Vision 4 300W Outdoor Studio Flash Strobe

I bought one, tested it out , and liked it enough to buy a second ! I’m using it in full manual mode (camera and strobe) and it works great. You could probably play around with intensity on auto mode too. Fast strobe settings are nice for action, though it can be noted they are not quite as bright as the regular full intensity flash. It can chug along on high drive mode on my 70d for sequences without any issue, though it will eventually start to “fade” a bit. Only issue to be noted was that I had to turn the “silent lvl shoot” to “disable” otherwise it would not fire in live view, likely a camera specific issue (70d). The wireless transmitter works excellently. It is large and you’ll want a stand. It’s a nice fill light and I’m looking forward to the arrival of my second unit. Edit: it is still working well- the only issue so far is that the umbrella holding screw strips very easily, and they designed the hole in the hood for the umbrella to pass through so it’s in the wrong spot when rotated and locked in. So you either have to cut a new one or use it without a hood, which is kinda lame. But, for the price I can deal with it

I was excited to get this light as an affordable step up to a strobe from speedlights. I wanted strobe power but with a battery - something portable that I could easily take on outdoor shoots. This was not my first choice, but the price was right, and it was worth trying this out.What I love: It is powerful - 300ws of power, enough to overpower the sun when shooting in bright conditions. Easy to use - with very little experience using a strobe, I was able to quickly start using this without pouring through the (small) user guide. Excellent battery life - I've not yet been able to run down the battery after at least a couple hundred shots. Durable - as others have noted, it is built like a tank. Reliable - With over 200 shots, I've not noticed any misfires, and the light, as best I can tell, has been quite even.What I'm less thrilled with: Size & weight - while very portable, this has some heft to it; not something you want to lug long distances. Trigger - extremely low build quality and no options to adjust the light remotely. Features are limited - modeling light controls are limited to on/off and it will only stay on for around 1 minute; unless I'm missing it, you're limited to full-stop adjustments from 1/1 to 1/128 - 1/3 increments would help; and most importantly, no support for HSS and TTL. One of the benefits of a powerful light like this is the ability to add light in bright environments, but without HSS, you're left wanting/needing an ND filter for shooting at wider apertures.I'm honestly on the fence about this light. For the price, it is hard to imagine a better value. I've not come across a light this powerful, especially one with a trigger (yes, it's cheap, but it works), for anywhere close to this price. But that is where I am wondering about keeping this. For a little more money, you can get the Godox/Flashpoint AD200. It is not as powerful, but is way more portable and has a variety of affordable modifiers available. Portability is probably a little more important to me than power, but I'm so pleased with the light and what all that power can do that I'm inclined to keep this.BTW, I've had pretty good success using this with cheap speedlights set as optical slaves. This opens up a lot more shooting options.

UPDATE (CHANGED FROM 1 STAR TO 4 STARS (October 5, 2018)So, I returned the original package and ordered it again. The battery is perfect! It charges and appears to work perfectly. I've been using it for a almost a month now and how absolutely no issues with it whatsoever.------------------The battery doesn't charge or the strobe is defective? I plug it into the wall and the indicator light turns green telling me the battery has charged, yet, when I put it back in the strobe and it is only ONE BAR of battery life. Why? I originally thought the battery cable was defective.Neewer believed it was a defective battery and sent me a postage label to return the battery. However, I was getting close to the end of my return policy. I decided to just order a new battery from Amazon and that also only reflected one bar of power. I then changed charging cables since I have other strobes with similar cables. Still nothing changed.If you have the patience to understand how to use the controls, it's a great light and it's not heavy at all. I am surprised this is 300 watts! I have a Flashpoint 300 watt strobe that is twice the size of this and weights at least 10 lbs more!I was out of town when the return policy window closed (about a week passed). But, since I was a Prime member, they gave me a pass and I was able to return it. Would I buy it again? YES! This is an amazing light. It's so portable!Hopefully, if I purchase it again, I won't have the issues the first one had. I do want to say that Neewer itself was very communicative and worked on diagnosing the problem.I suppose I just had a defective one.

The good: Very easy to use. I'm getting good pictures. Long battery life. Well written instruction manual.The bad: 1) It comes in a large box packed with a lot of hard styrofoam. No problem if you're never going to move it. If you take it with you to photo shoots, you either have a large box or a delicate piece of equipment that doesn't easily fit into a container (I made my own box out of ballistic nylon, cardboard and 1" foam). 2) The metal tab that holds in the safety guard or a Bowens mount fixture is very fragile and easily bent. It protrudes when you store the light and could be easily bent. 3) The plastic cover on the battery compartment of the radio trigger is flimsy. It fell off and I lost it the third time I used the light. I can use tape to hold in the battery but it should be sturdier.Summary: Excellent light. I glad I bought it but some of the peripheral features need work.