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Lighting

Viltrox Vintage V2 Flash Review: The $36 Street Photography Magic Trick

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 03/16/2026
03/18/2026
3 Mins read
A digital camera with a lens and a control device sits on a wooden table, viewed from above.
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I realize that the title of this article is going to be very divisive. But I don’t care because it’s the truth. You see, lots of photographers don’t want to use flash because they don’t know how to use it and only capture what they see. But real photographers I’ve often believed see moments in their heads and use the tools available to them to make them come to life on celluloid and in pixels. And here’s the thing: flash has become so easy that anyone can really do it if you just put in a few minutes to learn it. But the Viltrox Vintage V2 flash kind of makes it a skill again — and I really love that.

You see, tons of flashes out there have TTL, manual, and high speed sync of some sort. So essentially, you could make a photo at nearly any shutter speed if you set the ISO and the aperture to the right place. But the Viltrox Vintage V2 is a bit different. It’s a TTL flash that pops up or stays down, has manual power output or TTL as an option, and doesn’t do high speed sync. So that means that the photographer using it has to know how to actually really use flash. That, for those who don’t know, further translates into knowing how to stop the lens down, the flash sync speed, the aperture, and knowing if what you’re photographing will even be affected by the flash output.

And that brings me to my next statement: the Viltrox Vintage V2 claims to have a flash sync duration up to 1/16,500 to 1/50,000s. The previously hyperlinked article will explain how flash durations works — it’s essentially like a second shutter speed.

Close-up of an electronic camera accessory with a lit green ring and display screen, mounted on a camera.
A Nikon D850 camera with a flash attached, set indoors with blurred colorful light streaks.
Close-up of a camera flash trigger with buttons and indicator lights, mounted on a DSLR camera.

I tested the Viltrox Vintage V2 on both the Nikon D850 and the Nikon Zf. Both cameras are mine. But Viltrox sent me the Viltrox Vintage V2 to keep.

On the Nikon Zf, it’s kind of a waste of time. This camera has had multiple issues around flash that we’ve reported on and that I believe that all the YouTubers and journalists at other publications don’t have the guts to talk about — nor the knowledge. But you can check out the Nikon Zf review, linked here, to find out more. At this point, at least three journalists have worked on updating and editing this review since the camera launched.

However, on the Nikon D850, this flash did such an incredible job.

Fluffy white dog sitting on top of a car with its reflection visible, urban background with blue sky.
Viltrox Vintage V2 flash sample image

The image above was made in the afternoon on a day recently in NYC where it was really warm out. A gentleman was standing by this dog laying on top of a car smoking a cigarette. I asked if he was the dog’s human and if I could photograph the dog. He also asked me to get a photo of the dog and the entire car with the grill.

If you’re from NYC, you’ll agree that this is a very Queens, NY photo. I liked how it came out in-camera because of the presets that I’ve got loaded onto the D850, but I feel like when I brought it into Capture One, the real magic came out even more with Phoblographer’s own presets.

A coin-operated horse ride sits on a graffiti-covered sidewalk in front of a store with posters and bottles.
A street sign post with a sticker that reads TEDZ GOT GAME on a city sidewalk near parked cars.
A fried chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato in a plastic container, next to a plate of fries.
A scratched CD lies on a dirty, stained sidewalk near a metal grate.
A black lantern with pink and white flowers in front, set against a tree and blue sky in the background.
A fluffy white dog sits on the roof of a shiny red Lexus parked on a city street under an overpass.
A paper coffee cup labeled NYCB&CH sits on a table in a blurred, cozy cafe setting.
Three men are playing Nintendo Switch consoles at a table in a modern, indoor cafe with plants on the wall.
A Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch carrying case next to a Switch controller on a dark surface.
A round table with Nintendo Switch consoles, controllers, and a carrying case, surrounded by people.
Four people sit around a table playing Nintendo Switch games and smiling at the camera in a casual setting.
Four people sit and talk at a round table in a modern indoor space with greenery on the wall.

The fast flash duration allows the Vintage V2 to really make scenes that pop when your camera is set just right. On the Nikon Zf, I used the 40mm f2 and the Lensbaby 28mm f3.5 Twist. On the D850, I used the 28mm f1.8. And ultimately, I think that the wider-angles won out because I also need to get closer to my subjects to get a nice look.

I honestly don’t think that I’ll end up using this flash anymore, despite how convenient the USB-C port charging and all are. I still like my Profoto lights despite how they support the use of AI so strongly. I’ll end giving this away to a friend.

But for $35, you’re bound to make great photos with it if you’ve got the knowledge. If you’re a street photographer that makes photos using the manual mode and not the more automatic modes, then you’ll love this.

flash flash duration nikon nikon d850 nikon zf Viltrox viltrox vintage z2 z2
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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