Zhiyun’s new Fiveray V60 light wand is a powerful tool for videographers and photographers alike. In this Fiveray V60 light wand review for photography I will go over the features of this light which make it easier to take better photos. All in all, it’s a powerful addition to your lighting kit.
Light wands are a type of video light, but they are a great asset to a photographer’s tool kit. They can provide an even light that lets you visualize how your scene looks (sometimes hard to do with flash). This can give you more control over your lighting and final image. They are useful as a first foray into adding external lighting to your images because you can more easily see what you will get.
Light wands also open the doors to all kinds of creative adventures. From light painting to macro to long exposure photography, they are a highly versatile tool. Zhiyun’s Fiveray V60 light wand is no exception. It has a range of creative modes for videographers and fine-grained control over light temperature and brightness for photographers.
I received the Zhiyun Fiveray V60 light wand in exchange for my objective review. All opinions are my own.
Pros
- Beautiful, crisp, color-accurate quality of light at a range of color temperatures
- Fine-grained control over exact color temperature
- Power control lets you choose exact brightness needed for your scene
- Easy controls and informative display
- Creative modes for lighting effects in video built in
- Can be charged with either USB-C or the included AC adapter
- Can be used while charging/while plugged into AC adapter
- Support team was quick and responsive when I had a problem
Cons
- No removable battery making it less suitable for long photoshoots in the field with no access to power
- Heavy — difficult to use single-handed while holding camera in other hand
Zhiyun Fiveray V60 light wand — Technical specifications
All technical specifications have been taken from the manufacturer’s website.
- Color Temperature Range: 2700K~6500K TLCI: ≥98 CRI: ≥96
- Light effect types: SOS, TV, broken light bulb, candle, lightning, fire
- Built-in Battery: 4S/2600MAH
- Charging Time: 1 hour 21 minutes (PD 20V/1.2A 25W)
- Comes with V609 light wand, barndoors, diffuser, grid, USB Type-C cable, Storage page, power adapter, adapter pouch, modifier manual and quick start guide.
Zhiyun Fiveray V60 light wand — Ergonomics and build quality
The Fiveray V60 comes in a soft-padded bag with compartments for each of the included accessories. It’s got all the modifiers included as standard. Barn doors are built into the light and double as protection for the light surface. They can be folded back when not needed or angled to suit. The diffuser and grid attachments slide over the barn doors.
The build quality of the light so far seems good. It’s very hefty and feels like it is built to last. When I first received the Fiveray V60 light wand there was a glitch which was causing it to switch into effects mode at random. I contacted Zhiyun support and they sent a replacement. There was no such issue with the replacement.
The light wand comes with a sturdy handle for hand-held use and has a standard tripod mount on the bottom of the handle. It’s heavy so I found myself using it on a stand. With a pro camera body in my other hand I don’t have the coordination to lift both at once! A lighting assistant could definitely handle it for hand-held use, though.
While running the light gets warm and is fan-cooled to keep lighting consistent and reliable for long photoshoots. It’s a compact, portable solution and with the included bag I feel very confident using this in the field.
Zhiyun Fiveray V60 light wand — In the field
The light gives excellent color rendition, with beautiful depth. Even in-camera before developing it was clear the difference the light made to my images. Color capture is accurate and details are captured well.
For macro photography, portraits and night photography, the light held up very well.
Quality of light: Fiveray V60 light wand review for photography
Above is a comparison of the light quality at the cool and warm ends of the range. This being a multi-temperature light, it’s flexible and can adapt to many lighting situations. I have used video lights before where changing color temperature requires adding a modifier filter to the light, which I find fiddly and too binary to make useful color adjustments. The Fiveray V60 moves between temperatures smoothly with the turn of a dial, making it possible to match the ambient light with ease.
Diving into the modifiers we can see the quality of light in different situations.
Modifiers included: Fiveray V60 light wand review for photography
As noted already, the light wand comes with all the modifiers you might need. The barn doors can be folded back entirely if not needed but remain always attached to the light wand.
The diffuser is perfect for creating even, soft light for portraits. The grid can be used to focus where the light falls with more precision, so that only your subject is illuminated. It creates a more dramatic light.
Without any modifiers the light is still pretty soft. As with any lighting, bringing it as close to your subject as you can gives you the biggest (relative) light source, and therefore, the softest light. I was very happy with the quality of light: clean and even details, good color capture and nice depth.
The diffuser makes it even softer, perfect for portraits. I really love the color tone and depth captured with this light. The color rendition is spot on and it’s very easy to match the ambient light to taste, with the built-in color dial.
Macro photographers will find a lot to like with this light wand too. I was happy with the close up details and color representation achieved.
Controls, menus and display: Fiveray V60 light wand review for photography
The light wand is controlled with two buttons and two clickable dials. The on-off button has a short-press-long-press method to turn it on. This is a nice feature to prevent turning the light on accidentally in your bag and using up all the juice before you get to the shoot. If you forget this method, the display will remind you.
There is a max button which, when on AC power, cranks the light up to max brightness.
The dials control the light temperature and brightness. Clicking each dial (pushing down on it like a button) will cycle through three preset levels. For color temperature it cycles through very warm, medium and very cool. For brightness, 0% output, 50% and 100%. This makes it superfast to adjust, because you can click to the approximate level you want, then spin the dial to fine-tune exactly the Kelvin temperature, or brightness, you want.
The display shows the selected color temperature (in degrees Kelvin) and the brightness (in %). There is a battery indicator and mode indicator for the video light effect and music modes built into the light wand.
You can change into light FX mode by long-pressing the brightness knob. Then turn the color temp knob to cycle between each effect:
- SOS
- TV
- Broken light bulb
- Candle
- Lighting
- Fireplace
Long-press brightness again to exit out of FX mode.
Long-pressing the color temperature knob to change into Music mode. Music mode flashes the light in time with the detected noise in the area. Exit this mode by long-pressing the color knob again.
Battery life: Fiveray V60 light wand review for photography
The battery life on the light wand is pretty good. It lasted over 35 minutes for me each time when testing with continual use at a variety of power levels. It can be charged with the included AC adapter, or with USB-C. In addition, it can run while charging, making it an excellent studio lighting addition.
You can easily get a whole session done with this light on one charge, provided you turn it off between photos. There is no removable battery, though, which might make it harder to use for photographers doing long photoshoots in the field without access to power.
Zhiyun Fiveray V60 light wand — Final thoughts
In this Fiveray V60 light wand review for photographers we’ve looked at ease of use, build quality and nature of the light. Overall, photographers will find much to love with this light wand. For photographers working in video as well, it’s an even more solid choice. This is because of the built-in special effect modes and music modes.
The weight and size of the light make it most suited to photographers (and videographers) who can mount it on a stand, or have an assistant hold it. It’s not practical to use one handed while holding a camera, and it’s not designed to mount on the camera hot shoe.
All in all, the light will be well-suited to photographers working with a wide range of subjects.
