can now be tilted upwards.

That makes it possible to bounce the flash off a ceiling, which is particularly useful when working indoors.

For a compact flash like this, I think that is a worthwhile feature. A small flash does not have an enormous amount of output to begin with, so being able to bounce that light can make the difference between a harsh direct-flash image and a much softer result.

It also makes the IM30 Pro more flexible when used with smaller cameras, where the flash is much more likely to be mounted directly on the hot shoe.

So, who is the IM30 Pro actually for?

After using it in the studio, outdoors and on different cameras, I think the most important thing to understand about the IM30 Pro is that it is not trying to compete with a full-size speedlight.

Its strengths come from its size and simplicity.

For larger modern cameras, especially with large lenses, the compact design can actually become a limitation. The flash sits very close to the lens, you are limited to mechanical shutter operation on the Sony cameras I tested, and the output is obviously not enough to compete with larger flashes in bright daylight.

But put it on a small camera and the picture changes. The compact body makes much more sense, the simple single-pin connection opens up compatibility with older cameras, and the straightforward automatic operation fits surprisingly well with analogue photography.

For me, the most convincing use case is therefore not as a powerful main flash, but as a small, simple fill flash that you can take almost anywhere. It has enough output to make a meaningful difference when used close to the subject, while its small size makes it considerably less intrusive than a conventional speedlight.

And that is probably the best way to judge the IM30 Pro. If you expect it to replace a full-size flash, it will feel limited. If you see it as a compact flash designed around small cameras, analogue photography and lightweight setups, its design starts to make a lot more sense.