The Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit, manufactured by Adorama, is a nice lightweight and affordable monolight for on-location shooting. I tested it out on a recent portrait shoot for Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv and was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully this Flashpoint 180 Monolight review can help you decide if this is a piece of gear that will work for you.

 

Above: Henrik Rasmussen photographed for Dagens Næringsliv using the Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit

The Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit currently retails for about $200 at Adorama.com, including shipping. It comes with everything you need to go out and shoot right away, and is compatible with Bowens-mount accessories should you find the urge to slap on a beauty dish or some other light modifier. The kit does actually come with a small umbrella, though, which is nice. The kit comes with a small bag containing the monolight, reflector, battery with belt clip and charger, flash sync cord, umbrella, and a little grip that screws into the bottom of the monolight if you want to handhold it. The kit does not come with a standard light stand, so keep that in mind if you want to use one.

My first impression was that the kit is really easy to use. I set it up quickly and after some tests, was ready to use the light on an actual assignment.

Henrik was a great subject and the shoot was going well before I walked through a door and dropped the Flashpoint 180’s battery pack. It is made of plastic, so it is lightweight, but I was sure that it would be broken after hitting the concrete floor. I was pretty surprised to see the pack was fine, and also relieved that I could still use it for the rest of the shoot. So keep in mind, this is an affordable piece of gear, but it can actually handle some of the rough treatment that sometimes comes with using gear on-location.

After making a few portraits indoors at the offices of Marel, where Henrik is president, we went outdoors to get a different look and check out the performance of this Flashpoint 180 Monolight in the sun. Even diffused by an umbrella, the light was just fine for producing enough power to knock down the ambient light outside by about one full stop. The dial on the back of the light allows for a variation of up to five stops, too, and it was quick and easy to adjust.

All in all I’d say the Flashpoint 180 Monolight Kit is offers a great value. The one thing I’d like to see is a longer battery power cord so that it is easier to set the monolight on the ground if I’m not using it as a handheld light. It has a built-in belt clip and it seems that this light was designed to only be handheld, because the battery’s power cord is hardly long enough to reach from the ground to the top of a light stand, should I choose to use one. That said, the monolight was nice to use and I hope this Flashpoint 180 Monolight review helps you out. Thanks for reading.