Model: AD600BM

Review Godox/Wistro AD600BM Strobe

UPDATE 4-26-16

I have written a short article about the power difference between the AD600 and attaching the H600 remote head. That post can be found here.

UPDATE 4-24-16

I had the opportunity to use my Godox AD600 with the remote head and HSS. Wonderful gear which allows so many creative opportunities!

Outdoor environmental shot. Canon 1DX, Canon EF85mm f1.2 lens. Single AD600 with remote head using a Bowens Maxlite 8″ cone reflector. 1:1 power shot at 1/1250th f5.0 ISO 160 Focal length 47mm. Wanted to reduce ambient.

Canon 1DX, EF85mm 1.2 lens. f2.5. Single AD600 with remote head shot through a SMDV 27″ octabank with both diffusion panels installed. Power set at 1/32nd. 1/1600th f2.5.

UPDATE 4-21-16

The Godox remote head is FANTASTIC! I only wish the cord was another three feet long. Beyond that, bravo Godox!

The battery/power unit makes for a fantastic ballast of weight.

UPDATE 4-18-16

Today I received the AD600’s remote head. In a later update I will report my findings. My stats are the unit weighs 1.8 pounds not including the 9 foot cord. I will also be ordering the remote head which will produce 1200ws when combining two AD600 units. I am so impressed with Godox’s innovation with these units.

AD600 remote head, side view. The silver circle is a US quarter for scale.

Front view. The small rectangle under the left plug in is the locking socket for the connecting plug.

UPDATE 4-10-16

I conducted my first commercial shoot with all Godox lights. After a lot of testing I felt comfortable enough to use them in prime time for a client’s new marketing campaign. I used a three light setup for this shot, two AD360s and one AD600. All are manual with no TTL since I don’t use TTL devices. The only light you cannot see in the BTS photo is the AD360 I used behind the talent to illuminate the curtain’s texture. The inverted octabox on the right is a CheetahStand 90cm octa which I have modified to be an inverse type with a focusing rod. You can read more about that here.

AD600 as a fill and focusing light shot through a Phottix folding beauty dish with diffuser attached. AD360 inside the CheetahStand 90cm with focusing rod. Third light, an AD360 is located behind the talent with a cone and 50 degree grid.

The specularity and softness resulting from inverted softboxes is now my main preference for modifiers.

UPDATE 3-22-16

I stopped photographing weddings long ago. But a very close friend of mine asked me to do her engagement imagery so what could I say to her besides “sure”? She had been my fashion and artistic nude model for years. Anyway I had the opportunity to use the AD600 in HSS mode and since I’m not bound by any NDAs I can share this one with you. Shot at just after midday you can see how effectively the AD600 works. Canon 1DX, 1/4000th at f4.0. Shot through a mangled PCB Omni 18″ reflector, which still works fine. It’s just ugly now… The high key image was backlit using the AD600 bare bulb through white fabric and the key light was an AD360 shot through a white folding beauty dish. I’m finding the Godox AD line of lights excellent in performance as well as convenience.

AD600, Canon 1DX 1/4000th, f4.0, ISO 100, AD power 1:1. Modifier is a PCB Omni 18″ silver dish, camera right 2 feet above their head lines. Bright sunlight used as a rim light behind the couple. You can see the shadow cast on the sand by the wood in the image.

AD600 bare bulb backlight through white fabric. Key is the AD360 through a white folding beauty dish.

UPDATE: 3-21-16

Well today while doing an on location shoot my AD600 and the PCB Omni reflector I modified for a Bowens mount toppled from about 8 feet in the air. My Omni took the brunt of the impact, but so did the AD600. The Omni was bent beyond repair but even though the AD suffered some impact, no damage. The case had some dirt on it, but other than that it’s fine. Well made device.

UPDATE: 3-19-16

I used the AD600BM all day during a personal portrait project from 12:30pm to 5:00pm. It was used to take approximately 209 portraits varying from full to 1/64th power. I didn’t need to use the modeling light because I had plenty of light for focusing. (I don’t use the modeling light to determine my angle of light). I also used it at HSS to reduce ambient outdoors and the power level was between 1/2 to 1:1. This morning I checked the battery level and it still registers as full. This is a wonderful on location light with plenty of battery power and wonderful true HSS, not Hypersync so I get no banding whatsoever. I only await the yet to be released remote head unit to use it with my inverted softboxes.

UPDATE 2-14-16 Final Test

Back when I was a kid my Dad who was an engineer told me this joke

A large part of my commercial work is photographing dance. The last test I needed to conduct with the AD600BM was to see how the IGBT flash duration would freeze action in studio and ambient light. In the past the person who would not believe I could freeze action was a professional juggler. So I took a few shots of him with my trusty Einsteins and guess what? He was speechless.

A speechless pro juggler! Shot with Einsteins and a Canon 1D Mark IV

Since I don’t have access to dancers for a bit I thought that a good test of the AD600BM’s stopping power would be to see how it performs on a fast rotating bicycle wheel. First in a dark environment and then in high ambient lighting. That is an area where my beloved Einsteins aren’t so good because they don’t allow me to shoot above my camera’s sync speed, 1/250th of a second. I could bring down ambient with them when there was not fast movement using various ND filters, but when action is present with high ambient light they just would not do the trick.

So I didn’t conduct any scientific tests, I have no idea how fast the bike wheel is spinning. I just spun it as hard as I could. But what I do know is like the engineer in my Dad’s story for my work. Also my job is to catch dancers at the apex of their movement which is much slower that this spinning wheel. And as with my Einsteins when I have to keep the power in their sweet spot I either use another light or increase my ISO to ensure that the action is frozen by keeping the power at 400ws or less.

I can safely say that I will use the AD600BM line almost exclusively for on location outdoor use. The advantages over my Einsteins:

• High Speed Sync
• Built in battery pack
• Ability to change to a remote head/pack system
• Less weight than an Einstein and Vagabond Mini II battery
• No cords

No Ambient Light test –

No flash 1/250th stationary wheel

1/64 flash power

1/32 flash power

1/4 flash power

1/2 flash power

Full flash power

Ambient Light Test

Ambient light, no flash for reference

Shutter speed 1/500th of a second. AD600BM 1:1 power

Shutter speed 1/1000th of a second. AD600BM 1:1 power