Show me your flash

[Greg McCary]

Now that I have an a77 pre ordered I also want a flash, wireless with a nice range for creative landscaping. Show me your flash and which should I avoid?

[OldClicker]

The Sony off camera system triggered by the on board flash works very well within it's limits - the flash needs to 'see' the trigger flash. It supports TTL and High Speed Sync. The two current units are the F43 and F58. Both are nice and can be used to trigger other off camera flashes with ratios. The value at the moment is the recently discontinued, used F42 which can be found for $150 or less. It cannot control other flashes, but works well as an off camera unit - I think better than the others because of the way it swivels so the receiver can be set to point at the trigger flash. There are no radio control systems that support TTL/HSS for the Sony system, but there are cheap solutions for manual power control. – Terry

[Greg McCary]

Terry what I am thinking of doing is some colored gels maybe flashing inside an old car at night. Does the flash have to be line of site to flash and can I delay the flash or remote fire it? This is what I am looking at....
HVLF58AM Sony HVL-F58AM Wireless Shoe Mount Flash with Quick Shift Bounce System & Wireless TTL Mode, GN# 58m, 190', at 105mm position, ISO 100.

[OldClicker]

The F58 is a great flash. For TTL/HSS control, the IR light has to reach the flash from the on board flash. It doesn't have to go straight, but it must bounce around and get there some how. To just remote fire it with manual power settings, use a $30 set of radio triggers from ebay. I don't know what you mean by "delay the flash".- Terry

[Greg McCary]

Terry I just want to flash during a long exposure. Maybe lighting the inside of a car at night. Kind of like flashing the inside of a tent when shooting star trails. I guess I will pick up some triggers can you give me a link to what kind? I have never worked with flashes before. I am getting a 50r for my E5 as well.

[PWhite214]

Sunpak 633D with wireless triggers for has pretty well taken care of my flash requirements. I have four of them, paid about $25 per flash. Two sets of triggers were less that $100 (1 transmitter, 3 receivers). I have an assortment of other old flashes, but use the Sunpak most.

I bought a Targus TG-DP38S for Sony, Works pretty good TTL, Paperwork says it has built in slave function but I have not tried it. Price at the time was <$50. Now listed at $100.

Phil

[PWhite214]

I just saw your latest post. I would try a flash + radio trigger for that application. I am not sure even Nikon would do what you want.

Phil

[PWhite214]

oops, the flashes are Sunpak 433D, sorry for the confusion.

Phil

[OldClicker]

Terry I just want to flash during a long exposure. Maybe lighting the inside of a car at night. Kind of like flashing the inside of a tent when shooting star trails. I guess I will pick up some triggers can you give me a link to what kind? I have never worked with flashes before. I am getting a 50r for my E5 as well.

I use an older version of these.

PT-S1 Wireless Flash Trigger for SONY F42AM F43AM F58AM | eBay

There is a button on the transmitter that you can use without camera connection. You can also get them from the same eBay seller with 2, 3 or 4 receivers so you can fire multiple flashes of any brand. Note that these have the proprietary Sony/Minolta shoe mount. Most brands use the standard mount (I imagine Olympus) so you would need an adapter (easy to find).

Terry

[PWhite214]

Wow, Terry, I checked the link, $40 for the transmitter and 3 receivers seems like a great deal. I may order a set.

I have a box full of adapters, etc., but those would be so darned convenient to set up. Would also leave the the option of using two setups at the same time.

Thanks,

Phil

[Greg McCary]

Thanks Terry, I bookmarked the page. I'll get some soon.

[Anbesol]

I frequently like to use only one light, and when practicality allows, I just use a cable tether like this - Off Camera Flash Sync Cable Cord TTL Sony Minolta 3M | eBay. Then I don't have to be bothered making sure the light bounces properly for the slave, or is powerful enough to overpower the ambient light.

[Greg McCary]

I am wanting to do something like this..........
HD 110 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[chilis0]

thanks for the post..

[Anbesol]

The 5600HS(D) and F56AM (both the same, different logo) are a great cost to value ratio for TTL and Sony wireless system. Seems I didn't mention it earlier. The only significant difference I know between it and the F58 is that the F58 has a greater articulating range for the flash head.

[Greg McCary]

Thanks Charlie I have a four channel trigger that works well with most flashes but not the Sony. It seems Sony likes to have their own hot shoe design.

[OldClicker]

It seems Sony likes to have their own hot shoe design.

Thank Minolta for that. It's really a nice design, but not worth being non-standard for me. - Terry

[PWhite214]

I do have some Minolta flashes with the distinctive shoe, and some of the old 4000AF which are ISO shoe mount.

Minolta made adapters, FS-1100 and FS-1200 to allow interchange on systems.

Pixel makes adapters, TF-323 and TF-324 which are more modern replacements for the Minolta adapters, and are a lot less expensive than the Sony equivalents.

TF-323 on Ebay: TF-323 SONY & Minolta TTL Hot Shoe to PC Sync Adapter | eBay

TF-324 on Ebay: TF-324 Hot Shoe Convert Adapter SONY F58AM F56AM F36AM | eBay

Phil

.

[Anbesol]

They make reverse hotshoe adapters, you can use them just without TTL (as you're likely already doing).

*edit - oh, phil already explained.