Welcome to our ultimate Godox QT600II Review that we have decided to publish after recently covering a number of other strobe lights, studio flashes, and other lighting solutions. We have noticed a number of people asking for advice on the QT600II while also noticing a distinct lack of information out there so we decided to cover this premium price point lighting solution after covering so many entry-level products.
We are hoping that this article will help any of our regular readers who are considering adding the QT600II to their collection of camera accessories as well as anyone who finds us via Google or other sources. As usual, we will be breaking the review down to different sections and you can click any of them in the interactive menu below to be taken directly to that specific section if you only want to read specific sections of our review.
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User Interface And Control System
As you would expect from any modern studio strobe at this price point in the market the QT600II has an excellent, easy to use, and quick to learn user interface system as shown in the image above. It is a little different than the system on the entry-level lighting solutions as the Godox QT600II offers an absolute ton of additional customization for its output.
That said, many people instantly seem to think that additional customization means that it will be confusing and difficult to use. Thankfully, Godox has done an excellent job on the navigation menu resulting in a very easy system to use. You are able to quickly and easily tweak the settings of the light mid-session too without having to waste yours, your clients, or your models time too.
The backlit LCD screen on the lamp is clear, sharp, and very easy to see too, even if you are using the lamp in low light conditions. Once you have used the lamp a few times your muscle memory kicks in too allowing you to easily locate the various control buttons in the dark allowing you to keep your studio lighting down if needed to tweak settings.
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The buttons are easy to press to activate them, even if your fingertips are cold or wet meaning you can tweak the settings on the lamp in any condition. In addition to this, the dial selector on the QT600II is easy to rotate but does have a nice level of resistance to ensure that you can accurately rotate it as required to tweak performance.
This lets you quickly and easily switch between the various flash mode settings supported by the light such as manual, multimode, high-speed sync, and guide number. You are also able to easily tweak key settings such as the recycle time of the light as well as its output or set up delays when required too.
The Godox QT600II fully supports the Godox 2.4G wireless X system too allowing you to remotely control the light via a wireless trigger (Click here to check for product prices and availability). One thing that we would like to point out regarding the wireless functionality of the light is that we have found some negative reports from independent photographers who use the Godox QT600II. That said, there are more positive reports and we would imagine that the issues are probably down to the person using the wrong wireless trigger that may not fully support the Godox 2.4G wireless X system and the fault not actually being with the light itself.
The Godox QT600II uses the standard Bowens mount system to allow you to mount it on a number of stands and tripods and the mounting system is extremely popular these days. The popularity means there are an absolute ton of third-party attachments for the mounting system to allow you to pretty much attach your QT600II to any surface you require.
Although we would imagine that the vast majority of our readers would use the lamp for standard studio photography if you are in a niche that requires you to capture photographs outside then this is a great feature. We have seen some pretty genius methods from both photographers and videographers to mount their lights in trees and various other random outdoor objects to hand.
The large number of attachments available with a Bowens mount system means that this is very easy and can be done very cheaply too while still ensuring that your lamp is safe and secure when mounted and won’t accidentally fall.
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Performance And Functionality
As you can probably tell from the price tag, the Godox QT600II is a premium level lighting solution and as you would expect, it has the performance and functionality to match. We have already touched on the customization of the lamps output earlier in the article but we were unable to find any other lighting solution at this price point in the market that let you customize its output as much as the QT600II.
We love the recycling timing range of 0.05 seconds to 0.9 seconds as it lets you use the QT600II as a primary lighting source in most studio based photography niches. In addition to this, Godox has put some great heat dissipation technology in the lamp to minimize the chance of any overheating issues when using the lower recycle times too. Just keep in mind, that the shorter the recycle time, the more power the lamp will require and the more heat it will generate for extended photography sessions.
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The high-speed short flash duration options allow you to select anything from 1/316 of a second all the way down to 1/28984 of a second allowing you to again set the light up for the vast majority of studio photography gigs to get exactly what you need out of it. You are then able to set the QT600II up to flash up to Ten times continuously per second too.
The lamp also supports full stable color temperature mode with a color temperature default of 5600±200K with fully customizable ranges within ±200. This lets you balance the output of the flash to your subject to get perfct light output each time, every time no matter the conditions. The color temperature of the QT600II also remains constant even after extended use when the lamp heats up helping to push it ahead of its competing products at this price point in the market too.
The delay function of the light allows you to also customize it between 0.01 seconds and 30 seconds to get it to trigger exactly when required and the fully supported S1 and S2 modes allow you to set the lamp up as a slave to an on-camera flash head if you are using it as a part of a multi lighting solution.
The 150W modeling lamp bulb ensures that the light emitted from the QT600II should always be able to meet your needs provided you program it correctly to your requirements. As we have already mentioned earlier in the article, we feel that Godox has done an excellent job of making the navigation menu and control system as easy to use as possible to allow you to tweak all of these settings extremely quickly.
Click Here To Check For Prices On The Godox QT600II!
Build Quality
Again, due to its price point in the market, you can expect the best possible build quality on the QT600II and thankfully, Godox has delivered. The physical design of the lamp is excellent ensuring optimal head dispersion to reduce heat build-up and then the built-in fan further helps deal with any potential overheating to keep the lamp as cool as possible. We have seen a number of reports from heavy users saying they decided to add heat gels to their lamps to further improve the heat dispersion properties to allow them to use the lamp for longer sessions but in all honesty, we doubt this is necessary.
The Bowens mount connector is high quality and we doubt that it is going to take any damage anytime soon. This ensures that you are able to mount and unmount the lamp from whatever you need to without issue for many years to come. Some of the entry-level lamps have plastic based mounts that warp in shape and take damage easily and quickly become a nightmare to get on and off your stands but thankfully, this is not an issue with the QT600II studio strobe.
The majority of the lamp is made from robust yet lightweight materials further increasing the number of items you can use to mount it on due to it only requiring a light payload capacity as it comes in at less than Three kilograms. There are various dust protection seals on the lamp to help prevent dust getting into its electronic components too allowing you to leave the lamp mounted in your studio indefinitely if you choose.
The QT600II takes a standard three-pin external power cable and the connector is flawless although this is common in modern lamps due to the amount of health and safety regulations the manufacturers have to meet just to market their products. Although most people will manually turn their power cables off at the wall socket at the end of the day, the peace of mind of knowing there probably won’t be an issue if your forget can be nice.
The glass protection cover, reflector, and lamp cover included with your purchase are all built very well and excellent quality too. This removes the need for you to purchase additional replacements after picking up your lamp and helps reduce any hidden costs too.
All in all, we really can’t fault Godox when it comes to the build quality of the lamp. We feel they have done an excellent job of both designing and building the QT600II and feel that it meets all the reasonable expectations anyone will have for the lamp.
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FAQs
Question – Does the Godox QT600II support USB connectivity?
Answer – Yes, there is a fully functioning USB port on the lamp that will work with a number of accessories.
Question – Is the handle on the Godox QT600II removable?
Answer – No, it is a permanently fitted handle but its location on the lamp prevent it from getting in the way when you are wanting to mount it anyway.
Third Party Reports
At the time of writing this article, we feel the YouTube video that we have embedded above is by far the best video format review of the Godox QT600II available. In addition to this, we also know that some people prefer to absorb their content in video format so it ticks that box too. The video is only around Ten minutes long and is worth watching in our opinion if you are seriously considering picking the Godox QT600II up and add it to your camera accessories.
Our Verdict
That brings our Godox QT600II review to an end and as you may be able to tell, we are big fans of this lighting system. It offers excellent performance with great functionality and customizability while also having a great build quality too. We feel it does stand ahead of the pack at its price point in the market helping it have an edge over the competition and that it will make an excellent addition to your studio lights.
The only downside that we could think of is the high price tag of the lamp but in all fairness, it is a fair price when you take into consideration its build quality, performance, and customizability. It will provide you with high-quality lighting in pretty much every studio photography situation that you can think of.
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Image Licensing
Shared under Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Adriel O. Socrates – Studio Lights – https://flic.kr/p/9DN8u2
dallashangerphoto – Bekah Timm – https://flic.kr/p/8rXMCh
