This tiny strobe slides in a camera bag even easier than a hot shoe flash does.

As an on-site photographer, I’m an off-camera hot shoe flash kind of girl. I work without an assistant, so the ability to pull the flash off my camera after a wedding ceremony and onto a light stand for portraits has always appealed to me. But, at times — like when fumbling with four AA batteries — I’ve wondered if I was missing out by not lugging around a studio strobe. Enter the Flashpoint Xplor 100 Pro TTL pocket flash.

Just a little taller than a mug of coffee, the Xplor 100 Pro TTL is actually shorter than my Nikon SB-700 speed light. But, don’t let the size fool you. The flash can recycle as fast as 1.5 seconds and pop out 360 full-powered flashes on a single charge. So how much power can you pack into a strobe that’s smaller than a 70-200mm f2.8 lens? I tested the Xplor 100 Pro TTL on some portraits and product photography to find out.

Table of Contents

Too Long, Didn’t Read.

Flashpoint Xplor 100 Pros and Cons

Pros

Cons

Gear Used

Innovations

Flashpoint Xplor 100 Pro Tech Specs

Ergonomics

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Performance: How does the Xplor 100 Pro compare to a Speedlight?

Image Quality

Extra Image Samples

JPEGs

Edited RAW

Conclusions

Likes

Dislikes

Too Long, Didn’t Read.

The Flashpoint Xplor 100 Pro TTL is an excellent segue from off-camera flash to strobe. Compact and lightweight, the Xplor 100 is still powerful enough to overpower some outdoor light using high-speed sync. It’s a great strobe on a budget, though it lacks some of the power of pricier options.

Flashpoint Xplor 100 Pros and Cons

Pros

Compact and lightweight

High-Speed Sync, TTL, and manual modes

Built-in wireless

Rechargeable battery

Affordable

Plenty of available accessories

Cons

A similarly priced Speedlight fired more during burst shooting

Designed for 85mm lenses and under

Gear Used

I used the Flashpoint Xplor 100 Pro TTL Pocket flash with the Flashpoint R2 Pro Mark II transmitter. I started with an older budget light stand and shoot-through umbrella but upgraded to the Flashpoint 7’ Auto Stand and a transparent Godox 51-inch parabolic umbrella when said cheap light stand fell and broke the umbrella. I used a reflector for a clamshell lighting set-up in some head-and-shoulders photos but otherwise used only a single light (and some sunshine) for these photographs.

I shot the Xplor 100 Pro TTL with Nikon Z 6 II and the Nikon D850 bodies. I used 24-70mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.2 lenses.

Innovations

Most studio strobes are big and bulky. The Xplor 100 Pro TTL is barely larger than a can of pop and only weighs about a pound. Unlike big studio lights, it’s going to slip pretty easy right into a lens slot of a camera bag.

Flashpoint Xplor 100 Pro Tech Specs

These technical specifications are taken directly from Adorama:

Energy Output: 100ws

Flash Exposure Control: TTL for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Olympus, and Pentax – Manual Flash

Flash Lens Coverage: 28-85mm manual zoom control; Wider, with Round Head Accessory Kit

R2 Radio Reception Range: >330ft / 100m

R2 Radio Channels: 32

R2 Groups: 5 (A/B/C/D/E)

Triggering Modes: R2 Wireless Radio (built-in)

Sync Port: Optical Slave S1, Intelligent Optical Slave S2

Model Light: 1.8W SMD LED 1 to 10 levels

Power Source: 7.2V/2600mAh Li-ion polymer battery 2.6Ah 18Wh

Power Control: 1/256th power to full power in 1/3 and 1/10th stop increments

Recycle Time: < 1.5 seconds

Full power flashes per charge: Approx. 360

High-Speed Sync: Up to 1/8000s

Exposure Compensation (TTL): Via R2 transmitter

Power Indication: Power operation. Off automatically after approx. 30 minutes of idle Operation

Battery Indicator: Yes

Color Temperature: 5800+200k

Stroboscopic Flash: Provided (up to 90 times, 99Hz)

Delay Flash: 0.0130 seconds

Beeper: Yes

Dimensions: 4.4 x 3.0 x 3.0 in / 12.0 x 7.6 x 7.6 cm

Weight with battery: 18.5 oz / 524g

Ergonomics

The Xplor is a cylindrical shape that easily slides into a lens slot of a camera bag. Speedlights tend ...