A6000 flash recommendation

[Mr203]

Guys,
I am looking for non complicated flash for Sony a6000. As I understand the flash range $50-500. Not sure what to get . i am not a pro but wanted great picture to unleash full potential of my a6000.

Thanks

 

[Kirkp]

"Non-complicated" to me implies you need a native Sony flash. They're fairly expensive though.

The HVL-f32m is nice and compact. I like mine.
http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras-flashes-lights/hvl-f32m

The HVL-F20M is even smaller. It's less powerful, but should be a significant improvement on the built-in flash.
http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras-flashes-lights/hvl-f20m

To economize, you could buy a used Minolta 3600HS(D) flash in excellent condition for about $90. It must have (D) in the model name.
http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/oneflash/pf3600hsd
With the ADP-MAA adapter it should work fine on your A6000.
http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras-other-accessories/adp-maa

The worst position for a flash is on the camera, aimed at the subject. These days I won't use a camera-mounted flash unless I can bounce it.

If you really want to get the most out of flash photography you'd want to get the flash off the camera and consider at least a couple of remote flashes. But that gets complicated.

 

[Deleted member 5158]

I use a second hand nikon SB 26 tiggered by some cheap hahnel tigger kit. Works a charm bounced from walls etc and in combination with the built in flash that on this pic also is bounced

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[Deleted member 5158]

I like the fact the built in flash can tilt and be used in combination with a flashtrigger.

 

[jai]

I picked up for $25 plus shipping on ebay the Minolta 320x flash, and that is what I use on my A6000 (as well as my film cameras).

No TTL or anything like that, but it bounces and swivells and is actually pretty awesome.

 

[jai]

Actually I do have one issue with using that manual flash, the viewfinder is too dark when I'm using it. Is there some way around that?

Edit: Answer is yes! Live View Display -> Setting Effect OFF

That works perfectly.

 

[Mr203]

"Non-complicated" to me implies you need a native Sony flash. They're fairly expensive though.

The HVL-f32m is nice and compact. I like mine.
http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras-flashes-lights/hvl-f32m

The HVL-F20M is even smaller. It's less powerful, but should be a significant improvement on the built-in flash.
http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras-flashes-lights/hvl-f20m

To economize, you could buy a used Minolta 3600HS(D) flash in excellent condition for about $90. It must have (D) in the model name.
http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/oneflash/pf3600hsd
With the ADP-MAA adapter it should work fine on your A6000.
http://www.sony.com/electronics/interchangeable-lens-cameras-other-accessories/adp-maa

The worst position for a flash is on the camera, aimed at the subject. These days I won't use a camera-mounted flash unless I can bounce it.

If you really want to get the most out of flash photography you'd want to get the flash off the camera and consider at least a couple of remote flashes. But that gets complicated.

One question does 20m bounce off wall or cieling or no?
I know 32m does bounce capable flash.

Thanks

 

[Kirkp]

One question does 20m bounce off wall or cieling or no?

Yes. But bouncing reduces illumination a lot. Since the F20M is lower power than the others don't expect it to perform as well in bounce mode with high ceilings. Still, it should do better than the in-camera flash.

By the way the F20M and F32M can act as TTL triggers for certain Sony and Minolta flashes. If you buy either of those flashes and later decide you want to try off-camera TTL flash, you could buy one or two Minolta 3600HS(D) flashes as TTL remotes. You didn't express an interest in off-camera flash, but I just mentioned it as an option.

 

[michelb]

The HVL-F20M bounces up but does not swivel left/right like the 32M. If you want to bounce in portrait orientation, this would be a handicap.

The F20 is barely more powerful than the built-in flash. They say Guide No 20 but this is at the Tele position (50mm on APS-C) !
At the normal position it is only GN 14. Your built-in flash is GN 6 ( DSLR's used to have GN 12 ). All GN for today's flashes are at the longest tele position making people they are buying a lot of extra power when at basic coverage, some flash units are actually lower powered than some with bigger numbers.

The HVL-F32M is to me, simple without overweight and with all the basic features to have fun without being over-featured:
Auto zoom ( plus panel to go wide at 15mm )
Manual control with 1/3 EV control down to 1/128 power level
TTL
HSS
basic Wireless control of all the previous Sony/Minolta flashes that were compatible with Digital
usable in WL remote too.
Its GN at regular viewing angles should be in the area of 24 at 50mm on FF ( 27,5 on APS-C)

Like mentioned above, if you want to go more sophisticated later, all Sony Alpha flash models from the past 10 years plus a couple of Minolta HS (D)'s can be used as remotes with the HVL-F32M as controller ( HVL-F36AM or Minolta 3600HS(D) are often available used at around 100$ and in spite of their age, they work in WL TTL with no problem.

Little piece of advice on this day and age: Before actually going out and purchasing anything, i try to locate copies of the owner's manuals online. This gives me a good idea of what it does.
What the owner's manuals are not good at: Tell you what the product does not do well.

 

[omihay]

Nissin i40.

 

[Kirkp]

Here's a great resource for Sony and Minolta flashes. There's enough info to make my head swim. I filtered it to show only digital-ready flashes with wireless capability. Some models can only be wireless triggers, some slaves, and others can do both. The multi-interface flashes will work on your camera. The iiso flashes require an adapter to mount on your camera.
http://www.mhohner.de/sony-minolta/flashes.php?digital=1&wlonly=1

 

[Kirkp]

Nissin i40.

Looks good! A comparison:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/compa...2M/BHitems/1077433-REG_984435-REG_1082054-REG

 

[Mr203]

Tough competition between Sony 32 and nissin 40. I will place an order for one today.

 

[quezra]

I think between the HVL-F32M and Nissin i40 the latter is a no-brainer: cheaper and 4 batteries. Mostly, 4 batteries.

 

[Amamba]

I have a Minolta 3600HS(D) and it works great. It's light and very dependable, uses regular AA batteries, HSS, about the only complaint I have is that it can't be bounced in portrait orientation, but with 16mp I can crop to portrait if I want to. (Does anyone remember when 10 MP was a huge, huge thing )

I got mine for a steal, but I see them every now and then for $80-90. Actually KEH has them on eBay for $79 right now.

 

[michelb]

I have a Minolta 3600HS(D) and it works great. It's light and very dependable, uses regular AA batteries, HSS, about the only complaint I have is that it can't be bounced in portrait orientation, but with 16mp I can crop to portrait if I want to. (Does anyone remember when 10 MP was a huge, huge thing )

I got mine for a steal, but I see them every now and then for $80-90. Actually KEH has them on eBay for $79 right now.

Exactly 10 years ago your Minolta 3600 HS(D) was to be paired with a whopping 6.1MP Minolta 7D or 5D camera.

 

[Amamba]

Exactly 10 years ago your Minolta 3600 HS(D) was to be paired with a whopping 6.1MP Minolta 7D or 5D camera.

Which had better JPEG colors than the modern Sony cameras. And Sony just had to mess with it.