A couple of days ago we talked about the Godox AD600 Pro, its essential features, and its strongest points against an industry benchmark like the Profoto B1X. Now, there is a possibility we must not rule out, and that is that this could be your first studio flash. If you don't know where to start and prefer more direct instructions, you've come to the right place! All you need is a Godox AD600 Pro flash tutorial, and that's what we're sharing today.
If you're just taking your Godox AD600 Pro out of its box, congratulations on the purchase! But if you're still hesitating about the investment, remember you have access to an excellent Godox Spain distributor that, besides having very competitive prices, also offers free shipping. Regardless of your situation, it's not a bad idea to learn more about the Godox AD600 Pro. The changes compared to the previous model were not that drastic, but they definitely deserve a review.
Godox AD600 Pro Basic Tutorial
One of the first details is the power button. On the standard Godox AD600 flash, it's located next to the rest of the interface, which could lead to accidental presses in a moment of haste. With some thought, the Godox AD600 Pro places the power button at the bottom of the flash, and it also requires a long press or “long press”.
Of course, none of that will be possible without a solid battery charge. The wait time is about two hours, and most importantly, the flash doesn't act as a platform here; the charger port is located directly on the battery, so you can continue working with your Godox AD600 Pro while a secondary module recovers energy in the background.
The charging port comes with a small protector to prevent dust and liquids from entering, and general recommendations extend to any lithium battery: Don't let it get wet in any way, don't hit or puncture it, avoid excessive charging periods, store it in a dry and ventilated place with a charge of 40-45 percent, and don't let it go more than 24 hours empty.
The Godox 600 AD Pro supports a total of 32 channels and 5 groups, an impressive number even for professional applications. Depending on the number of flashes you need to control and the environment you'll be working in, you'll likely want to make some adjustments here. For example, if other photographers with their own equipment use the same channel as you, that could cause accidental triggers.
Both parameters are controlled with the GR/CH button. A short press modifies the group, which ranges from A to E. If you want to apply a different channel, do a long press for two seconds on the GR/CH button, turn the selection dial to find the desired channel, and confirm with a tap on the Set button.
The modeling lamp on the Godox AD600 Pro is a true 38W LED cannon that you can use in two modes: PROP or Variable. As its name indicates, PROP makes the modeling lamp's power adjust proportionally to the flash power, meaning the lamp will shine brighter as you apply more powerful steps. To activate the lamp in PROP, press the button with the lamp symbol on the interface once.
Alternatively, the Variable setting gives you absolute control over the lamp's output, from 10 to 100 percent. Do a long press for two seconds, and choose the percentage with the selection dial. The exact value will appear in the lower right corner of the LCD screen. An additional detail: The use of the modeling lamp activates active cooling on the Godox AD600 Pro. If the selected parameter is below 1/64 or 30%, the fan will run at low speed; otherwise, you'll hear it at high speed.
The flash itself is controlled in a very simple way. Press the MODE button to make the “M” (Manual) legend appear on the LCD screen, modify the power with the selection dial, and press Set to confirm. The Godox AD600 Pro offers nine steps (from 1/1 to 1/256) in 1/3-step increments, but that's not all.
What about TTL mode? If you find you need to adjust flash compensation, just press the Set button and change the compensation with the selection dial. 0.3 equals 1/3 stop, 0.7 equals 2/3. To cancel, set the value to 0. Some photography experts outright reject TTL mode because they don't find it as reliable, but you'll have to verify that for yourself. After all, every photographer is a world.
Another option is what the flash calls Multi stroboscopic mode. Essentially, the Godox AD600 Pro fires a series of rapid flashes to capture multiple images of a moving subject. This is one of the most complex modes, as you'll need to specify the firing frequency, the number of flashes, and the power.
Press the MODE button until the MULTI legend appears. Change the flash output with the selection dial, and press Set. Then, specify the number of flashes, and press Set again. Finally, choose the flash frequency, and finish with a third press of the Set button. How do you calculate the camera shutter speed for stroboscopic mode? Simple: divide the number of flashes by the frequency. Example: 10 flashes at a frequency of 5 Hz gives you a shutter speed of at least 2 seconds.
Godox recommends not using stroboscopic flash more than ten times in a row to avoid overheating the unit. If that happens, wait about 15 minutes before continuing.
Our humble Godox AD600 Pro flash tutorial concludes with a tour of the general menu and its most relevant functions. The first is “COLOR”, which activates a stable color temperature. In other words, its effect limits color temperature error to +/- 75K when shooting at maximum power. If you reduce the output in Manual mode, the flash indicator will start blinking, and you'll hear 10 beeps. To stabilize the output, simply press the Test button (lower right corner of the interface, with the lightning icon).
“SLAVE” defines the flash's slave mode. S1 makes the Godox AD600 Pro fire at the same time as the camera flash. S2 is very useful when the camera has pre-flash, and basically tells the Godox to ignore that first pre-flash. S1 and S2 are only available in Manual, and they require a bit of trial and error.
“STANDBY” is the sleep time to enable power saving. The flash can turn off automatically after 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes of inactivity. “LIGHT” is just the LCD backlight, with values OFF, ON, and 15 seconds. “DELAY” adds a small delay to the flash, with a duration between 0.01 and 30 seconds, and “LCD” adjusts the contrast of the LCD screen.
I think this is enough to get your feet wet with your brand new Godox AD600 Pro. It's very likely we'll revisit this flash in the coming days, but if you want to complement what you've seen here, remember that the digital version of the manual is already available. Good luck!
