Cheap power.

As someone else mentioned, the jackrabbit battery pack is the achillie's heel. I fried my battery pack twice. It is a major inconvenience having to send in your pack for repair and wait for it to come back, especially when you need it for a job. Not to mention the high cost of repair if it is not under warranty. You would figure they would have an override that would protect the pack from frying itself.
Also, when used with the battery pack the unit maxes out at 320ws. You only get the benefit of 400ws when the unit is plugged into the wall. Battery pack mode also reduces your power setting choices to three power levels versus ten power levels when plugged into wall.
Also, when plugged into wall there is an audible beep after each flash. This beep is good in a studio setting but not so good in a location setting like a church, event hall, etc. It is not good for my stealth ninja style of shooting, very distracting. There is no switch to turn it off.

The flash is okay. For portraits, it is powerful enough to light small groups of people. Being a monolight it is top heavy and may not be what you're looking for if you normally work on uneven surfaces (outdoors). There is a higher chance of the unit tipping over when compared to other portable flash units. Other compact, portable flash units that you may consider are Norman, Lumedyne, or Comet. My monolight is still working after two years of light use. I'm glad I got to work with this unit but I'm probably moving on to another brand.

Customer Service

They answer the phones. They are somewhat knowledgeable. But I once had a problem of my unit misfiring. I gave them all the info but they could not figure out what the problem was. I later figured out on my own that the Dynalite unit was not compatible with the Quantum radio triggers I was using.

The flash head is ok. Nothing special, but I can mount light modifiers like softboxes to it with relative easy. Light weight is a plus.

The Jackrabbit II battery pack is junk. Oh, forgot to mention the ready alarm on the flash head when using AC power....This feature makes the flash useless in some situations such as a church wedding. Don't buy this product unless you enjoy lots of drama at your photo shoots.

The head is not very sturdy and the position of the power cord connection makes it vulnerable to breaking off. I have had to reinforce the cheap plastic connections with glue on one of the flash heads. The power dial "slips" out of position, so you really don't know what power setting you are at sometimes.

I personally own 2 Dyna-Lite Uni 400 Jr kits with 6 Jackrabbit II battery packs. I also have steered 3 of my freelancers to exactly the same product. The flash head is just fine. The problem is with the Jackrabbit II battery packs. We have experienced continual and repeated battery failures from the beginning. (Originally purchased a couple of years ago) I recently had two new batteries fail right out of the box on an engagement shoot. One of the replacement batteries failed after about 3 uses. I had one battery repaired by Dyna-Lite about a month ago and now THAT battery has failed. This is all within the last 60 days.

We use the systems for portraits and weddings. We have no need to shoot fast. We have two batteries clamped to the light stand and switch between them when one gets warm. The folks at Dyna-Lite suggest that we are shooting too fast, and I know that's not the case. Like I said, they fail right out of the box.

Even if we were shooting too fast, there should be some heat or electrical circuit breaker in the battery to protect it from failing...there is no such protection that I am aware of.

I am trying to work with Dyna-Lite to correct the problem, but they are very tight lipped about the issue. I get the feeling that they are just trying to minimize the issue rather than address it.

This product will stop working at the worst possible time. I have had it fail during weddings. I would stay away from this product like it were a Chevy Vega. The reason I have 6 of the batteries is because up to half of them don't work at any given time and there is no other battery compatible with the Uni 400 Jr according to Dyna-Lite.

Customer Service

The folks at Dyna-Lite are friendly, but that's about it. They don't offer any real solutions from my experience with them. I will not be doing any more business with them unless it's to have them repair another failed battery.

Similar Products Used:

Norman B-200

Fast recycle time, rugged construction, adequate power, price, size, weight

None that I have found so far! I love these things!

After renting the original Uni400JR's from my local equipment rental place, I made up my mind to go ahead and purchase a set. I bought them from B&H, and was pleasantly surprised to find that a newer version, the "G," had been released. So what I got was two Uni400 JR - "G" monolights. I can't remember the layout of the original 400's right off, but something about the "G's" makes a bit more sense... I just can't place my finger on it. These little guys perform so well, and I am very impressed! I can't imagine that anyone would ever complain about the weight, first of all... they weigh 3.5lbs per head, which is a LOT less compared to other monolights like the Calumet 750 and 1000's which weigh 17? (pounds) and up each! At 400w/s, the Uni400JR's pack a lot of punch for such a small, self-contained unit. They provide plenty of power for my medium sized studio, and I generally end up running them around 1/2 power most of the time. I use them with PocketWizard wireless triggers instead of sync cords, and I have to say that the 'Wizards are the best investment I could have possibly made for an addition to my lighting kit. They free you up from sync cords, and you don't have to rely on the optical slave for the second strobe, although that little slave "eye" is pretty darn reliable anyway! Both of my monolights with reflectors attached, my meter, pocket wizards and power cords fit nicely into my Pelican 1600 case for travel to location. I HIGHLY recommend this case if you are going to be taking your strobes anywhere other than your studio. Back to the strobes though. Another deciding factor for me buying these strobes over other monolights was the construction. They are rugged and built out of metal, which you won't find in most competing lights like Alien Bees. I have also never burned out a fuse or a bulb in these lights over my 6 months of use. Extra bulbs are cheap anyway, so it isnt really anything to worry about if you do break or blow out a bulb, and the monolights come with extra fuses in a convenient internal compartment! Overall, I am very happy that I purchased these lights, and I am confident that they will continue to serve me well into my career as a professional photographer.

Customer Service

haven't needed it!

Similar Products Used:

Dyna-Lite 4040

Solid metal body. Battery option. Good cycle time. Very reliable white/ infra-red flash sync. Fairly portable.

At 400 w/s, it could have more power. Only 320 w/s when used with battery. Heavier than some other mid- to lower-end monos, but that the price of a metal body.

Originally bought DynaLite UniJR400 because of the battery option, but I have yet to use it that way. The unit has solid build quality and all things considered can be rated as well above average as monos go.

Customer Service

Haven't needed it.

Similar Products Used:

Profoto monos.

Compact and light weight. Good variable controls and compatible w/dynalight light shaping accesories.

battery capabilities are overblown. No stronger battery capability i.e. Lumedyne or Quantum. Uni blow alot of fuses. This only applies to the Uni 400, I have not tried the 200.

I really wanted to like this unit. I'm a big fan of other Dynolite heads and packs. But it's not as well designed as the rest of the line and not hardy or powerful enough for professional work. If you are using it for a garage studio I would recommend it.

Similar Products Used:

Norman duallite
Profoto