I have a Sony DSLR A200 and I bought a HVL-F-56AM flash. The flash arrived yesterday and it does not provide sufficient light to shoot pics. I have played round with the settings and th only way I can get it to shoot a decent pic in in manual mode with either a high ISO setting or a long exposure time. There is a RATIO setting that can be either off/on. When I use this setting it overexposes the shot unless I am shooting a longer distance or I am using the 17mm zoom. The major bummer to this setting is when I turn it off it automatically resets back to the TTL mode making me have to set th flash every time I turn it on. Now in the TTL mode I am using a 1/1 power level and the flash range can be either manually or automatically. Being not the best scientist and not seeing subtle changes I will go from one extreme to the other and see a difference in the lighting in the shot but neither of the settings is sufficient light for the pic. I originally tried this flash attached to the camera then via a remote cable. When the flash was attached to the camera the flash was insufficient. When I connected it remotely it was enough light however both the external flash and the built in flash were being used when I took a pic. Now this morning I am unable to have both flashes at the same time no matter what have tried. Does anyone have any advise to solve this dilema? Thanks.
The guide numbers for the flash are: 104' (32m) at 28mm 144' (44m) at 50mm 183' (56m) at 85mm It has more than sufficient power, you just have to know how to use it. You should really post some examples of how your pictures are turning out. There's really not much advice I can offer if I'm not seeing your results.
Here's examples: With the external flash on the stock settings the flash came with in auto mode on my camera: Here's the subject with the stock built in flash: See the major problem here? It's almost like the flash is firing too earl or late in relation to the shutter.
What's your shutter speed? Unless you're using a high speed sync, the max for your camera is probably 1/250. If you go much above that, it won't work. It'll be dark and you'll see banding depending on how far over the x sync it is. So is the flash off of the camera in the first pic? Are you using a pc sync cable and not a specific sony type cable? What's your shutter speed?
The shutter speed for both pics was 1/60th. The first pic the F56 flash is attached to the top of the camera. The flash illuminated when I took the pic. The second shot is using the internal "pop-up" flash in te camera.
What mode was the flash in? Put it in TTL with auto focal length and try shooting at 1/250, ISO 100, aperture f/9
Yeah... But that's an all white wall. You're probably going to need manual mode for that shot. No? Test it on something different. Your sofa, a chair, your kitchen table, anything that isn't predominantly white or black (or really any solid color for that matter).
If it set to fire to the white expsoure, the white would still be illuminated and the other objects would be underexposed. It looks like the flash didn't even fire in that one.
I had a similar problem with my 30D (Canon). Close to a year I thought it was "user error". That is until I borrowed a friend's 40D. There was a problem with some "stuck bulb" in 30D which Canon Service quickly fixed. Try finding another Sony and using that camera to see if you get similar issue.
The light one above: Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi Image Created: 2008:08:14 11:24:05 Exposure Time: 1/60 sec F-Number: f/5.0 Exposure Program: Normal Program ISO Speed Rating: 400 Brightness: 3.6 EV Exposure Bias: 0 EV Metering Mode: Pattern Light Source: Unknown Flash: Flash, Auto Focal Length: 30.00 mm Color Space Information: sRGB Image Width: 3872 Image Height: 2592 Rendering: Normal Exposure Mode: Auto White Balance: Auto Scene Capture Type: Standard Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal The dark one above: Image Orientation: Top, Left-Hand Horizontal Resolution: 72 dpi Vertical Resolution: 72 dpi Image Created: 2008:08:14 11:20:59 Exposure Time: 1/60 sec F-Number: f/5.6 Exposure Program: Normal Program ISO Speed Rating: 400 Brightness: 4.1 EV Exposure Bias: 0 EV Metering Mode: Pattern Light Source: Unknown Flash: Flash, Auto Focal Length: 40.00 mm Color Space Information: sRGB Image Width: 3872 Image Height: 2592 Rendering: Normal Exposure Mode: Auto White Balance: Auto Scene Capture Type: Standard Contrast: Normal Saturation: Normal Sharpness: Normal
