Flash for sony a330

[Garrrett]

Hey, I'm relatively new to photography, I want to get an external flash for my sony a330, any advice?

[zona5101]

i know nothing about Sony so i can't give you a model number...but you should look for a flash that works with your cameras electronics...generally your best best is the Sony brand as all the communications between the camera and flash are built from the ground up (rather than reverse engineered). You will want to buy as much power as you can afford (guide number) and you will want a flash with a head that bounces and swivels. Even if you don't understand what that all means now, you will later and be glad you spent the money.

[inkista]

My personal take is that if you can easily afford it and plan to get into flash photography for a lot of your shooting get the top-of-the-line OEM flash. As zona says, whatever you do make sure you at least get one that's got swivel and tilt capability for bouncing.

(I'm guessing in Sony-speak this translates to: if you can afford it, get a HVL-F58AM, if not a HVL-F42AM will probably work just fine; but avoid the HVL-F20AM if you're going to blow money on a flash, since it's basically just a step up from the pop-up flash and won't swivel and is unlikely to offer manual control for off-camera use).

If you do not buy a new Sony flash, be aware of a couple factors.

1) Sony uses the proprietary Minolta flash hotshoe connection. It is physically unlike the ISO-compliant shoe that everybody else uses. (illustrations). So, if you go non-Sony/Minolta, be sure that the hotshoe on the flash is actually made for Sony/Minolta, otherwise, you're going to have to get an adapter, and chances are good you'll only have manual function.

What I mean by manual function is that the only thing the camera can tell the flash to do is fire, and you have to set the power level of the flash manually on the flash itself. TTL means that the camera can automatically set the flash power from the camera, using through-the-lens metering. Third party flashes may or may not offer TTL, but a new Sony flash definitely will have TTL capability.

2) If you buy an older used flash, your camera may have a sync voltage limit. Most dSLRs can take 250V across the hotshoe, but a lot of the older flashes from the '60s-'70s (but that doesn't always mean later ones are safe) had much higher voltages that can fry your camera's electronics. So, if you're hunting up flashes in garage sale/flea markets/eBay/Craig's List, check whether or not the model you're looking at is going to be safe for use. If it goes over 250V, then using a Wein "SafeSync" is an option, but usually you can find something in your price range that won't require it. Most speedlights on the market today synch in the neighborhood of 10V.