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Flashpoint 180 Monolight Review

Published Apr 1, 2014 | Mike Perlman

Adorama Flashpoint 180 Monolight
$250/~£150 | www.adorama.com

The Adorama Flashpoint 180 Monolight is a battery-powered 180-watt strobe designed for on-location shooting in the middle of nowhere. The kit comes with everything needed to provide adequate fill light for scenes or soft key-light for portraits, minus the stand, which must be purchased separately. Like most of Adorama's equipment, the Flashpoint 180 Monolight is designed with a Bowens mount for reflectors, speedrings and other accessories. Because of its fairly alluring price tag, I wanted to see if the 180 Monolight has what it takes to endure a few shoots.

Key Specifications

180 watts
48m (150') Guide Number
10' sync cord for triggering
LED modeling light
25,000-30,000 pop flash tube life
Stepless dial down control 5 stops-down
Bowens reflector mount
2.1 lbs without batteries
Uses two 6,000mAh Sony NP-F960F battery packs
~700 flashes per charge with both batteries

The Kit


The entire kit consists of the 180 Monolight unit, plastic diffuser cover, reflector, white umbrella, power and sync cords, two battery packs, chargers, battery unit, hand grip and carry case.	A closer look at the hand grip and reflector.

The Flashpoint 180 Monolight is bundled with everything except the kitchen sink - that is if your kitchen sink is a light stand. Yes, the only item missing is a stand, but at least Adorama included the cushy MP-150S hand grip for your assistant. There's also no tripod mount included, so you'll have to invest in a stand if you don't have one lying around.

As far as the light unit itself, the Flashpoint 180 is well built, with an aluminum main housing. The tilt mechanism that enables the light to point up or down has some serious clamping power, and never budged once during my work. It comes with a sturdy aluminum standard reflector and white R-210T umbrella for diffusion. The 180 has a Bowens reflector mount, so it's very versatile in terms of aftermarket additions like beauty dishes and other reflectors.

I will say that the R-210T umbrella feels quite cheap, and folded out inside-out after a few uses. I had to manually bend it back into position every time I opened it. Keep in mind that this umbrella was from the first 180 Monolight kit Adorama sent me, as the umbrella from the second kit performed much better after setting it up and leaving it overnight. As for Adorama's need to send me a second kit, we'll touch on that in the next section.


Umbrella woes plagued the first unit sent to me.	The preferred setup.

Battery power comes from a pair of 6,000mAh Sony NP-F960F battery packs that fit inside a plastic housing with a DC out terminal to connect the DC power cable to the light unit. The housing has an on/off switch to tell the batteries to start working, as well as an LED status light to remind you if you left the housing on before packing up. The kit also includes a pair of chargers for the NP-F960F battery packs, but I would have rather had a dual charger than two single units.


A look at the battery housing.	The plastic dome mounted via the Bowens mount.

The MV-AD2 battery housing measures 4 x 4 x 3 in. (10 x 10 x 8 cm) and weighs about a kilo, but it comes with a clip for securing to a belt or other surface. I clipped it to the small grab handle on top of the lighting unit, but I think Flashpoint should have added an adequate mounting surface to the lighting unit itself, or just built a battery bay into the lighting unit rather than opt for an external pack. Often times when I was shooting without an assistant, I forgot about the battery housing resting on the floor and went to move the light. Oops! So, a battery bay integrated into the 180 Monolight unit would be preferable.

Lastly, the whole kit comes with its own nylon/Velcro carrying case with removable strapping and shoulder strap. The umbrella has its own cinching sleeve, and the light unit comes with a translucent plastic dome to protect the flash tube and LED modelling light. This dome also has decent diffusing properties, and I used it on a few shoots. The good thing is that it won't melt due to the low wattage of the LED. Toss in a camera model-specific flash trigger cable, and the Flashpoint 180 Monolight kit encompasses a lot of light power in a case roughly the size of two lunch boxes. You'll have to bring your own stand, of course.

What to Expect

The Flashpoint Monolight 180 is capable of outputting, you guessed it, 180 watts of power. It carries a guide number of 48, which means it can cast usable light from a maximum of 48 meters, or just over 150 feet. Flash intensity is stepless and controlled by a dial on the back of the unit. Despite its stepless nature, the 180 Monolight can really provide five steps of EV gain or loss. This is not a huge swath, but can be significantly altered by changing the distance of the light as it relates to the subject. And if you find that 180 watts doesn't cut it for the type of photography you do, Adorama offers the Flashpoint 400 Monolight kit.


The control panel on the Flashpoint 180 Monolight.	A look at the modest modeling light.

The 180 Monlight has a photo sensor set atop with unit with an on/off switch located on back in order to monitor its usage. The unit also has an LED modeling light, but it's quite weak. I have a cheap LED headlamp that outputs more lumens, so don't count on the modeling light to provide any useful illumination. I used it mainly to focus on dark environments. The 180 Monolight has a Test button for instantly firing the flash to get a sense of light intensity. Lastly, the light unit has a 3.5mm sync port for hard-wiring into your camera.

However, if you want to use more than one 180 Monolight, or can't stand the analog nature of a sync cable, any decent radio or infrared transmitting system will work. For instance, I was able to use my Phottix Odin transceiver via the 180 Monolight's sync port. Adorama also has the Flashpoint 4 Channel Radio Remote Control Set, which will make the Monolights cable-free.

In Use

Right off the bat, it became clear pretty quickly that the first Flashpoint 180 Monolight unit I received from Adorama was defective. I had used the unit for under an hour to shoot my Kawasaki dirt bike (see below). It performed admirably then, but the problems arose during an actual paid gig. The gig was only the second time I had ever used the light. I was shooting an ice bar at night in very cold New England weather when suddenly, the 180 Monolight refused to fire. After repeated attempts to make it work, I had to rely on hard-wiring my Elinchroms to finish the shoot.

The second Flashpoint 180 Monolight unit that Adorama sent me worked flawlessly. I have not had any problems to date. So I think the important thing to gain from my experience is that Adorama was very keen on making sure I had a working product at the end of the day. Yes, I had to rely on Plan B during my shoot, but every photographer needs to be prepared for the worst. Perhaps some snow made its way inside the unit, or the extreme cold played a part in the first unit's demise. Regardless, I have a second unit that works wonderfully, and that's all that matters.

The LED modeling light and flash tube.

Now as far as the Flashpoint 180 Monolight's performance, I was impressed by the intensity of light it was able to emit. Coupled with the reflector and umbrella, I was able to attain soft lighting with a neutral temperature, which was perfect for fill lighting during outdoor photo shoots. The light's recycle time at full wattage is five seconds and one second at the lowest setting. So, it's about one extra second per additional EV step. This is not particularly quick, but not so slow that it disrupts a shoot. The highest usable shutter speed I was able to attain on my 5D Mark III was 1/200th of a second, and that's about what I can achieve with my Elinchrom BRX lights. For portraits, the 180 Monolight is ideal.


Kawasaki shot with the 180 Monolight used as fill.	Ice sculptures shot with 180 Monolight.

If I had a choice, I'd upgrade to the Flashpoint 400 Monolight, and I'd get two of them and fire them with the Phottix Odin. This is because I don't do a lot of portraits, but rather more product photography and night scenes. As far as battery life, I was impressed by the Flashpoint 180 Monolight's Sony battery pack tandem. I was able to shoot all day and not even worry about recharging since the batteries offer 700 shots at full flash tube power. Again, I just wasn't crazy about having the battery housing unit separated from the light unit, as it had to be dealt with every time I moved the light. With an assistant, it's not as big of a deal.

Summing Up

Although the Flashpoint 180 Monolight and I got off on the wrong foot, I will still keep it in my gear bag for remote shoots in the middle of nowhere. There are a lot of things to like about this kit, particularly the bevy of options and accessories that are included, along with its own carrying case. The Bowens mount is a plus. Setup is easy and intuitive, and this light would be even better with a remote trigger like the Phottix Odin. Battery life is great, and light performance is impressive.

The kit's weak points can largely be worked around. The umbrella is cheap, the kit doesn't come with a stand, a remote triggering system must be added via third-party, the modeling light is weak, and we all know what happened with the first unit. But for the price, the Flashpoint 180 Monolight is a decent tool for the budget-minded photographer.

What we liked:

Full-bodied kit
Good battery life
Decent light intensity

What we didn't like:

First unit didn't work
Lacks stand
Weak modeling light

Tags: accessory-review, lighting, lighting-kits, strobes

Comments

Total comments: 44

I own a pair of these lights..purchased from adorama when they were clearing out their stock… Any idea which Chinese company makes them???

0 upvotes

There is no good way to support the battery pack. Generic bungie cords work best.

I had a battery failure after using the kit the third time. The H Batteries (High Output) that came with my kit are no longer available. Until they are replaced, I do not recommend the standard replacements. They are like night and day. Takes like 9 seconds for recharging between shots.

The kit is as good as the price. DC input is very convenient for field work.

0 upvotes

Why would I buy something that is likely to break?

1 upvote

nice

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

1 upvote

I still gloat over my garage sale purchase of 2 1600 w/s Balcar strobes with power pack. Cost $2.00

1 upvote

Question to Anyone:
What advantage does this have over simply using a speedlight?

With a guide number of 48 which equates to even most cheap speedlights in the $100 range it's not producing any more light.

At five seconds for recovery, it's slower than any speedlight I have (even my cheap'o Yongunuo).

And it's still five times heavier and larger than a speedlight...

I fail to see any advantage here.

1 upvote

I had this light.

First you gotta remember that it's not very useful comparing GN between strobe and speedlight. It's best to compare them inside a softbox. In practice it's a bit more powerful than a Yongnuo 560.

Its strengths are: more efficient and even in a light modifier, can be used with many Bowen modifiers, more shots per charge, can be used in semi-barebulb mode. Anyway it's an ok strobe to learn on, I eventually upgraded to more powerful portable ones.

1 upvote

Great dirt bike indeed

1 upvote

this one is too clear for me too

1 upvote

That's a clean KDX200!

1 upvote

Thanks. I rebuilt it from the crank up.

1 upvote

I used this for a couple weeks until I returned it. I really like the price, the weight, the quality of light. Pared with a Chimera foldable octa 2 beauty dish it was heavne. I could fit a whole light kit and camera in a backpack...witha tiny fooldable light stand. The only issue i had was the wire from the battery to the flash unit. It was too short...and the battery did not clip well to the mono light...it fell multiple times with the slightest movement and the housing for the battery cracked. Had they a longer chord where I could just put the battery on the floor I would have kept it. Anyhow...tiny flash, great power, great price. I hope they release a better longer chord.

1 upvote

Just cut the cord and extend it… simple really..

0 upvotes

alberto_neconi - not sure about ancient Greek, but in modern Greek "mono" can mean "single"or "only" - so "monolight" could mean only the light, without an integral power source (hence the second pack for the batteries).

1 upvote

Monolight is the official name for flash torches that include everything into the same unit, where "everything" stays for condensers and power circuits, as opposed to "power pack" kits where power and control unit are housed in a box connetted by power cables to a generally light torch.
See a clear article by Adorama in http://www.adorama.com/alc/0008105/article/What-are-Monolights

1 upvote

This story isn't funny. What kind of April Fool's is this?

1 upvote

A MONOlight is a self-contained unit (mono= one).
If you have TWO boxes it is not "mono".
This is a purely linguistic observation, but not a minor one: expecially if you work "in the wild" loose power cables mean oxidised connectors, people tripping over, wires kinking and internal copper threads breaking. For that money I would get a bucket of chinese thinghies on AA penlights and a good wireles trigger, and get better flexibility, more total light and a decent recharge time - with 5 secs you may only shoot still life. A guide number of 48 is nothing to boast about, while 250 bucks with QC issues and not even an el-cheapo stand is a matter for serious meditation.

1 upvote

1 star for the review.

This light unit doesn't have much power and as stated by others it has a rather slow cycle time. For the same price you can buy couple of decent used Nikon strobes. They also use off the shelf batteries (AAs) and it gives you a of different options as far portability, etc.
I do a lot of strobe photography with cheap used strobes. Here's one example: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151843425982673&set=a.10151842731197673.1073741843.766737672

2 upvotes

Hey....after reading the whole review...This is a no-brainer for someone who wants to learn strobes....Sounds like there are some quality control issues...but definitely a good system to learn with. I just don't know how reliable this would be if you were out on any kind of serious shoot...it could let you down....

1 upvote

For the price, it's hard to argue about the value of this unit. I love the idea of using cheap, widely available camcorder batteries. The main thing that would put me off if I were in the market for a 180W flash (which I'm not) is the recycle. Five seconds is an eternity when I've finally got a portrait subject warmed up and they're laughing and moving.

Thing is, 180W is only about one stop more light than a good hotshoe flash. For the same price, I can get a pair of very nice Neewer TT850 manual hotshoe flashes that recycle in 1.5 seconds and, together, will give almost the same output as the Flashpoint. Faster recycle, more flexibility, smaller package, and remotely adjustable output. Also, no extra battery packs dangling and cords to trip over. OTOH, a monolight is a bit easier to set up, and, crucially, it offers a modeling light that can assist focus when working in a dark environment.

3 upvotes

"It carries a guide number of 48, which means it can cast usable light from a maximum of 48 meters"

That's a bit of an oversimplification, don't you think? The correct definition would be something like this. "At full power, it can provide proper illumination from a distance of 48 metres when using an f/1 lens and a sensitivity setting of ISO 100/21°, as long as you shoot without a light modifier."

Otherwise a fine review (though I do believe Biowizard has it right and you ought to substitute Watt seconds for Watts). What I do miss are the t0.1 and t0.5 figures, even if I realise they do not matter much when using a 5D Mark III with its measly 1/200s sync speed. Some of us use cameras that sync at much higher speeds and it does matter if the t0.1 time at full power is 1/200s or something closer to 1/500s.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

12 upvotes

Kind of. an interedtng product and half the price of the Godox bare bulb options ( that Adorama is marketing under its Flashpoint brand now too). It's clearly just a fill light outdoors but definitely a bargain.

1 upvote

I've had one of these lights for about a year and use it regularly for location portraits (Head and Shoulders, etc.) -- it is an absolute bargain, since it has everything you need except a light stand in a small carrying case.
The modeling light is a bit of an afterthought, but adequate for light placement.
I will probably be ordering another just to have as a backup -- it's a bargain in my opinion -- especially it you catch it on sale at Adorama.

1 upvote

Good to hear from an actual owner. I'm intrigued by this kit. Would you fill me in a bit? How quickly does the modeling light deplete the battery? Can you leave it on for an all-day or half-day shoot? How long is the power cord? Also, what's the recycle time at half power? Thanks in advance.

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Jacques,
Sorry for the slow response -- been busy.:-)
I have not tried leaving the modeling light on full time, so can't answer your first question. The modeling light is pretty token, but is useful for initial lighting placement.
The power cord is 5 ft. long. However, I simply keep my battery pack in a Think Tank lens pouch, and bought a spring locking 'S' clip from my local Container Store. When shooting I simply clip the lens pouch w/battery pack to the light stand.
Recycle time at half power is a second or two at most.
The beauty of this set up is that the batteries are Sony video batteries that are easily available and not expensive. I recently bought a couple spares on sale for $25/pair!

1 upvote

That's a strange choice of subject mater for a strobe review. With all their curves, angles, and shiny bits, I thought vehicles are generally lit without modifiers, or in a full blown cyclorama.

4 upvotes

This seems like a good value. It wasn't that long ago I paid more than this for just a portable battery to shoot outdoors. At this price you get a low cost strobe that doesn't make you paranoid to use in uncontrolled outdoor environments. Watching a $500-$1000 mono light topple over in the wind isn't a good feeling.

1 upvote

I say go with this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SMDV-Speed-Light-PS-360-Bare-Bulb-Flash-aka-Godox-Wistro-AD-360-PB960-Battery-/321311581242?pt=Digital_Camera_Flashes&hash=item4acfa9a43a

or this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/By-UPS-Godox-WITSTRO-AD-180-Flash-Light-Speedlite-w-PB960-Black-Battery-Pack-/261181051986?pt=Digital_Camera_Flashes&hash=item3ccf9a9452

You are TOTALLY portable with lots of power and fast recycle!!!!!!

1 upvote

and a lot more expensive.

1 upvote

I really WISH people writing technical reviews would understand their units. If this flash REALLY produced just 180W of power - for the 1,000th of a second or so that it is illuminated, it would be of no use to anyone. What it DOES produce is 180Ws (Watt seconds), or 180J (Joules - same thing as Ws). And 180J in (say) 1,000th of a second is actually 180,000W.

Brian

19 upvotes

err... have you seen the price?! 3 SB900's are going to cost serious money compared to this!

1 upvote

Hmm.. 180w. Given that an sb900 is around 78(ish) watts and a three flash bracket is relatively cheap, I find 180w to be too low a power to warrant the purchase of such a unit.

1 upvote

Oh, can you get 3 sb900s and a three flash bracket, etc for $200 now?

4 upvotes

He says he is clueless!

1 upvote

See Biowizard's comment above. It should have read 180Ws. I don't know how many SB900s you'd need to match it, but it would be heaps more that two or three methinks.

1 upvote

Also, this is an open bulb so it is more efficient than a speedlite in enclosures designed for open bulbs and of course it already has a Bowens mount built in so you don't need the bracket. Then there is the fact you get way more cycles from it and the rechargeable batteries are included. Overall, this is an incredibly good value, if you are OK with the light output.

I bought two of these kits for outdoor portrait lighting. I find they run a little bit cool but otherwise work well. I liked the concept of a small light so much I ended up buying the more expensive Godox open bulb lights so these will go.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 6 minutes after posting

1 upvote

3 speed lights are way more compact/easily transportable and are AA battery friendly. So for this lights given output I side on speed lights. An engineer once told me that due to the size of the capacitors in the SB900 he guestimated the watts second to be around the 78 mark. If this is true, that's 3 speedlights punching 234 watt seconds.

On the surface, the unit does seem value for money, but without knowing its colour consistancy and durational speed, I couldn't pass comment of its true value at that price.

Okay, my original posting was not without bias. I already own 3 speed lights, are looking for more power and 180 watts would not be enough to make a real difference to me, hence my remark.

Comment edited 29 seconds after posting

1 upvote

The SB900/910 is nowhere near the same class until you group a big bunch of them (not 3). Watt·seconds (Joules) aren't the sole measure of output, and aren't directly comparable between units of different designs. For instance, you would need to use a dome diffuser on the speedlights to even approximate the spread of light in a softbox or reflector unit (other than the built-in reflector+Fresnel), so you lose light there (and throw another flash on the barbie). So now you're up to $2-2.5K in speedlights (plus bracket, accessory adapter, and multiple triggers/splitters, plus 48 to 60 batteries if you plan to shoot for any length of time) to replace a single $250 monolight. That's great if you're shooting with Joe McNally' budget; not optimal for Joe Blow.

1 upvote

The endless pain with almost all of these battery powered flash units are the unusable slow sync speeds which are only suitable for indoor use unless you are prepared to use heavy ND filters to avoid stopping down. I very often work at allmost fully open aperture and find that only speedlights are practical, lots of them to compeed with the sun. So come on, makes us some reasonable priced high power ETTL compatible flash units! What a releif that would be...

0 upvotes

OF COURSE NOT SB 800-900 but cheap and good Yongnuo 560II or rather 560III 2-3-of them makes similar amount of light… BUT forget the reflector it cannot mak really hard light (you will see the 3 light source) and it is not very light either and could be cumbersome with the bracket. And no modelling light. But IT IS an option. Or the Godox 180-360 but they are not very cheap. Or the Godox Wing that is also great…

0 upvotes

I'm not promoting this particular unit, but don't even consider replacing something like this with a speedlight if you'll be shooting quickly at full power- speedlights experience heat stroke very easily and shut down until they feel better. I've had SB900's seize-up mid-shoot and take 5-10 minutes to come back. Their compact design is tempting for convenience but completely inappropriate for rapid fire with a significant discharge.

0 upvotes

@ macaddict. With Alkaline batteries, sb900 suffer's less over heat issue's and has faster recycling times. I use NiMH and if it shows over heat, I pop the batteries out to speed up cooling. If I have a fridge or freezer close by, I pop them in that, to speed up the cooling

0 upvotes

Those saying the amount of light isn't comparable. .. they give a guide number, the entire point of which is such comparison. As for overheating, good speedlights have built in overheating prevention where they increase the recycle time rather than suddenly shut down on you (e.g. Metz flashes). Metz 58 or 64 would provide more light unless someone can give me a genuine reason why the GN here cannot be compared. They are also more expensive new though.

0 upvotes

For Steen, have you considered that technique of using a flash with HSS at low power to trigger studio lights (at fairly high power so they have a duration longer than your shutter speed) via optical triggers?

1 upvote

Total comments: 44

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Flashpoint 180 Monolight Review

Adorama Flashpoint 180 Monolight $250/~£150 | www.adorama.com

Key Specifications

The Kit

What to Expect

In Use

Summing Up

What we liked:

What we didn't like:

Comments

Adorama Flashpoint 180 Monolight
$250/~£150 | www.adorama.com