{"id":2084,"date":"2022-12-21T09:21:17","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T09:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.masterproductphotography.com\/?p=2084"},"modified":"2022-12-21T09:21:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T09:21:20","slug":"how-long-the-godox-wistro-ad600-battery-lasts-real-life-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masterproductphotography.com\/how-long-the-godox-wistro-ad600-battery-lasts-real-life-test\/","title":{"rendered":"How Long the Godox Wistro AD600 Battery Lasts (Real Life Test)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A couple of years ago, Godox released the AD600 (also known as the Flashpoint XPLOR 600), a battery-powered 600ws TTL HSS capable flash that took the industry by surprise. Sure, other brands had battery-powered strobes too, but not at that flash power with TTL and HSS and a price point that low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was interested to find out exactly how long the battery lasts for the Godox AD600.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our testing, the AD600 battery lasted 470 full power flashes. That is just 30 flashes shy of the 500 that Godox promises. If we consider that the battery we tested is more than two years old, we can conclude that the battery lasts at least as advertised, often more.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, I tested the AD600 battery life in a controlled environment. And I\u2019ve also included some of my personal experiences, as a professional photographer, on how long the battery lasts in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Godox
Godox AD600 (aka Flashpoint Xplor 600).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/a>Godox AD600 Battery Life Test<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As with most products, especially of Chinese origin, what is advertised, doesn\u2019t always translate to what you actually get. In this case, Godox made sure that you got what you paid for. Just to be sure, we tested their claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Battery Life Varies on AD600 Model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One thing to note is there are two different AD600 models. And they both have different advertised battery lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AD600B or AD600BM \u2013 <\/strong>this is a manual strobe with no TTL. Godox claims the battery lasts 500 full power flashes.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"LED<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

AD600 PRO \u2013 <\/strong>this model is very similar to the AD600BM. The difference is it has faster recycle times, TTL and the battery lasts 360 full power flashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does this compare to Profoto?<\/strong> The Profoto B1 advertises 220 full power flashes, the B1X is rated at 325 flashes, and the B10 claims 400 full power flashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Methodology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The methodology I used to test the flash was quite simple. I’ve set the camera on a tripod to take a shot at equal 15-second intervals. The flash was set at full power, and the air temperature was 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left the battery to fully charge overnight and left it to stabilize off the charger for a couple of hours. The intent was to simulate as close to real-world scenarios as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bear in mind that this is my own personal unit, which has been used for nearly two years now. So the battery has some wear, but I never let it completely discharge, which extends the battery’s life.

The modeling lamp was turned off the whole time. The display LCD light was on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also used a Canon camera for this shoot. In case you’re wondering if Godox strobes and flashes are compatible with Canon, they are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out this article for a full run down on what you need: Are Godox Flashes Compatible with Canon Cameras?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>AD600 Battery Testing Results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The results from the test were excellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0At full power, the AD600 flash managed to shoot 470 shots<\/strong> before running out of battery power. Keep in mind that Godox advertises 500 shots, and the flash has been used extensively for around two years. So in that time, it lost only 6% of the advertised capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Showing the Empty Battery on the AD600 – I Got 470 Full Power Flashes from It.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/a>Does The Flash Output Stay The Same?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As with most battery-powered products, one would expect power or performance loss as the battery drains. I\u2019m happy to say that with this flash, that is not the case. The difference in the amount of light from the first shot to the last shot is just 0.06EV.

In other words, if I were not looking at the histogram and switching between the two photos, the difference wouldn\u2019t be noticeable<\/strong>. That is within the margin of error. A difference that small can easily be a slight aperture variation (aperture not closing down completely) or sensor exposure shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Is Color Temperature Affected By Battery Drain?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the user manual, Godox states that the color temperature can vary by +\/-200K. In my testing, +\/-200K shift occurs very rarely. The shift almost always stays within +\/-50-100K<\/strong> if a color shift even occurs.

During the testing, the flash didn\u2019t overheat, but the fan did kick in on full blast to keep the flash temperature in check. That is great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Personal Experiences of the Battery Life \u2013 3 Real Shoots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I extensively use the AD600BM for my professional shoots and have found it reliable and to have excellent performance. Below are my experiences using this strobe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although these experiences document the battery performance of the AD600B and AD600BM. I think you can somewhat translate this to the battery performance of the AD600 PRO.  The battery life will be about 30-40% less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoot 1 \u2013 AD600 Battery Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I often shoot with a second photographer, which means the flash is fired from two cameras. We both shoot bursts, and our shooting style is a bit faster than usual. That means the flash is often around 1\/16th power, and we easily shoot 5-10 shots per second bursts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never managed to discharge the whole battery, even on dynamic shoots that last for a couple of hours. The other photographer and I have done more than 2000 shots on a single battery charge, and the battery still had plenty of juice left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that full-power flashes eat up the battery significantly more than flashes that are less powerful, and it doesn\u2019t seem to be a linear increase\/decrease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoot 2 \u2013 AD600 Battery Life for a Product Photography Shoot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another example of battery life is an office furniture shoot I was commissioned to do by a furniture manufacturer. For this particular shoot, I was shooting large office desks on a white background (straight product photography).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to product photography, most of the time I shoot at small apertures, that is f\/9 to f\/16. As I want as much of the product in focus as possible. Additionally, I usually shoot at 100 ISO to minimize any noise or grain in the photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What that means for my lighting is I need powerful lights or strobes at near full power \u2013 especially when the products are big products. Like furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Desk
This is from the shoot. I used two Godox AD600BM to shoot this. This image was shot at f\/11, 1\/180 sec @ 160 ISO. You can see the AD600 is powerful as it lights the entire sceen easily. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

This shoot took just me over 3 hours and during that time I shot 334 exposures. I used a pair of AD600\u2019s and had the power set at between half and full power for the entire shoot. This was the AD600BM model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That works out to about 2 flashes per minute on average. At the end of the shoot, one battery showed 2 bars out of 3 at the end of the shoot, whilst the other showed 1 bar out of 3. Not bad at all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoot 3 \u2013 AD600 Battery Life for a Corporate Photography Shoot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One final real-world battery life experience is a corporate portrait shoot, combined with a product photography shoot. This particular client engaged me to take portraits of their 16 staff, along with some team shoots. And to finish off, a whole bunch of shots of their products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually, I wouldn\u2019t bother to use the AD600 for corporate portraits, as it tends to be overkill. More power than I need. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Proof
Proof sheet with 225 images from a shoot using the AD600. The battery still had about 1\/3 left even after 614 shots.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The AD200 is perfectly suited to headshots and portraits and is much more compact and lightweight. But because this shoot involved large products in addition to corporate portraits, I used the AD600.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the shoot, I shot 614 images. In most of the portraits, the power level was on about \u00bc or 1\/8. For the products, a power level close to full was used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The end result was that I comfortably got through the shoot without needing any additional batteries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>AD600 Battery Charging Time From Empty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since I drained the battery for the test, I had the chance to measure how long it took to recharge fully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the included charger, the AD600BM battery took 4 hours to recharge.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Battery
AD600 Battery Charger Charging Battery from Near Empty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The included charger is the fastest charger available for this battery. Even though Godox states that the charger should charge the battery in approximately 2 hours, in my experience, it has never been that quick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replacing the charger or getting a second battery charger shouldn\u2019t cost you more than $40, depending on the store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Godox AD600 Battery Alternatives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two batteries available for the AD600. In addition, there are AC adapters available for both the AD600B or BM and the AD600 PRO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n