Nov
If you are looking for a flash – sometimes referred to as a ‘speedlight’ – for your Sony A6000 or A7/A7R/A7S camera, you will find that there are NOT a lot of choices other than the Sony flashes. This is due to the fact that Sony changed the hotshoe from the old Minolta mount to the new Multi-Interface mount, rendering most of the previous products incompatible with the newer Sony cameras. Unless you are prepared to use hot shoe adapters, one of the products that WILL mount straight onto the Sony Multi-Interface shoe is Nissin’s new Di700A flash.
If you are looking to use your flash off camera, I would recommend buying the Flash Kit that includes the Air 1 commander. The commander allows you to trigger the flash via wireless (remember to set the ‘wireless’ in the camera menu settings). The kit supports HSS (High Speed Sync). This allows you to use the flash at shutter speeds faster than 1/250 second (not possible with many cheap TTL Flash units). The HSS function allows you to use the flash for fill light when capturing wildlife or in conjunction with wide apertures (for shallow depth of field) when photographing in bright ambient conditions, e.g. the middle of the day.
The Sony HVL flashes also support HSS and can be triggered wirelessly using Sony’s small HVL-F20M flash. When shooting in HSS mode, light from the commander flash on the camera will not contribute to the lighting of the scene.
One advantage of using a dedicated Air 1 Commander over the HVL-F20M is that up to three flashes can be controlled directly from the Air 1 Commander without having to adjust the power on the actual flash itself.
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
- Nissin Air 2.4 GHz Radio TTL System
- Wireless Triggering Range of 98′
- Compatible with Sony ADI / P-TTL
- Guide Number: 177′ at ISO 100 and 200mm
- Zoom Range: 24-200mm (16mm with Panel)
- Tilts from -7 to 90°
- Rotates Left & Right 180°
- Recycle Time: 0.1-4 Seconds
- Slow, High-Speed, 1st & 2nd Curtain Sync
- Air 1 Commander Included
The kit can be purchased from:
B&H, USA: Di700A Flash Kit with Air 1 Commander for Sony Cameras with Multi Interface Shoe
Michaels Cameras, Melbourne (http://www.michaels.com.au)
As the commander and the flash will not talk to each other straight out of the box, Sony Artisan Brian Smith has written a setup guide which is a little clearer than the instructions included with the kit…