^^ I am happy to hear that people like Flashpoint/Mettle. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who can recommend these lights. Here are some additional details from my experience.
Note that the ebay link I sent is for 220v current!
As I said, Mettle is the manufacturer of
Adorama's Flashpoint series. My Mettle 300c units appear very well built, at least from the outside, and are constructed using rubberized aluminum with high quality plastic end pieces. The bowens-style accessory collar is made of molded aluminum. They are fan-cooled and CE listed. The fuses are user-replaceable, present and easy to get to.
Unlike many inexpensive brands, the modelling light is very sufficient. The lights are not under powered, and produce more light than the B800, 400w/s units, according to my measurements and Alienbee's specification sheet.
The 11" reflectors I got with my 300c units are a bit cheap, and bend easily - so care must be taken to avoid this, though the
Adorama versions come with 13" reflectors, so I don't know if these are essentially the same or not.
One thing don't like is how all the tightening screws will come out completely if overly loosened. I seem to always drop the accessory locking screw whenever I remove my brolly box. A dab of locktite or superglue on the end of the thread would prevent this. I also had a cross thread on the stud locking screw socket once when I accidentally unscrewed it all the way. Cross threadings are easier to fix than many people think, so I wasn't too worried, but since the mounting hardware was made of such cheap material, I was able to re-thread it using the steel screw itself.
While the mounting hardware might be prone to cross threading - I am thinking a bit of metal from machining was left in the socket - it is still made of machined aluminum, and isn't going to warp, break or snap or anything like that (unless exposed to liquid nitrogen).
The external build quality is otherwise very, very good.
The control panel is also constructed of solid parts. It's very basic, without any features like LCD touch screens or other fancy-looking features which might seem like a good thing but would cause me to wonder how much it's taking away from the inside. The intensity control knob is an aluminum knob ranging six stops, while I have not measured it, the stops seem relatively accurate and at full power it dumps a HUGE amount of light. While the control is continuous, the control is finely indented with a good feel to it and the right amount of torque. I do actually like the indention and makes it easier to feel the position without looking, yet it is very fine so I don't feel like accuracy is compromised.
All of the switched are heavy and require the right amount of force to activate. There is a three way switch to permit choosing full modeling lamp power, dimmed modelling light power according to the intensity knob, and 'off', which is nice so that you can turn off the lights, but leave the fans running so that the lights can cool off. Their is a "test" button which permits you to discharge the flash tube after you're finished, in face there is any stray juice in the unit.
The PC sync is 1/4-type. The socket is held in with a steel nut, and is housed in brass. I've never ever had any problem with the PC cord falling out and the socket is clearly of very high quality. The power cord is a grounded appliance-type cord, and not a built-in cord that can get frayed.
Of course the inside is what matters. I have never had any problem with these flashes misfiring. They automatically will discharge when the power level is decreased, the optical trigger seems stable and has never been "fooled" by something other than a flash of light. The optical trigger is positioned on the top of the unit with a plastic dome lens that protrudes a centimeter or so out.
I have never opened these units up to see inside, but peaking into the air vents I can see some pretty heavy wiring and bulky, heavy duty components mounted on an 1/8"+ board. I also see what appears to indicate the main high-voltage lines running in a rigid sleeve from the rear to the front of the unit, the sleeve I am looking at is marked "-" suggesting that it is physically isolated from the positive main line. If this is accurate, this is a safety feature to prevent the high voltage lines from getting loose or having contact with the enclosure while still providing physical isolation from the transformer, located near the power main and the sync circuits.
Overall, these lights are good, no frills lights that for a hobbiest should work well. I don't feel like they were made to be overly impressive, yet money is still spent on their construction in places where it matters. Not being a professional, I cannot comment on their reliability in this setting.
Support for these lights will be only as good as their distributor, and I have no idea what kind of technical support you'll get from
Adorama. I have never needed any support on my lights, and I am unsure what kind of warranty I got, though my distributor was local and I think they provided 90 days.
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