Customer Reviews

Interfit INT429 Stellar X 300 Watt/Second 2 Head Kit with Softboxes

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I just got these today, and apparently it was the last set, because now it says there's a one- to two-month wait. Not only that, but I paid $450, and now they're listed at $694.95. Even that's cheaper than some other places I've looked. Anyway, they came in a massive (and heavy} box. Everything was very well packaged, and the build quality on these monolites is outstanding. (The body is rubberized aluminum instead of the usual polycarbonate you'd expect in this price range). There are reflective labels marked "Interfit" on each side of the unit, and on one unit one of the labels was upside-down. I peeled it off and righted it, but it left me wondering about the QC department at Interfit. I think it was just a forgivable fluke, no harm, no foul. Both units required little assembly other than locking on the bayonet mount reflector and screwing in the modeling light. I haven't gotten to the softboxes yet, but I've dealt with those before, so I don't anticipate any problems.

Anyway, I put the first unit on a stand, locked it down, plugged it in, and flipped the on-off switch, and .... nothing. Actually, nothing was a good thing, because it meant it wasn't getting any power at all. I checked the AC cord connections and those were good, so I removed the fuse and replaced it with one of the extras included in the kit. Now when I turned it on, it charged up almost instantly. I popped the test button and was rewarded with a nice blast of light. The second one fired up without incident.

One nice feature is how the modeling light dims as you turn the flash down. The first time I did this, going from full power to half power, the flash discharged. I thought I might have a short, and then it occurred to me that this was exactly what should happen, because to go to half power, it needed to dump the capacitor and then recharge it halfway.

Another reviewer mentioned you need a flashmeter because the power is continually variable. However, it is marked 1/4, 1/2, etc., so if have both units at the same distance and one is set for full and the other at 1/2 power, there's a one stop difference between them. If you understand how f/stops work, and how distance affects the light hitting the subject, you can greatly reduce trial-and-error if you don't have a flashmeter. But serirously, if you don't have a flashmeter, you'd probably be better off using a Canon Speedlite or two and letting them figure it all out for you.

The included case looks nice and is well made (except for the cheapish zippers) and the stands are adequate. Sandbags are recommended just to be safe.

All-in-all, I couldn't be happier. I will put these through the paces the next couple of weeks and if my initial exuberance is unfounded, I'll follow up with any details.

I have owned this setup for about a year. The stands are a bit flimsy if you are going to extend them beyond 5'. They do go to full extension but I would suggest a sandbag for this. The ease of setup for the softbox's is IMHO (never having set up others) not user friendly, but manageable. If this is your first strobe set up and you do not have a light meter be prepared to use the trial and error method for getting ratios set as these unites are step-less adjustment (I.E. variable output with no f/stop reading).
All in all if you have done your reading about lighting and/or understand lighting a bit, this is a great semi-pro kit, at half the cost of major competitors.