Flashpoint II 320 Monolight--good? Bad?

[D-B-J]

Im just starting out with flash photography. I am not sure which would be better, this or the kit with the umbrella. I would use this for product photography and portraiture. And just the strobe for lighting up my fishtank.

Any ideas?! Good or bad idea? i want to keep my budget around 200, so feel free to suggest anything else!

FP320SB1 Flashpoint II 320 Monolight Kit, 150 Watt Second, One Monolight Kit with 10' Air Cushioned Light Stand and 24" x 24" Softbox

 

[D-B-J]

http://www.adorama.com/FP620MK.html


Or this?

 

[D-B-J]

and can someone also explain to me how i power these? can i plug them into a standard outlet?

 

[Derrel]

They have been getting good reviews for quite some time. Pro Review: Adorama Flashpoint II 320 Monolight (Bonus)

I'd rather have the softbox and slightly lower-powered monolight than the higher-powered monolight and umbrella. And yes, you just plug them into a standard wall power outlet. You can also power them on-location away from wall outlets from a pure sine wave inverter & battery unit like an Innovatronix Explorer, or the Paul C. Buff Vagabond unit.

 

[KmH]

"The Flashpoint M series allows you to choose AC and or DC powered operation...."

All batteries are DC and it doesn't come out of standard wall sockets.

AC comes out of wall sockets or from a pure sine wave inverter & battery unit that Darrel mentioned. DC from the battery is changed to pure sine wave AC out of the inverter, which has a standard wall type socket to plug the lights power cord into.

I don't often shop at Adorama because of in complete web site pages they have like the first one you linked to that had little information about the item.

By the way Flashpoint is Adorama's house brand name.

They get their Flashpoint branded gear from a number of different gear makers but it's better gear than the Cowboy Studio, uh, stuff .