UKC

Hi, My daughter would like to be able to fire a remote flash and not the one on the camera. I guess she could go all manual and work out exposures and use a remote flash triggered by the light from the flash on the camera, but I assume there is a system which will auto expose (i.e. turn the remote flash off once the camera gets enough light - is that what TTL means?).

The shoe on this camera is different in form to that on most cameras, and love her as I do, I'm not going to spend hundreds for something new from Sony, if that is the recommended way, for something she use only a few times. So it will have to be cheap or via ebay.

I don't think there is even a hole on the body for the lead to a second flash gun.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

In reply to David Coley:

don't know the exact camera but normally you can fire an off camera flash by...

1) a cable the connects to the camera hotshoe and then to the bottom of the flash... a hotshoe extension lead if you will

2) using the onboard flash to trigger the remote flash

3) using wireless triggers (basic ones you configure the flash manually, more advanced ones you can adjust everything in camera as if the flash were directly mounted)

do YongNuo make a trigger set that's compatable with her camera?

In reply to David Coley:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/AA200/AA200FLASH.HTM

"The Wireless mode lets the Sony A200 work with compatible remote flash units with wireless capability, specifically the Sony HVL-F56AM and HVL-F36AM"

There should be a cheap(er) third party alternative

In reply to David Coley:
And if you can't find a TTL off camera set up for the Sony, then very cheap manual off-camera flash set-ups can be had on Ebay (have used them, they are good). Getting the exposure right with manual flash is actually not that hard and will teach her a lot more about exposure as well.

In reply to ChrisJD:

Thanks Chris, and others.

This looks like just the job:
Yongnuo-YN-560

I assume the wireless trigger is not built into the camera. So I need something like this:
Pixel-Pawn-TF-363

Thanks.

In reply to David Coley:

Not sure - the A200 wireless trigger may actually work directly with the flash - you'll need to research further.

Yongnuo are good flashes - prefer using mine to my Canon equivalent - which was a lot more!

In reply to David Coley:
By coincidence, I've just ordered a 560 IV and the trigger 560 TX for use with my Nikon. The good thing about the trigger is that you can adjust the flash output, zoom etc from the camera-mounted trigger, rather than going over to the flash and doing it there, which could be a real faff, depending on its position.

Btw, just in case you hadn't realised it, the 560 isn't a TTL flash, it's fully manual.

In reply to Fraser:


I'm hoping he does (its more fun manual, to start with anyway)

the Yongnuo YN565EXII flash is fully ETTL, but not available for Sony (yet?). I use one of these for Canon and its very good and prefer it to my Canon 580EX

In reply to ChrisJD:
The Yongnuo products seem to get consistently decent reviews, so I'm keen for my order to arrive. I was tempted by the 568 (I think that was the one) which was TTL and had high speed sync; the 560 TX trigger seems very good and I don't think worked with the 568.

Agreed re the manual thing. From memory, you were one of the people on here recommending it to me a few years back, as was Sean Bell.

In reply to Fraser:
Thanks guys, although I'd be fine with manual, Scarlett is far too lazy!