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Flash for Sony?

Rawfa

Active member
Little doubt....does the A7 "pre-flashes" with all flashes?? I mean, I use the same flash on the A99 and and it fires straight away, then I use it on the A7 and it pre-fires like 1 to 3 shots before actually shooting. Which makes the A7 useless with any flash for ME (impossible to use it like this at weddings).
 

JMaher

New member
I don't have a A99 but ETTL relies on pre-flash to calculate the amount of flash duration. I expect the A99 is just faster. This is particularity a problem with the A7r.

I primarily use a manual flash like the Godox 360 for that reason. No pre-fllash and no delay. I expect you could also use a flash with an Automatic function instead of ETTL.

Jim
 

Rawfa

Active member
Jim, which flash are you using with your A7R? At the moment there are only 4 flashes with the mult interface mount that allow for TTL on the A7 series.

I've also read that the F43M uses the red AF-assist beam for pre-flash instead.
 

Slingers

Active member
I have read lots of complaints about the F60M overheating after 5 minutes. I thought getting the F43M it would be a safer option and it more suits what i need it for.

I was shooting an event tonight and right as the organizer asked for a pic i noticed it was shutdown due to overheating. Lucky i had other options but it took about 5 minutes to recover. It happened a good hour into the event though and there had just been some speeches so it seems nowhere near the complaints of F60M and more normal behaviour. I was a little surprised but maybe this will help others out there.
 

Rawfa

Active member
I ended up pre-ordering 2 Nissin i40s for Sony. They´re more compact, less expenssive than the F43M and hopefully won´t overhear as much.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I have read lots of complaints about the F60M overheating after 5 minutes. I thought getting the F43M it would be a safer option and it more suits what i need it for.

I was shooting an event tonight and right as the organizer asked for a pic i noticed it was shutdown due to overheating. Lucky i had other options but it took about 5 minutes to recover. It happened a good hour into the event though and there had just been some speeches so it seems nowhere near the complaints of F60M and more normal behaviour. I was a little surprised but maybe this will help others out there.
I think it depends on the shooting conditions, frequency of shots in a burst, and the level of light required.

I've had mine shut down in hot summer conditions, when shooting bursts at or near full power to overcome severely backlit subjects. However, to be fair, so did my pal's Canon flash, almost at the same time. Took over ten minutes to recover, and then they shut down again a few minutes later. They need to completely cool down to continue as usual. Doesn't hurt to remove/replace the batteries which can get red hot and slow down the reset.

Other than that, I've never had the FM60 shut down because I usually just use it for a wink of fill in most cases … but I would never use them in place of strobes in any studio setting, or in a modifier that would require more output … learned that the hard way … a mistake I won't repeat.

- Marc
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I'm not sure if the issue is over-heating as much as how low the thermal threshold is set. If I recall correctly, you could shut off the thermal protection on the Nikon flash.

If there is an issue of over-heating it appears to be present to one degree or another with all modern speed-lights … not just Sony.

Perhaps technically pushing the envelope coupled with the use of Lithium batteries has made it necessary to lower the thermal threshold to keep from frying these units and dealing with a zillion warranty repairs?

- Marc
 

Malina DZ

Member
I think it depends on the shooting conditions, frequency of shots in a burst, and the level of light required.
Words of wisdom!
Any speed light can overheat under certain conditions. It's good that there are safety measures in place to prevent hardware failure.
One just has to know the speedlight limits and move on to more powerful lights if conditions require so.
If you are abusing a speedlight, a battery booster and a set of fresh spare batteries will be quite handy. The former will speed up recycle time (up to x2), the latter will reduce down time when overheating eventually happens.
 

miklar

New member
I have been using the Sony HVL-F43M with an A7r for the past 10 months. Coming from Nikon (and still using a D3x with SB800s) I can say Sony's F43M performs equally well, short of lacking some remote control capabilities.

Unfortunately, a week ago I lost the connector protector caps for the F43M and A7r flash shoe. Neither I or my dealer is able to obtain them from Sony Canada.
Considering all the contacts are now exposed I'm concerned it may not be long before they become damaged...

Does anyone here know where I can get several of these "connector protector caps"?
Cheers
Michael
 
I have been using the Sony HVL-F43M with an A7r for the past 10 months. Coming from Nikon (and still using a D3x with SB800s) I can say Sony's F43M performs equally well, short of lacking some remote control capabilities.

Unfortunately, a week ago I lost the connector protector caps for the F43M and A7r flash shoe. Neither I or my dealer is able to obtain them from Sony Canada.
Considering all the contacts are now exposed I'm concerned it may not be long before they become damaged...

Does anyone here know where I can get several of these "connector protector caps"?
Cheers
Michael
might try this.

Flash Hot Shoe Cap Cover For SONY A850 A750 FA-SHC1AM B
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I'm looking for a flash with the following specs:

- Compatible with the A7 and the A99
- Powerful (good enough to use with a large fast zoom at a wedding)
- Long lasting battery
- Can be triggered wirelessly if necessary
- TTL
- If possible...not very expensive :D

I can see my options with the new multi-interface are kind of limited On Camera Flashes | B&H Photo Video


What would you recommend?
Rawfa,

Not sure if you saw my recent initial review of the Nissin i40 speed-light with multi-function shoe for the A7 cameras (and A99) …

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/sony/51878-report-i40-flash-a7-cameras.html

I did a comparison of specifications between the Nissin i40 and Sony's new HVL-F43M … with the primary objective being size for use on my A7R (I already have a HVL-F60M for my A99 Wedding Camera).

Nissin i40 Compact Flash for Sony Cameras ND40-S B&H Photo Video

Sony HVL-F32M TTL External Flash HVL-F32M B&H Photo Video

Based on the specifications, I selected the Nissin i40 which can be had now as opposed to pre-ordering the Sony model. Price for both are about the same … under $300.

A few differences helped make the decision:

The i40 is smaller mostly noticeable in height. While the Sony is slightly slimmer (2.6" verses 2.75" Wide: the B&H specs are wrong for the i40), it is twice as tall when in the down direct flash position (4.7" verses 2.4" high) Both are about the same depth.

In essence size is okay for both with the i40 presenting a bit more well balanced relationship on an A7 camera.

The main issue with the Sony model is that it only takes 2 AA batteries. This is a non-starter for Wedding photography IMO and experience. The Nissin takes 4 AAs which helps it recycle faster, and more importantly … last longer.

I also did not like that the Sony model only rotated 180º in one direction, and 90º in the other … just something else to remember when in the heat of shooting.

My Nissin report points out the cons of the i40 … with Wedding work being the bias of evaluations.

Hope this helps a little,

- Marc
 

miklar

New member
I have been using the Sony HVL-F43M with an A7r for the past 10 months. Coming from Nikon (and still using a D3x with SB800s) I can say Sony's F43M performs equally well, short of lacking some remote control capabilities.

Unfortunately, a week ago I lost the connector protector caps for the F43M and A7r flash shoe. Neither I or my dealer is able to obtain them from Sony Canada.
Considering all the contacts are now exposed I'm concerned it may not be long before they become damaged...

Does anyone here know where I can get several of these "connector protector caps"?
Cheers
Michael
I'm pleased to report that Sony was able to provide me with both the Shoe Cover and Shoe Cap, including the corresponding part numbers, free of charge.

Just in case someone here is in need of one or both of these the part numbers are as follows:
- Shoe Cover 443840401
- Shoe Cap (875) 443873402
Cheers
 
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