GODOX SL60W LED
Godox’s first battery-powered LED light had been here for testing. Let’s see what it does.
The SL-series represents the high-performance LED lights with Bowens mount among Godox’s product line. The SL60, SL100, SL150, SL200 types are all powered by mains, and provide as many watts light output, as their naming suggest. If you want to compare it to classic halogen light performance, you should multiply these numbers by 7-8. So you can see that these LED lights provide approximately an equivalent 800-1600W output but with lower power consumption.
Beside the SL line the SLB-line has arrived recently where the “B” stands for “Battery Powered”.
Battery and performance
At the moment only the 60W model has battery powered version, which provides approx. equivalent 400-500W light output.
THE SLB LINE’S BATTERY IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE WITSTRO AD600, SO YOU CAN USE COMMON BATTERIES FOR THE TWO.
There are two versions of the SLB60: one marked with “W” which means White (5600K), the other is marked with “Y” as Yellow (3300K). Whatever you buy, you’ll not be able to adjust its color temperature, since there was only one type of LED-diode in both. Later on you’ll understand why I wrote this.
According to my measurement the SLB60’s color temperature is indeed around 5500-5600K, max. 5800K. It’s CRI index is 93+, TLCI above 95, R9 above 80.
If you would like to operate this light from mains, you’ll have to buy an optional AC/DC-adaptor that replaces the detachable battery on the back. When you just plug in the charger cable during operation, that does not solve the problem (ie. it won’t charge during operation).
At a maximum output the SLB60 can operate approximately one hour. You can adjust the power in 1% increments between 10% and 100%.
Usage
As I mentioned before, you can attach any light modifier with Bowens S-mount on the front, and the Witstro AD600 flash’s battery on the back which has quite a good status-indicator and a demanding charger.
The LED light can be placed on a light stand obviously, its mechanism is the same as Witstro AD600 has: plastic on the outside and metal inside. Its tightening lever is big enough, actually it is too big and it touches the housing even if you pull it out for operation. You can find an umbrella socket at the bottom of the housing.
On the side of the light a backlit LCD can be found that shows the performance, the radio channel and group, the battery status and the operating temperature.
As for the operating temperature, you can choose between Celsius and Fahrenheit. It will go up to 40C within minutes, but the SLB60 has fan-cooling built in. According to the manufacturer 70C is the highest inner temperature where the SLB60 may be operated.