Impact 1-Floodlight Umbrella Kit

What's in the Box

The Impact One Floodlight Umbrella Kit comes with the following:

• Ceramic Floodlight Socket with wooden control handle and 10 foot, 3-prong cord with integral adjustable umbrella mount. The light can be mounted either horizontally or vertically and uses a standard 5/8" stand mount.
• 10” or 12” reflector (mine was a 12”)
• 43” White Translucent Umbrella
• 6’ Impact Light Stand

The Lowel Tota-Light Kit comes with the following:

• Lowel Tota-Light Tungsten Floodlight with stay-cool, plastic adjustment knob and 16 foot, 3-prong cord with integral adjustable umbrella mount. The light can be mounted either horizontally or vertically and uses a standard 5/8" stand mount.
• Lowel 27” Tota-Bella Silver Umbrella
• 8’ Impact Air-cushioned Light Stand

The light kits have very different light sources. The Impact light kit uses an Edison base ECT Lamp (500W/120V). The ECT lamp produces 13650 lumens and has an estimated life of 60 hours. The Tota-light uses an R7s base EMD lamp (750W/120V). The EMD lamp produces 19500 lumens and has an estimated life of 300 hours. Both light sources have a color temperature of 3200 K, which is normally designated as tungsten on most camera menus.

Both kits came with the appropriate bulb. I encountered a problem with the Tota-light. The bulb arrived with the filament broken. Not wanting to wait for a replacement to be shipped, I originally planned to replace it myself by purchasing locally. However I was unable to find the bulb for the Tota-light locally. I called B&H and they sent a free replacement immediately. Unfortunately that bulb was also inoperable. That was frustrating but eventually a replacement bulb worked and all was right with the light. Now, I realize that not everyone may live in such a small town like I do but you might want to order an extra bulb if you decide to buy one of these kits.

Since the light kits come with individual components, I thought it best to review each of the components separately. Comparison of the total packages will be found at the end of the review.