Sony a77 flash - will any flash work with a hot shoe adpt?

vogtguy · Apr 21, 2018

I don't understand why Sony has to change the hot shoe from model to model. The a77 is not the same shoe as the a99. So I am looking for an affordable flash for my SLT-a77v that will bounce. Will any flash work if I get a hot shoe adapter?

vogtguy · May 7, 2018

the SLT-a77v hot shoe is the Minolta hot shoe

idcanyon · May 9, 2018

I used to be a Minolta shooter. My information is perhaps a bit out of date, but I know I used to have a Minolta 3600HS and a Minolta 5600HS. Either of those would work on the A77. Both will bounce but I believe the 3600HS did not swivel. I would go with a 5600HS for that reason. It was a very good flash. They're on eBay for ~$100, looks like. Sony rebranded the 5600HS as something else when they bought Minolta--I think it still had the "56" in the name. Sigma also made some flashes with the Minolta shoe.

If you get an adapter you'll lose all the advantages of a dedicated flash. Other flashes will work but you'll have to use them in Manual or Auto mode. Auto is ancient flash tech but it does work if you understand how to use it. All in all, though, dedicated TTL is going to serve you better and that's the way you should go.

MonkMayfair1937 · May 28, 2018

I was wondering the same thing as vogtguy...

I don't think just any Sony flash will work. I tried to use the one from my DSC-F828, and no dice. That particular one never did sync properly with the F828 (although it was made for it) and was rather useless.

I was thinking of experimenting with an LED ring light.

KmH · May 29, 2018

Sony inherited the iISO hot shoe design (Auto-Lock Accessory Shoe) when they bought Konica-Minolta back in 2009 so they could get into the DSLR market.

In 2012 Sony started using the hot shoe design used by most of the DSLRs that have been produced - the ISO 518:2006 design. Sony had also been using a variety of other proprietary hot shoe designs on some of their other camera models, so also in 2012 they started putting the standard ISO 518:2006 hot shoe on their Alpha, Nex, Handycam, NXCam and Cyber-shot series of cameras.