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Good compact flashes?

Rawfa

Active member
Hi, I´ve stared shooting stills for actor´s portfolios and I find my self needing a flash with the Sony A7. I have a very compact setting going on and I´d like to have compact TTL flash to go with it. Any tips? Looking are the current options I don´t have much to choose from, so I was thinking about the Sony HVL-F20M.
 

gzimmer

New member
Rafael
I use the F20M with my A7r. It complements the size of the camera perfectly. When I need more power I use the F60M, however it makes the camera somewhat topheavy.

Gregg
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Gregg, don't you need an adapter for that F20M? If so, how stable is it?

Flash is the one thing that keeps me from replacing my 35mm SDLR gear with the A7R. The F20 can bounce but doesn't swivel … and none of the third party speed-light modifiers work on it.

The 43 and 60 flashes are just to big, and their design makes them even more unwieldy on these small cameras.

- Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Looks good. Has anyone tried it? Does it communicate with the A7?
It is new, so maybe not available yet. It says it supports Sony's TTL interface, so I assume it will, IF it is the new mount and not the old Minolta mount.

- Marc
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I have the Sony 43. Really nice flash. It's not that big but anything you put up there will be big in a way
 

ZoranC

New member
rawfa, I would suggest that you consider skinning this cat differently. While TTL has pros it also has cons. You might sooner or later find that you are moving away from TTL to manual control and thus asking yourself why you limited yourself to manufacturer's flash and paid big bucks for it when you could have had many options for much less money if you went manual. So consider using manual.
 
rawfa, I would suggest that you consider skinning this cat differently. While TTL has pros it also has cons. You might sooner or later find that you are moving away from TTL to manual control and thus asking yourself why you limited yourself to manufacturer's flash and paid big bucks for it when you could have had many options for much less money if you went manual. So consider using manual.
with TTL flash you can do both TTL and M - whatever suits the need, with M flash you can't do TTL... so unless it is a matter of money (or particularly bad flash itself - like HVL-F60M is complained about a lot because of overheating) and you are using only one flash on camera then TTL flash makes perfect sense...

Plus Nissin (above) if I am not mistaken can do A mode too, most of pure M flashes nowadays can't and A sometimes is a useful thing when you want some automation, but don't want TT preflash.
 

pophoto

New member
F20AM needs an adapter. F20M does NOT need an adapter. Yes it is quite stable.

I use the demb reportage flash bounce card with it. Almost perfect combination, use it off center in portrait mode and half bounce towards the ceiling and half forward to very good effect. Best flash for the size and money!
 

pophoto

New member
I also have the 43 which I took apart to check to see what capacitor rating, looks like I won't be modifying it anytime soon!
 

ZoranC

New member
with TTL flash you can do both TTL and M - whatever suits the need, with M flash you can't do TTL...
That is obvious.

so unless it is a matter of money ... and you are using only one flash on camera then TTL flash makes perfect sense...
Not as simple as you try to present it. First, once somebody gets into strobes for say portraits, like OP wants to, very rarely they end up staying on just one light and that quickly ends up in very big money difference that even those with deeper pockets can't ignore. Next, I doubt OP will limit himself to "on camera flash" if he is seriously interested in portraits. Last, but far from least, TTL can never replace human brain and often enough will fail that sooner or later OP will start using his flash in manual mode.

In other words: IMHO rather than spending money on single TTL flash he would be better off getting for approximately same total amount two manual flashes, remote controls, and some modifiers.
 
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