Flashpoint 1220A Monolight, 600 Watt Second Strobe

2014-08-12T21:00:00

Use as part of my portable studio light system. Light weight, I carry it in my car most of the time. So far this unit has worked well.

Rick

2014-01-14T19:00:00

I have a small home studio and it fits the bill perfectly, some of the photos that I have taken so far have good color balance. The recycle time is little slow if you take images in rapid succession, otherwise, it works perfectly. The construction is solid and the continuous power setting is very useful. To me it rivals the very expensive competitive brands. Buy it as a kit and you will save some money. Very happy with this purchase.

Gil

2012-06-03T21:00:00

I bought this to use with two others in my basement studio. The third one is mainly to get good clean backgrounds. The monolights work well together. I have one connected to the camera by PC cord and the others fire from the sensors. So far they always work and ability to adjust output individually easily is a great advantage. Previously I was trying to use two monolights with a speedlight but was having some problems getting tham all to sync with the camera. With three monolights there is no problem. Great lights for a reasonable price.

STEPHEN G.

2012-02-13T19:00:00

I use this mainly for portraits in the studio. It's a great value for those on a limited budget. I started out with one and now have two.

GARY F.

2011-10-09T21:00:00

I bought 2-300ws and 1 600ws heads. If you want battery packs, make sure that you buy the M series. I had to return an entire kit because I mistakenly bought the A series. I am now using the strobes in place of my Calumet studio lighting as well as my 30 year old White Lightening monos. The only fraw back is the size and weight.

MARC F.

2011-10-09T21:00:00

Durable enough for a budget-minded pro. Mine has flown, been on the bus, toured the east coast and seen over 1500 pops by now, almost exclusively on battery power. For the money you cannot beat the power and durability of this workhorse. When paired with pocket wizards, a 16 beauty dish and the Adorama battery pack, this is the ultimate on-the-go setup. This all fits in one bag and travels with me wherever i go! Highly recommended!

J_O_S_H_U_A

2011-09-26T21:00:00

So far they are fantastic. This is the first set that I have used but the results are great. They really set you apart vs using speedlights. They results look much sharper and make images crisp. I plan on buying an additional set.

Ragan

2011-01-11T19:00:00

Well built. Heavy duty housing. Affordable. Powerful. Consistent.

Alfonso C.

2010-02-02T19:00:00

I purchased this light with the 30" x 60" softbox. I was a little worried about the low price, and was looking at going with a brand I was more familiar with... for a little more. The light is well packaged, feels sturdy, and has all of the controls I need. I shoot mainly f/8 - f/11 in the studio. I did a full hour test shoot with the light... if there was any fluctuation in power, I missed it on my review of the shots. With the large softbox, it gives my an almost window like light. The best feature outside of build is the brightness of the modeling lamp. It is nice to see what you are going to get before you waste a shot. Fast shot to shot recycle time up to f/11... I did some macro work at f/32, but did not shoot very fast.

MATTHEW K.

2010-01-10T19:00:00

Works as well as lights that cost a lot more!

DPC

2009-07-07T21:00:00

I just wanted to write and let you know that I received my new Flashpoint 1220a monolight and that I think it is a vast improvement over the 1220 I bought a couple of years ago. 1. The slave sensor is much more sensitive and mounted on top of the unit. My little on-camera flash now fires the 1220a even when it doesn't have direct line of sight to the sensor. On my old 1220 the sensor was unreliable, and had to be turned towards the source to trigger. 2. The unit is smaller, lighter and made of better quality materials. It should be easier to pack for travel. 3. The controls are better located and easier to understand. I think your advertising should emphasize these improvements I had no idea that the design had been so improved.

ROD P.

2009-07-07T21:00:00

This is my first monolight. I have been using hot lights. I am very excited about the light. I find it durable with great output. I read the earlier reviews and am using a surge protector to keep this baby up and running.

kcman

2009-05-15T21:00:00

This is my first use of external lighting and I am learning to control the light for portraits. I like the adjustments to control the amount of flash and I have a lot more experimentation to do. The unit seems well contructed, controls are strudy. If I were more experienced, I would have given 5 stars, but with limited knowledge of strobe lighting, I give it 4 stars. I am very satisfied with my purchase.

LEE S.

2009-03-22T21:00:00

I'm a serious amateur photographer since the late 70's, mostly landscape & nature. Low/moderate experience with portrait / studio shooting with continuous lighting & umbrellas. I've had my eye on these Flashpoints for several years. I decided to help a little to stimulate the economy (not much stimulus since these are so reasonably priced) and finally jumped on those wishes. I regret waiting so long. I love them! I bought the 1220 studio set. I liked them so much I bought a set of the 620's right away. Both are nearly identical in every perceivable respect except for flash output intensity & modeling light wattage. Took them out of the boxes, set them up and all worked perfectly. They are sturdy, have a solid feel and perform extremely well. Recycle time is not even an issue. I enjoy the infinite variability of the flash & modeling light. The entire exterior body especially the entire front attachment assembly is metal and the built-in handle is very nice. The main body's metal housing is thick and doesn't feel cheap, thin or have a "tinny" echo. In fact there's no echo, just that hard metal feel on the knuckles. The matching remote infrared trigger Adorama sells works wonderfully. The flash / slave sensors on the moonlights work flawlessly, never missing a shot. They lived up to my expectations and am delighted. I've read many reviews of troublesome assemblies of softboxes of many different manufactures. I assembled each the accompanying softboxes in under 2 minutes. Easy. COST CONSIDERATION: I considered those units costing many hundreds / thousands more, until one adds up everything. It's not justifiable unless you own a full-time business where they are used daily or you can turn a profit over years / lifetime (or are a wall street banker w/ those great bonuses). In a narrow respect, the flash tubes basically put out the same light as a monolight costing far more, and these have the same features on the back of most of those expensive models. Realistically in the end, one will achieve the identical photographic image from one brand to the next. That's where your skills come in. True, I haven't personally owned the expensive high-end brand name to compare on an extremely intimate level, but I've been around them and others who use them and had limited usage; they really do the same exact thing. If you are even contemplating buying / trying a studio light / set like I was, these are the best value for your money, plus you likely will love them. You really can't go wrong with the 620's or 1220's. I wish I had jumped long ago. My continuous lights will feel neglected from less (or little) use. I felt kinda bad spending the money as I placed the orders, not knowing if I made a smart decision in these troubled financial times. Well, after testing them out, it was worth it and I actually feel good about it (and especially knowing I saved hundreds / thousands the other brands could have cost me).One thing I'd like to see, a variety of honeycombed grid attachments for the units themselves to narrow the light spread for rear subject highlighting.

JIMMY T.

2009-03-05T19:00:00

I bought this as a set. My 2nd shoot, both fuses were blown out. 12 shooters in the area and flash kept getting set off. Hard wired after replacing the fuses for the next mega shoot and had no issues. Pretty decent high power light. Stands in the kit are a bit on the flimsy side, but weighted seemed to set fine.

LDC I.

2009-01-21T19:00:00

I bought one of these just to test them out. Construction was better than anticipated, and the mountings far more sturdy. So I ordered a second.

JAMES K.

2008-12-30T19:00:00

I found the construction of the strobe to very sturdy and high quality. I've had two now for about two weeks, not a single mis-fire. Recycles fast, slave sensor has worked every time, power adjustments between units appears consistent. Like the high powered modeling light. Attachments go on firmly. Cannot speak to durability or long life - lack of time line. However, the housing and connectors are not flimsy. There should be no problems in terms of ruggedness.

JAMES K.

2008-12-23T19:00:00

I own three of these lights and have been very pleased. I use them with remote triggers and they give me flawless performance. I use umbrellas and soft boxes interchangeably and the results are GREAT. Just make sure you have sturdy lamp stands to adequately support them.

Shutterbug

2008-05-17T21:00:00

I bought three of the original Flashpoints when they first came out and even though they were not rated as "professional" units, I used them in my studio for many many years. Well, one of them finally died a couple of weeks ago. So, I did what any reasonable consumer would do. I bought one of the new ones. I tested the unit out this morning and it looks and performs as well as or better than my other units. Would I recommend this unit to a friend or colleague? Absolutely.

Moushman