Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC)

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

Several years ago I bought three of these units (two of which came from B&H).

I usually shoot with speedlights but a larger shoot required more power and faster recycle time. I have owned several Interfit products in the past and while not the most rugged products out there, for the price, their products have performed and held up well. I expected the same quality and performance with these. Instead what I got was a headache, tons of returns and calls to Interfit Customer Service.

The two that I ordered from B&H arrived quickly and there was nothing wrong with the unit's functions. The large Interfit logo on the side however, is a stick-on plastic decal and it was half off on both sides and on both units when it arrived. The logos are stuck on using a very sticky and gooey glue that got all over everything and wiping it off was impossible. Additionally, the peeling logos looked horrible and unprofessional in front of clients.

I called B&H about the peeling labels and they shipped me out replacements right away. I got my replacements within a few days.

When the boxes arrived, I set the units up and turned them on. The first unit sparked, gave me a shock and smoked badly as the switch was turned on. Additionally the fuse blew. The second unit was missing the switch and just an empty hole existed in the back where it had been. The switch is a cheap rocker switch. After searching the bag, I found the switch which had popped out of the mounting. I tried to pop it back in but it would fall out. This was true of the first unit and why the unit sparked -- the switch had shorted out. I again called B&H and returned the replacements.

I should note that throughout the entire process, B&H was great. They listened and were quick to respond and help me out. My issues were with the products which for whatever reason, had major quality issues.

Additionally I had other issues with these units, On two of the units I bought, the hot shoe trigger would not fire from my Canon 40D. After calling Interfit Customer Service, they told me that for some of their units, I needed a reverse polarity cable since the Canon camera reverses the polarity of the signal to the strobe. Of course that didn't make sense as two of the three units had this issue and the third one worked fine. In any case, I ordered the cable. When it came in, the cable which was very nice and thick but it used a 1/4" headphone jack instead of the 1/8" headphone jack the strobes took. I had to purchase yet another adapter to get it to work. I ended up splicing a sync cord in half and soldering the positive to negative and vice versa to make my own cable.

After all the returns and headaches, I stopped on my 6th one of these strobes. That will be the last one last one I own of this brand. Perhaps there was a quality control issue around the time I ordered or there were a few bad models floating around out there. In the future I am going to spring for a set like Elinchrom.

Since I've owned these units for a few years now I can say that for the ones I ended up keeping, they have held up well. One of the units' optical/infrared sensor stopped working about two months after I had it so that unit always needs to be fired with a sync cord or radio transmitter. The flash tubes are still fine and I've only lost one modeling light. If it wasn't for the nightmare I went through, I would probably buy more of these. Oh and the logo peeling off issue? I pulled the logos off myself and ran some tape over the holes to cover the glue. Looks ugly but its better then the glue getting everywhere.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

After reading the reviews I decided to add this to my impact strobes. Really impressed. Solid feel super bright. All the features I love. Able to cut beep, fast recycle. Got it the the 39" octabox and boy do they produce great light.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I shoot portraits in a studio environment and was looking for a low cost option. These units were quite inexpensive for what you get and have many features you don't find on other comparable units, such as a cooling fan and a sliding mount so you can get a better balanced position while using heavy attachements like light boxes. I haven't done a shoot with them yet, but have set them up and tested them and they seem to have a good amount of power, look solidly made, etc. Be warned, however, you get what you pay for. I've had two other sets of monolights, SPs and JTL. Both looked good and performed well at first but after a year or two of light use, burned out and couldn't be repaired. Or, rather, they could be repaired but only at a cost higher that the value of the unit, especially after calculating shipping back and forth to the manufacturer which you are responsible for. If you buy these because you're on a budget, be prepared for the possibility that they may not to last too long. make sure you have an extra unit as a backup so if one burns out during a shoot, you can keep going.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

i use this monolight for a studio shots. the light quality is great and the product it made durable to last hard surrounding

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

This unit is solid, clean, heavy, and very professional looking. strong flash and mono light. very pleased.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

This thing looks and feels professional, solid and well built, very clean. So far well pleased with unit and for the price you can't beat this product!!

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I purchased this light as an up grade from using my speed-lights for indoor work. Others have complained about no instructions, not a big deal if you have worked with any kind of lights in the past. Set up was quick and easy and the performance has exceed my expectations. I liked this light so much I went out and purchased another one, 600ws. Best of all was the s type mount that fit all of the accessories that I all ready own.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I had to give this light five stars, Construction is very good, Power out put is there. Easy of operation is great. Features are great. Price is great. Accesories are also very good and available. accesories cost less then others. I did find one unexpected unpleasant surprise. The Sync speed. it is slow and not advertised. I was able to get my 7D with provided sync cable up to 400 shutter speed OK, after this 500 showed black curtain and strobe was going out of sync. I did this at several power out puts from 1/8 to full. The stobe was very consistant and didn't slow down at full power which is good. Just 1000 to 1500 shutter speed is so much better to stop or freeze most motion.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I use the flash in my studio, it's output is constant, very fast recycling and color temperature is constant.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I would recommended it

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I have been shooting weddings for 7 years and use the light for altar shots. Wish I bought this one first. The one I had was very nice but over twice the price.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I use 2 of these lights in my studio and on location and they work great. Only thing I do not like is sometimes when you dial the power up or down, the flash fires about 1 second after you stop turning the knob. Its not really a big deal and doesnt warrant a star off the rating though just because its so minor. Build quality is good, they are sturdy and feel solid. All in all, great product.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I use two of these in studio work. I just had a fashion shoot last week and the 300X is on the money every time.
I love the "S" bracket for mounting various Interfit accessories quickly and efficiently.
The build quality is high and the lights are rugged.
Value is very high.
I love the ability to adjust the center of gravity to better support the weight of the strobe while shooting.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I use this studio flash indoors powered by AC. Its ruggedly built and has the sort of utilitarian features you'd expect from an Interfit product.
Auto power dump feature is great.
I love the "S" type mount for quick, sure and positive switching between all my lighting accessories (soft boxes, snoots, grids and etc).
I use CHEAP ALZO-Digital triggers in studio for wireless activation...no fuss or problem. I rarely use these lights at full-power in the studio so recycle seems instantaneous.
Color of the supplied bulbs are perfect.
Unit is around 5 lbs so you need a good stand to support it.
I would have liked the ability to stop down to 1/32 power but, hey...somethings gotta give at such a low price! 1/16 power in 1/10th stop increments will do just fine.
All in all, this light is a true bargain and more than enough for a small to medium studio setting. I run two of these in tandem for key and fill and then augment them with speedlights (off-camera) for accent-lighting, hair lighting, back lighting, background lighting and etc.
These lights perform as I need them to without a hitch or a fuss.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

Internal cooling fan, auto dump when power is turned down, you can shift the center of gravity back when mounting 40x40 soft box to make the light more stable.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

I've used AC strobes and very low end monolights in the past, and wasn't sure how much of a step up this would be. Turns out, it's a big improvement. This is a well made light, all of the controls and adjustments have a solid feel to them, nothing cheap at all. I don't know how well the electronics will hold up, but mechanically, this should last a lifetime if taken care of.

Features: The metal rail on the bottom allows the mounting point to adjust, to let it balance on a stand with or without an umbrella, pointed up or down. That's handy. The bracket fits on a standard light stand and holds an umbrella.

This light is pretty sizeable, you don't want to mount it on a tiny stand. I bought an 8' Interfit stand for it, and it's just big enough. Going a little bit heavier wouldn't be a bad idea.

As far as the light goes, it's bright of course, it recycles quickly, has a quiet fan, the modeling light tracks the power, the slave sensor works well and has an on/off switch, and the ready beep has an on/off switch as well. I wouldn't change a thing.

Comments about Interfit Stellar X Monolight - 300 Watt/Seconds (120VAC):

Easy to set up and very user friendly controls. Very sensitive optical slave. 300w/s is plenty of power. I am having difficulty using the supplied pc cord. I have a Canon Rebel XT and a Nikon pc adaptor (I have used with other lights and pc cords) that I can not use with these lights. I am using an infrared trigger which is firing fine.