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Sony A7 and old flashes, experiences??
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:44 am    Post subject: Sony A7 and old flashes, experiences?? Reply with quote

Up till now i've been shooting flash photography with my Canon DSLRs, but i'd love to use some flashes on the Sony A7 combined with adapted manual lenses.

Does anyone here have some experiences with old flash gear and / or the use of wireless (the cheap chinese ones, i have a set for Canon) triggers for off-camera flashes ??

I do have a box full of flashes, but none are dedicated Sony flashes, i'm too scared that i might fry the electronics in the A7 to just put a random flash on the Sony!
There's plenty of various opinions on the net, but most are worried about TTL and AF assist functions, which isn't that important to me.
So i'd love to hear from some real life manual lens users' opinions and work-arounds!

Thanks in advance!

Cheers, René.


PostPosted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have 6-9 old flashes with vary power and zoom head. These can be used with radio trigger.
Very usable as manual strobist. I have 3 triggers, and 10 receivers, for use with these flashes.

I got them for 10-15 usd each flash, radio trigger approx 10-15 usd each.
Compare with the new Amazon prime manual flash costs as low as 31usd,

Set them in one same channel, power to 1/4 or lower, and place them in different spots of your location.
One can cover the whole even!


PostPosted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 9:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Yongnuo wireless trigger set i have for Canon works perfectly fine on the A7!

Anybody with actual experiences with a camera mounted flash, other than native Sony ones?


PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 12:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a Sony NEX 7, which has that stupid non-ISO flash shoe that Minolta came out with. So I've bought a couple of adapters for it, and for off-camera flashes, I mount an adapter to the adapter so I can plug in a PC cord. It's a bit ungainly but it works. I have a couple of Canon dedicated cords that I use in a non-TTL capacity to hook up my Canon flashes to my NEX 7 -- mostly just one Canon flash, a 540EZ. I also use a Nikon SB24 and I have a few others -- a Metz 45 CT4, a Sunpak 622, and a Vivitar 283. I have checked all these flashes with a multimeter to see what their trigger voltage is, and they're all safe to use on modern electronic cameras.

Mostly I use either the Canon 540EZ or the Nikon SB24, and the reason is because I can set them in manual mode and vary the flash output. This way I can dial in exactly the amount of flash exposure I need for correct exposure of the images. Thinking about it, I could probably also use the thyristors on some of my other older flashes and they'd do the same job. Like the Vivitar 283. But I haven't tried any of those older flashes with my NEX yet.

So anyway, I suspect you'll be having the same issues I have -- except your A7 doesn't have that stupid non-standard Minoltla-style hot shoe. But for exposure, I recommend using a flash that has variable output like the two I mention. Most full-featured modern flashes that I know of have this capability.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 5:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

cooltouch wrote:


because I can set them in manual mode and vary the flash output. This way I can dial in exactly the amount of flash exposure I need for correct exposure of the images.


Exactly. I have been doing that for quite some time now with my Canon gear, using old high-end manual flashes in a softbox and trigger them with a Yongnuo set, works like a charm!
Now that i know the Yongnuo also works on the A7 i can use that set up as well.

But still no info on a workable camera mounted flash for use on trips.....
Maybe i'll get the Nissin i40, i read a lot of positive experiences on that one, or something alike.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 6:00 am    Post subject: Re: Sony A7 and old flashes, experiences?? Reply with quote

TrueLoveOne wrote:
Up till now i've been shooting flash photography with my Canon DSLRs, but i'd love to use some flashes on the Sony A7 combined with adapted manual lenses.


That's indeed a challenge. Had similar problems on my Sony A850. As the Minolta/Sony ADI/TTL flash management is very sophisticated it only works with dedicated flashes and lenses. The only way out would be to use either fully manual flash modes or (a little bit better) so called auto flashes with thyristor management from built-in light sensors (like the old Metz ones).

Finally I gave up and use only the original gear on the Sony when using flash and for flash light photography with old MF lenses I use my other cameras and flashes; e.g. my Ricoh GXR-M works perfectly well with old MF lenses and the original Ricoh flash in pre-flash TTL mode. Wink