ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand Combo Kit Review

The ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand is the latest addition to the FIVERAY range. For this review, I will be looking specifically at the FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand Combo Kit that comes with a few accessories.

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The FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand now joins the FIVERAY F100/ FR100C, and M40 is the series.

The FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand is a 60W, 1.4′ Bi-color LED light. It shouldn’t be confused with an LED tube light, because it actually isn’t, it just has that form factor.

Concept

The concept behind the FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand was to come up with a high-power hand-held LED tube light that would be suitable for numerous lighting scenarios.

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The FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand while still having a traditional LED tube-like shape, does look like an oversized curling iron. The light follows in the footsteps of fixtures like the Godox LC500 Bi-Color LED Light Stick. Hand-held LED lights like this are nothing new and there have been plenty of similar lights released over the years. The Wescott ICE light was one of the first and that fixture was first introduced way back in 2013.

Everyone seems to be making lights these days

ZHIYUN is best known for making gimbals, but they have branched out into selling lights as well. They are not alone. We have seen quite a few companies in the last few years that have never sold lights before entering an already crowded market. This competition has undoubtedly brought prices down, but it does make things confusing for consumers with so many choices now available.

What I like, and I mentioned in the review of the MOLUS G200, is that ZHIYUN hasn’t just copied what others have already done. They are coming up with interesting lights that are different from what most other companies are doing.

What do you get?

The ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand Combo Kit comes with the following items:

• Zhiyun FIVERAY V60 Bi-Color LED Light Wand (1.4′, Black)
• Barndoors
• Diffuser
• Grid
• Power Adapter
• USB-C Cable
• Storage Bag
• Adapter Pouch
• Limited 1-Year Manufacturer Warranty

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The included barndoors work well and they just clip onto the front of the FIVERAY V60. They not only limit the spill, but they also have the added benefit of increasing the output due to the reflective material that has been placed on the inside.　

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The grid that you get only works with the barndoors attached. It has inserts where the barndoors slide inside to keep it attached.

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The diffusion has to be used with both the barndoors and the grid. It fits over the top of the grid and uses elastic. You can’t use the diffusion by itself, which does somewhat limit its usability.

Build Quality

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The build quality of the FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand is reasonably good for a light at this price.

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While most of the fixture is reasonably solid, the plastic buttons and dials are not tactile at all, and in all honesty, they feel a little cheap.

The light does have a bit of weight to it and that is probably because of the in-built battery.

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If you use the light with the power cable it sticks straight out the side of the fixture. If you were going to use the light as a practical in-shot and run it via mains power this could be an issue. However, in saying that, I don’t think this is a light that I would use as a practical because I personally feel a tube light would be a better choice for that type of application.

I am not the biggest fan of how the power on/off button works and I would personally prefer a physical switch, but I am nitpicking here.

Weight & Size

The FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand weighs in at 2 lb / 891g. It has physical dimensions of 1.4 x 0.2 x 0.2′ / 44 x 4.7 x 4.6 cm.

The fixture’s size arguably makes it an appealing light for anyone who needs to travel while maintaining a relatively small footprint.

The ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand Combo Kit comes in a soft/hard case.

So how does this weight compare to some other similar lights that could be considered competition? Below you can see:

	TOTAL WEIGHT
ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand	2 lb / 891g
Yongnuo YN360 III Handheld Pro LED Video Light	1.77 lb / 805g
Godox LC500 Bi-Color LED Light Stick (22″)	1.7 lb / 760g
GVM RGB LED Bi-Color Video Light Wand	1.04 lb / 470g
Sirui T60 Telescopic RGB LED Video Light	1.4 lb / 658g
Neewer CL124 Handheld Bi-Color LED Light Stick (22″)	1.7 lb / 771g
Yongnuo YN360IV Bi-Color/RGB LED Ice Light (22.4″)	1.7 lb / 794g

Please note that all of these lights have different power draws and capabilities.

Power Draw

ZHIYUN lists the power draw as 60W, however, it is actually 100W when using the light in its MAX mode. 60W/100W is a lot for a light in this form factor.

Now, the caveat with the MAX mode is that it only works if you have the light hooked up to mains power or you are using a 100W PD power supply. It will not work if you are running the light from the in-built battery. If you try to activate it while it is running off the internal battery you will get a message on the display screen.

	POWER DRAW
ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand	100W*
Yongnuo YN360 III Handheld Pro LED Video Light	21.6W
Godox LC500 Bi-Color LED Light Stick (22″)	18W
GVM RGB LED Bi-Color Video Light Wand	20W
Sirui T60 Telescopic RGB LED Video Light	20W
Neewer CL124 Handheld Bi-Color LED Light Stick (22″)	16W
Yongnuo YN360IV Bi-Color/RGB LED Ice Light (22.4″)	24W

*Max power draw when using the light in its MAX mode.

So how does this power draw compare to some other lights that could be considered competition? Above you can see that the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand draws significantly more power than any of the other lights.

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The ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand can be run via its in-built rechargeable 2600 mAh battery. You can also power it using the included AC power supply, or through a USB-C input. With the USB-C input, you need to use a PD 100W supply if you want to run the light in its MAX Extreme mode.

ZHIYUN lists the maximum run time when it is set at 100% output as being just 24 minutes. I tested this out and I was getting around 23-26 minutes on a single charge. This is not a lot of time and is probably not going to be enough for a lot of applications. In saying that, because the light has a lot of output, you probably won’t need to run it anywhere near 100% for some use cases.

How long does it take to charge?

Charging Time (PD)
1H21MIN（20V/1.2A 25W )
Condition: 25℃ temperature (when powered off)

Charging Time (DC)
1H27MIN（24V 25W )
Condition: 25℃ temperature (when powered off)

Charging Time (QC)
2H30MIN（12V/1.5A 9V/2A）
Condition: 25℃ temperature (when powered off)

The light will still run while it is being charged. You do, however, need to be aware that the charging time will be a lot longer if the light is turned on and in use.

An issue I discovered is that you can’t hot-swap power without the light turning off. If you are running the light using the in-built battery and you then plug in an AC power supply it turns off and then back on again. You need to be aware of this.

The cable that runs from the power supply to the light is too short in my opinion. If you have the light on a stand that is around 6′ tall then the power supply just ends up dangling in the air, putting unnecessary strain on the connector. I am not sure why ZHIYUN didn’t put some type of loupe on the power supply so you could attach it to a lightstand.

How does it stay cool?

Lights using COB LEDs generate a lot of heat, so ZHIYUN states that the FIVERAY V60 uses cutting-edge fluid dynamics and algorithms. The DynoVort cooling system consists of six FOC fans and gyroscope-modeled heat sinks to stay cool. There are a lot of marketing terms getting thrown around there, however, the cooling system does work well.

Even in the MAX mode, after an hour of being on at 100%, the housing didn’t get that hot and you could still touch it.

Now, the FIVERAY V60 does have a lot of small fans, and the problem with small-sized fans that are spinning at a fast rate is that they generate a lot of noise. The fans in normal operating mode don’t make any noise when you first turn on the light, even if it is set at 100% output. After about 5 minutes in a 25c room, the fans started to kick in. The fans do make some noise, but they are not super loud. In saying that, it would depend on how noisy your environment is, as to whether or not you would be able to pick up that noise when recording audio. If you don’t run the light at 100% output and have it below 50% it runs almost completely silent.

In the MAX mode, the fans are pretty noisy and you wouldn’t want to use this mode if you need to record any critical audio. I also found that the fans also start to get louder and louder the longer the light is left on in the MAX mode. Now, another caveat is that if you use the light in its MAX mode and you then change it back to the normal operating mode when it is at 100%, the fans still stay at the same level because they are trying to cool the light down. You need to wait quite a while before the fans go back to their normal loudness.

There are no settings to adjust the fan. This is a caveat, because you may well set up for a shot and then turn the light on, and halfway through the shot the fans kick in and affect the audio. I personally prefer using lights that have fan control options so you know exactly how loud that fixture will be.

Mounting

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There are not a lot of options when it comes to mounting. The light has a single 1/4-20″ thread on the bottom side of the handle.

Controls & Menu System

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The FIVERAY V60 has a pretty basic interface. There are two dials, one for CCT and one for Dimmings.

If you press the Dimmer button the intensity increases by 50% each time, so you can go from 0% to 50% to 100% and then back to 0%.

There are also preset CCT settings you can choose from. You do this by pressing the CCT button. Strangely when I tried this the light only goes from 2700K to 5500K, to 6500K.

If you press the button labeled MAX, the light goes into its MAX mode where it is claimed to be able to utilize 100W and output 2470 Lux @4200K when used at a distance of 1m / 3.3′. According to ZHIYUN, the catch with this mode is that the light only works at 4200K and you need to run it via mains power or a 100W PD source. More on this later in the review.

While there is nothing overly fancy about the interface, it gets the job done.

As I always say, the hallmark of a good operating system is that you shouldn’t have to read a manual to work out how to use it. You should be able to turn it on and use it straight away. In that regard, the light is reasonably straightforward and easy to operate and control.

Operating Modes

The light has three operating modes:

• CCT
• Music Mode
• FX Mode

Strangely there is no Bluetooth control available for this light and you can’t use ZHIYUN’s ZY Vega app.

Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)

In the CCT Mode, you have full access to making CCT adjustments between 2700-6500K. This isn’t a massive adjustment range, but it will suit most people’s needs.

The fixture doesn’t feature any continuous variable (full minus green to full plus green) correction.

Music Mode

In this mode, the light uses its built-in microphones to sync to music beats.

This is useful if you are doing music videos. Now, I didn’t find that this worked particularly well from my testing. It really requires a strong baseline to work correctly.

To access this mode you press down and hold the CCT and Dimming buttons.

FX Mode

In this mode, the light can use the following effects:

• SOS
• TV
• Broken light bulb
• Candle
• Lightning
• Fire

To access this mode you press down and hold the CCT and Dimming buttons.

Photometrics

So now let’s get to the photometric results. I always test lights in this way so that I get a reference to how they compare to other fixtures. Results only tell part of the story and should never be used alone to judge a light. I have found from extensive testing over the years that certain lights that have good photometric results don’t always look good, and lights that have worse photometric scores can sometimes look better than their results indicate.

You can’t judge a light from one set of photometric results. SSI, while great, doesn’t provide you with all of the information you need. You have to look at all of the different results to be able to come to a conclusion. Judging a light on one set of results is like reading one chapter in a book and thinking you know the whole story.

Different lights can also look different depending on what camera you happen to be using.

Output & Color Temperature Accuracy

According to ZHIYUN, the FIVERAY V60 is capable of outputting 2470 Lux @4200K when used at a distance of 1m / 3.3′ in its MAX mode.

Now, as I previously mentioned, Zhiyun states that the MAX mode only works with the light at 4200K, but I was able to adjust the CCT in this mode.

I tested the FIVERAY V60 at a variety of CCT settings with a Sekonic C-800 Spectrometer to find out how much output the light had and how accurate the CCT reproduction was. All readings are taken at a distance of 1m (3.28ft) in a controlled environment. The readings were all taken directly from the lighting source.

So just how much output does it have? Well, let’s find out.

FIVERAY V60 5600K

Above you can see the FIVERAY V60 recorded an output of 2010 lx (187fc) when set at 5600K. This was a lot of output for a light of this size.

The light recorded a CCT reading of 5513K which was a decent result.

FIVERAY V60 3200K

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 3200K in the open face configuration was 1840 lx (171 fc), which was 8.45% less than it produced at 5600K.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded an outstanding result of 3207K.

How does it perform at various CCT Settings?

ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 (open face)

SETTING	OUTPUT	CCT READING
2700K	1650 lx	2723K
3200K	1840 lx	3207K
4500K	2010 lx	4439K
5600K	2010 lx	5513K
6500K	1980 lx	6393K

These results show me that the light’s output varies by 21.8% depending on what CCT temperature you are using between 2700-6500K.

The CCT accuracy across the range is very good. It was no more than 107K off at any reading which tells me the light has very good CCT consistency across its range, especially from 2700K-4500K.

FIVERAY V60 5600K (Barndoors)

Now, that we have seen some results when it was used open face, what happens if we use it with the included barndoors?

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K with its barndoors was 2710 lx (4360 fc), which was 34.8% more than it produced when used open face. This is mainly due to the fact that the barndoors have a reflective material inside of them like you would find on a COB reflector.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 5583K, which was better than the 5513K it recorded when used open face. This clearly tells me that the reflector alters the CCT but in a good way.

FIVERAY V60 3200K (Barndoors)

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 3200K using its barndoors was 2460 lx (228 fc), which was 33.7% more than it produced when used open face

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 3214K which was very, very close to the 3207K it produced when used open face.

This tells me that the reflector doesn’t alter the CCT when used at 3200K.

How does it perform at various CCT Settings?

ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 (Barndoors)

SETTING	OUTPUT	CCT READING
2700K	2170 lx	2723K
3200K	2460 lx	3214K
4500K	2700 lx	4484K
5600K	2710 lx	5583K
6500K	2660 lx	6464K

These results show me that the light’s output varies by 24.88% depending on what CCT temperature you are using between 2700-6500K.

The CCT accuracy across the range is very good. It was no more than 36K off at any reading which tells me the light has excellent CCT consistency across its range when used with the barndoors.

FIVERAY V60 4200K (MAX Mode) Open Face

Now, that we have seen some results when it was used open face and with its barndoors, what happens if we turn on the MAX mode?

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 4200K in its MAX mode was 2850 lx (265 fc), which was 41.8% more than it produced when used in the normal mode. This was more than the claimed output of 2470 lx, that ZHIYUN states.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 4168K, which was an excellent result.

How does it perform at various CCT Settings?

Summary of results (MAX MODE)

Now, even though ZHIYUN states that the light can only be used in its MAX mode at 4200K, you can actually use it in this mode at any CCT setting. However, does it actually have more output in this mode when it isn’t used at 4200K, well, let’s find out.

SETTING	OUTPUT	CCT READING
2700K	1660 lx	2722K
3200K	2110 lx	3222K
4500K	2880 lx	4457K
5600K	2490 lx	5516K
6500K	2150 lx	6397K

These results show me that the light’s output when used in its MAX mode is only significantly increased from around 4200K to 5000K. At 2700K, 3200K, and 6500K you don’t get any real advantage in terms of output over using the regular mode.

The CCT accuracy across the range is good. It was no more than 103K off at any reading which tells me the light has excellent CCT consistency across its range when used in its MAX mode.

FIVERAY V60 4200K (MAX Mode) Barndoors

Ok, so how about if we now use the light at 4200K in its MAX mode with the barndoors. This should provide us with the maximum output that this light is capable of.

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 4300K used open face in the MAX Extreme mode was 3980 lx (370 fc). This was 39.64% more than it output in its MAX mode when used open face.

3980 lx is a ton of output from a light of this size and a power draw of 100W.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 4191K which was almost perfect.

How does it perform at various CCT Settings?

ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 (MAX MODE) Barndoors

SETTING	OUTPUT
2700K	2310 lx
3200K	2950 lx
4500K	4030 lx
5600K	3500 lx
6500K	3000 lx

These results show me that the light’s output when used in its MAX mode is only significantly increased from around 4200K to 5000K. At 2700K, 3200K, and 6500K you don’t get any real advantage in terms of output over using the regular mode.

FIVERAY V60 5600K Barndoors & Diffusion

Ok, so how about if we now use the light with the barndoors and diffusion?

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 5600K and used with its barndoors and diffusion was just 217 lx (20.2 fc). This was a whopping 91.99% less than its output when used with the barndoors.

This clearly shows me that the diffusion being used on the front of the light is very, very light, and as soon as you added the including piece of diffusion the output falls off a cliff.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 5234K which wasn’t very good. The combination of the barndoors, grid, and diffusion massively alters the CCT.

FIVERAY V60 3200K Barndoors & Diffusion

Above you can see the light’s output when it was set at 3200K using its barndoors and diffusion was 201 lx (18.7 fc). This was 91.82% less than it output when used just with its reflector.

As far as CCT accuracy goes, it recorded a reading of 3334K which wasn’t great.

My problem with the diffusion is that the light’s output gets reduced so much that it would make it unusable for most lighting applications.

CCT consistency & linear output when dimming the light

Now, what you should always do when testing lights is to see if the CCT remains consistent when dimming the light. Just because you set a light at say 5600K, that doesn’t mean that the CCT will remain stable as you start dimming the fixture down. I also wanted to see how linear the dimming curve was.

I decided to do a series of tests at 100%/75%/50%/25%10% to see if the CCT being recorded changed. This was done at a distance of 1m using a Sekonic C-800. These tests were done at 5600K open face.

CCT READING	OUTPUT	INTENSITY %
5513K	2010 lx	100
5821K	1590 lx	75
5819K	1170 lx	50
5805K	712 lx	25
5756K	187 lx	10

The FIVERAY V60s CCT consistency wasn’t great. As you start dimming the fixture down the CCT changes. The light’s CCT changed dramatically as soon as it went from 100% to 75%. My testing showed that the CCT readings varied by 308K. This is something you need to be very aware of.

As far as how linear the output is when you start dimming the light, at 50% output it had 41.79% less output than when used at 100%. At 25% it had 64.57% less output than when used at 100%. At 10% output, it had 90.69% less output than when used at 100%. This shows me that the light’s dimming curve is not very linear.

Color Rendering

So now that we have seen how much output the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 produces, how does it perform when it comes to replicating accurate colors?

FIVERAY V60 5600K (Open Face)

Above you can see that when the light was set at 5600K and used open face, recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 95.6 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 93.73. For replicating accurate skin tones it recorded for R9 81.9 (red), 95.0 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 92.9 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones). These were just ok results, with R9 (red), R11 (green), and R12 (blue), all under 90. While 2-3 years ago these would have been considered good results, in 2023 they are just ok. In saying that, we never judge a light by one set of results.

The FIVERAY V60 when set at 5600K recorded a TLCI score of 99. This was a good result.

FIVERAY V60 3200K (Open Face)

Above you can see the scores for when the light was used at 3200K. It recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 96.3 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 94.98. For replicating accurate skin tones it recorded 91.5 for R9 (red), 95.0 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 95.2 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones). These were good results. Only R12 (blue) was below 90, but not by much. The light performed a lot better at 3200K than it did at 5600K.

The FIVERAY V60, when set at 3200K recorded an excellent TLCI score of 99.

FIVEFRAY V60 4200K (MAX Mode)

Above you can see that when the light was set at 4200K and used in its MAX mode recorded an average CRI (R1-R8) of 95.0 and an extended CRI (R1-R15) of 93.04. For replicating accurate skin tones it recorded 80.8 for R9 (red), 93.8 for R13 (closest to caucasian skin tones), and 91.8 for R15 (closest to Asian skin tones). These are ok results, however, R9 (red), R11 (green), and R12 (Blue) were all under 90.

What was good to see is that the color rendering scores were basically identical whether you use the light in its normal mode or MAX mode.

CC Index & ⊿uv

The CC Index displays the CC correction value and whether any magenta or green need to be added or subtracted. 1 CC corresponds to 035 Kodak CC values or 1/8 Rosco filter values. Any reading less than +1.00 or -1.00 and you’re probably not going to need to make any kind of adjustment. The ⊿uv is the value to show how much this light is away from being an ideal light source (black body radiation = incandescent lamp). As with the CC Index you want this number to theoretically be zero. Kelvin is not a linear value, so we need to convert from Kelvin to MK-1 to compare the values of color temperature. To calculate from Kelvin to Mired is MK-1= 1*1000000/Kelvin. While this may sound confusing, it is the only way of measuring if the Kelvin shift is significant enough to warrant having to use a filter for correction. Below are the results for the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60:

ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 Kelvin Vs MK-1

	Kelvin	Difference in K	MK-1	Difference in MK-1
SET VALUE	2700K	0	370.37	0
ACTUAL READING	2723K	23	367.24	3.13 MK-1
SET VALUE	3200K	0	312.5	0
ACTUAL READING	3207K	7	311.81	0.69 MK-1
SET VALUE	4500K	0	222.22	0
ACTUAL READING	4439K	61	225.27	-3.05 MK-1
SET VALUE	5600K	0	178.57	0
ACTUAL READING	5513K	87	181.38	-2.81 MK-1
SET VALUE	6500K	0	158.84	0
ACTUAL READING	6393K	107	156.42	2.42

These figures might look confusing, but what it tells me is that the light is very CCT accurate across its 2700-6500K range. Any MK-1 score that is under -9/9 means you wouldn’t have to use any color correction gels. Any MK-1 score that is under -6/6 is a very good result.

Ok, now let’s look at the CC INDEX & ⊿uv.

ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 CC INDEX & ⊿uv

	CC INDEX	⊿uv
2700K	0.4M	0.0031
3200K	0.0	-0.0015
4500K	0.2G	-0.0033
5600K	0.2G	-0.0010
6500K	0.1G	0.0016

These were reasonably good results. The light certainly does lean a little green at 2700K, but the amount isn’t high enough to be of any big concern. Conversely, at 4500-6500K it leans slightly magenta, but again, this isn’t anything that you need to be worried about in the real world.

TM-30

TM-30 is a relatively new color rendering standard that was developed to deal with the limitations of CRI. TM-30 looks at 99 individual colors. These 99 colors are categorized into seven groups: nature, skin color, textiles, paints, plastics, printed material, and color systems.

TM-30 scores go from 0 – 100. The higher the score, the more accurate a light is at producing colors. Any TM-30 Rf score in the ’90s is considered to be good. What is interesting and something that you need to be very aware of is that two separate light sources with the exact same CRI scores can render colors very differently. A light with a high CRI rating could have a low TM-30 score. Conversely, a light with a good TM-30 score could have a bad CRI score.

Now, there are two measurements associated with TM-30, Rf and Rg.

Rf (Color Fidelity)
Rg (Color Gamut)

With Rf value, ideally, you want a score in the 90’s.

With Rg value, a score below 100 indicates that the light source renders colors with less saturation than the reference source. So ideally you want this score to be 100.

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Above you can see the scores for the FIVERAY V60 at various CCT settings. Below I have listed the figures as well.

Here are the results:

	Rf	Rg
2700K	94	98
3200K	95	102
4500K	95	103
5600K	95	103
6500K	93	100

The TM-30 scores were ok, but you can see why the light leans slightly magenta as it is over-saturating those colors, especially at 3200K, 4500K, and 5600K.

SSI

SSI (Spectral Similarity Index) was developed by the Sci-Tech Council of the Academy. SSI gives me the ability to set any light as a standard, or use predefined standards (such as CIE D55), and then give other lights an SSI score based on how well they will match standards such as CIE D55. This way I can measure spectral response and compare it directly against an ideal light source. This is actually a much better test than recording CRI scores, however, it is just another test, and we need to look at all of these tests to make a comprehensive evaluation.

ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 3200K (Open Face)

In this graph, the red bars indicate a perfect Planck 3200K source. The gold bars indicate a perfect 3200K Tungsten source. This lets us compare how close to a perfect 3200K lighting source the FIVERAY V60 is. Any SSI score in the high 70’s, low ’80s is very good for a 3200K LED light. The results for the FIVERAY V60 were pretty good when used at 3200K. As you can see, LED lights have a hard time replicating colors below about 450nm.

ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 5600K (Open Face)

In the graph above the gold bars indicate a perfect CIE D55 source. The red bars indicate a perfect CIE D 5600K source. This lets us compare how close to a perfect 5600K lighting source the FIVERAY V60 is. A score in the low 70’s is typical for a 5600K LED source.

The main reason we want to record SSI scores is so we can see how well they match with other lights. As an example, I wanted to see how well the ZHIYUN FVERAY V60 matched the Prolycht Orion 675 FS and the ARRI Orbiter. Below you can see the results.

As you can see both lights are a reasonably good match to the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60. Any score in the high ’80s and low 90s would be enough to get a decent enough match.

As another test, I thought I would compare those same lights against the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 at 3200K. Below you can see the results.

As you can see, the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 wasn’t quite as good of a match to the ARRI Orbiter and Prolycht Orion 675 FS as it was at 5600K. Very few lights from different manufacturers are ever going to be an exact match, but the whole goal is to know which lights play well together.

Ok, so let’s do some more comparisons. This time I wanted to see how well the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 matched the ZHIYUN MOLUS G200 when both were used Open Face.

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As you can see, with a score of 94 and 96, the light matches very well at both 3200K and 5600K, however, it is a better match at 3200K than at 5600K. This tells me that if I used both of these ZHIYUN lights together, they would be hard to tell apart.

SSI tests are a great way of telling you what lights you own or use will work well together.

Spectral Distribution

5600K

Above you can see the spectral distribution of the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 when it is set at 5600K. The spectral distribution is reasonably decent for a Bi-color LED light.

If you want to see what a really good spectral response looks like for a LED light at 5600K, above is the result for the Maxima 3.

3200K

Above you can see the spectral distribution of the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 when it is set at 3200K. The spectral distribution is reasonably nice and even.

As a comparison, above you can see the spectral distribution of the Aputure 600c Pro when it is set at 3200K.

Real-World Performance & Quality of Light

As I always say, photometric scores only tell you part of the story. So let’s find out if the scores from the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 translate into good real-world performance.

The photometric results can only give me scientific data and it is much more important for me to see how the light looks and performs. Contrary to popular belief, if you are in the business of making lights you don’t want to try and achieve perfect scores because perfect scientific scores don’t equate to a light looking good. A good light should look good to a camera because, after all, that is what is capturing the image. Cameras and our eyes see differently and ideally, you want to use a light that looks good to your camera. There’s a bit of alchemy in knowing what to prioritize in order to render colors that appear accurate, natural, and pleasing. It’s not just about hitting certain numbers.

Lighting really comes down to how you use the light and having a great light isn’t suddenly going to produce better results for you unless you know what you are doing.

The beam spread you get when using the fixture open-faced allows you to create a nice broad spread of light. For a small-sized light, it is capable of adding some ambient fill to a small-sized room.

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Above you can see an example of it being used open face in its normal and MAX output modes. I have kept the same camera settings for all three shots.

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Above you can see a comparison of the output difference between the light used with its barndoors and the barndoors and MAX mode.

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The light does have a reasonable amount of output for a light of this size with this power draw. Above you can see a comparison with the light being used with its barndoors being punched into the ceiling and with the light off.

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In some ways, the output is a bit deceiving because the light has very, very light diffusion on it. As soon as you use the light with its included piece of diffusion the output falls off a cliff.

I found it hard to use the FIVERAY V60 to create a soft, flattering light source. The light is quite harsh, and as I just mentioned, if you use the diffusion cloth that comes with the light, the output gets reduced to almost nothing. Yes, you could set it in the MAX output mode and use it at 4200K, but then you have the caveats of not being able to run it via its internal battery and having a narrow range of CCT settings.

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As it has a good amount of output you could place it out on a boom arm and use it as a hair light. The only problem with this is that you really need to use a clamp or something else to mount it. I wouldn’t recommend just using the 1/4-20″ thread, because that is asking for trouble.

The FIVERAY V60 is a bit of a strange light. It has plenty of output, but the light doesn’t produce soft light which is arguably what you are looking for in a handheld light like this. It is almost as if it needs to be used for other lighting applications and not for what it was primarily designed to do.

Look, there is nothing wrong with the light, but I somehow feel it is being marketed in the wrong way. I personally feel that the FIVERAY V60 is more of a utility light that can be used to add ambient fill in a room or to put some light on a background than a fixture for lighting a subject directly.

Who is the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 aimed at?

That is a good question. I would guess that it is being targeted mainly at content creators and YouTubers, however, it is certainly a fixture that could be used for lots of different applications, by lots of different people.

The light’s biggest draw card is certainly its output.

Price & Availability

The ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 Bi-Color LED Light Wand (1.4′, Black, Combo Kit) retails for $249 USD and it is now available to pre-order.

You can also just buy the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 for $199 USD.

Below you can see how the price compares to some of the competition.

	PRICE
ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand (Combo Kit)	$249 USD
ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 LED Light Wand	$199 USD
Yongnuo YN360 III Handheld Pro LED Video Light	$125 USD
Godox LC500 Bi-Color LED Light Stick (22″)	$189 USD
GVM RGB LED Bi-Color Video Light Wand	$129 USD*
Sirui T60 Telescopic RGB LED Video Light	$199 USD
Neewer CL124 Handheld Bi-Color LED Light Stick (22″)	$68.03 USD
Yongnuo YN360IV Bi-Color/RGB LED Ice Light (22.4″)	$122.82 USD

*On special at B&H as of the 26th June 2023

The light is very reasonably priced compared to the competition, especially considering how much output it produces.

Conclusion

The ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 is a bit of a mixed bag if I am being honest. There is a lot to like, but also some caveats and usability issues that you need to be aware of. I don’t want to sound overly negative, but it is my job as a reviewer to provide you with all of the facts.

While I like the light, I feel like ZHIYUN should have spent more time on real-world usability than on features.

There are a few caveats when using this light. The first is that ZHIYUN hasn’t thought very hard about mounting options. The FIVERAY V60 could potentially make for a good hair light that could be placed out on an arm, but because it only has a single 1/4-20″ mounting point on the bottom of the fixture, this is difficult to do. There is no way that I want 1kg of weight sitting directly out horizontally being supported by a spigot. You can, of course, use some type of other third-party mounting solution, but would have been nice if ZHIYUN made their own accessories to do this. Yes, you could argue that this is supposed to be a handheld light, but most people looking at lights these days are after versatility.

The light is also quite heavy if you need to have someone hold it for an extended period of time. The battery life is also pretty horrible because of its high power draw. Yes, it will last longer if you dim the light right down, but then again, one of the main reasons people will be looking at this light is its high output.

The MAX brightness mode produces a lot of fan noise and you can’t run it in this mode via the in-built battery, so it is best to look at this as an additional feature and not a main one. The MAX brightness mode is unsuitable for use if you need to record critical audio.

Another issue ZHIYUN is likely to face, through no fault of their own, is that it isn’t a brand a lot of people would be familiar with, especially in the lighting world. When you don’t have a track record of making certain products you need to either have an exceptionally good product that offers a lot more than its competition, or it needs to be considerably cheaper. Now, you should never judge a book by its cover, but that is the reality ZHIYUN faces.

The ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 is an interesting light, but it is far from perfect. The color rendering scores are a mixed bag. While the CCT accuracy is pretty good, some of the other scores are a little underwhelming for a light being released in 2023. In saying that, the scores were far from terrible and they shouldn’t be of any major concern to a lot of people looking at the light.

The light doesn’t have very linear dimming and the CCT performance gets altered quite dramatically once you start dimming the light down. It also doesn’t feature any +/- G/M adjustment.

On the positive side, its high output is something you just don’t see in lights of this size, and the included barn doors and grid work well. It is nice that they include a small flexible piece of diffusion because, without it, the light isn’t usable for directly lighting someone as it’s too bright to look at. However, the caveat with this is that it reduces the output of the light so dramatically, that I am not sure what use it has for real-world applications.

I personally found the ZHIYUN FIVERAY V60 to be a bit of a niche product. It is almost as if it is stuck between being an LED tube light and something else. While there is nothing wrong with coming up with a light that is a little different, for a budget-priced fixture, it needs to appeal to a large audience.

If you are after a small-sized LED tube-style light that has a ton of output then this is certainly the one to get, as long as you are aware of some of the caveats that come with it.