Considering an Adorama Flashpoint Solo Portrait 1220M for family portraits

I've been relying on three flashes for my portrait work, but now I need more light for families.

https://www.adorama.co​m …0k1.html?Catego​ryID=66005

I'm assuming that this is an older Godox model, but the specs and battery look to be a solid offering for the price.

Any guidance or experience with these units, or something comparable in the $300.ish range ?

600 w/s is a big step up from 3 speedlights - that's the light of 6 or 8 speedlights all in one strobe. Do you want just a single strobe? Also, this looks to be a purely manual strobe - the modern Godox ecosystem with RF remotes is easier to use and supports TTL as well. I recently used one of the occasional ebay 15% coupons and picked up the Godox AD200 and remote at a discount. That's 200 w/s, not 600 w/s for roughly the same price, but 600 w/s seems like a lot of light for indoor portraits.

I don't do the monolight thing, but there are newer Godox AC-powered strobes in that price/power range that have a built-in Godox X system radio receiver, where you can at least get remote power control from an X1T or XPro transmitter. They're the Mk II series: the QTII, QSII, GSII, DPII, and SKII series. The QTII lights can also do HSS. So you don't have to get an AD600M / AD600 / AD600 Pro (Flashpoint XPLOR) to get a light in the current Godox X system.

However. Adorama hasn't "Flashpointed" all of them. The QTII series is the Flashpoint Rapid. And the SKII series is the Flashpoint Studio. But they do sell the QSII series as Godox. I don't see the DPII or GSII series on Adorama, but they're on B&H.

So, not everything that's Godox is called Flashpoint on the Adorama website, and not everything that's labelled Flashpoint is made by Godox (e.g., Flashpoint Rovelight is Jinbei).

Robert Hall has a youtube video comparing the different Godox Mk II series. But ignore the bit about 0.1 stop adjustments; a firmware update went out for the transmitters so they can do that, now.

These are really helpful comments.

I'll be chewing through my ideas of what would be most useful; all the different scenarios, and which are most likely.

I don't recognize this as part of the Godox system, but I'm no expert.

One advantage of the Godox system is that you can grow with its capabilities.

The one question I have is "does it take the Bowens mount adapter." If it does, there are plenty of options. If it doesn't, I would avoid it. This is the connection between your strobe and accessories. Bowens may be out of business, but their connector is the universal standard.

As for getting one light like this, that is fine. You have learned skills with your speedlights and they can continue to serve with this unit. You will need to make sure all the units you are using are ready to fire before making your exposure (this one may be ready much faster).

Almost everything posted to my Instagram (mostly Studio work) has been done with one powerful light and sometimes a second light which is much less powerful. The big exception is the headshots on a white background (although I could have done those with one big light and three speed lights).

https://www.instagram.​com/storyinpictures_co​m/

In some ways, any light will do as long as it works consistently and doesn't have color issues. And you can add modifiers (hence my question about Bowens mount).

I'm often getting by with various brands of gear (sometimes expensive gear, sometimes not). Some is more convenient to work with, but mostly, light is light.

Thinking through a flash upgrade took more grey matter than I had anticipated. Also, my use case wasn't very well described.

I've come to understand the current world view of strobes as tiered systems. That is, there is almost a caste structure as to which manufacturers are on top, and each of the systems is a family that inter-operates best within their own kind. Some product lines are not well developed (small family), so even if they are at a higher tier their overall value might be less useful.

At the top are companies like Profoto. And a step down would be Godox, which is such a heavy favorite in the professional, nearly-professional, and wanna-be crowds. Then there are the almost-Godox, like Jinbei, who are very price competitive but lack the full family range of higher tiered offerings. Next down are Yongnuo and finally all the little off-brands.

Why read books on the subject, when I've just wrapped up a huge industry in a few sentences ? Hmm, yes, it's a simplification.

I ended up with this selection: https://www.adorama.co​m …c.html?rfkref=p​roductPage

Pluses, it comes with a Canon-compatible transmitter, it's battery powered, 500 w/s, Bowens' mount and backed by a US distributor with a good reputation. The transmitter supports Canon's proprietary RT and Jinbei's RF. This means that I can use some RT transceivers for my own speedlites. I believe this to be a price/value combination that hits all my use-cases and there is still some room to grow with the Jinbei family.

Thanks all !

I think you have made a great choice for your needs. Use it a lot right away to discover any flaws in your workflow and return it if it doesn't fit. Otherwise, go make a bunch of pictures and forget the gear questions .

In the end, a strobe that is consistent in its output of color and power is 90% of the strobe gear game. And I say this as someone who loves lighting gear and has some strong personal favorites.

And in lighting, the gear is only 10% of the game, if that. It really is more about knowledge, vision and execution.

I will say that there are tiers and the solid brands which have built a reputation are at the top and they do have specific advantages, but most of those only matter if you are working under pressure or deadlines.

Godox is unusual in that they came out of nowhere (well, China, actually) and they were quickly being much more innovative than the competition while providing a reliable product in a surprisingly small package. And they just keep developing new and very useful features. This is quite unusual in this realm where development is typically slow.

I think it is fair to say that Godox has pushed both Profoto and Elinchrom to innovate.

I use a lot of systems. What I own is decades old but still running great Bowens moonlights, some pieces of Godox gear and have been slowly collecting Elinchrom.

After what I own, I use Profoto most because it is everywhere in the pro community. They were very smart in how they gave great discounts to rental companies and schools, which was a huge factor. Paying visible professionals with jobs and gear was another smart move. They are marketing geniuses. But Godox has them developing new things quickly now.