Sony Alpha HVL-F20AM Hot Shoe Flash Review

This flash is only slightly brighter than the built in flash, it is great if you are doing indoor shots (non-professional) and just needed the light to bounce off ceilings, keep in mind this has a somewhat long refresh/recharge rate, it takes about 10 seconds for it to fire after a shot. It works great for my most of my needs, but if you get one bad shot, you'll have to ask everyone to wait for 10 seconds before you can take another shot. This video shows how a little light is still needed or else you can't auto focus since neither the camera nor the flash have an low light assist lamp, the camera use the built-in flash for that, but once this is put on, the flash is disabled!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Sony
• Alpha
• HVL-F20AM
• Hot
• Shoe
• Flash
• Review

[moronslave]

He mentioned it's useless during pitch black.. I don't wanna take it literally, is he saying like inside a disco or dark parties with dim neon lights, or a beer houses? I plan to get one for my alpha a330 because it's poor indoors, during night event like wedding receptions.

[Mikenopolis]

@moronslave my best suggestion for you is to get it from somewhere that allows you to return it just in case. the biggest problem is that auto focus will be compromised. You can use a lens with a larger aperture to compensate. if the camera deems it to be too dark, it will use the built-in flash to help with focusing, the F20AM kills off that function. So in any condition where your camera DOESN'T need AF assist it'll be fine. REMEMBER recycle time is slow.

[Mikenopolis]

@chaspergabriel yup just make sure you are getting the a-mount.

[jorgecastiillo]

How many pictures can I take after have to replace the batteries?

[Mikenopolis]

@jorgecastiillo no idea since I don't use this small flash that much, usually at family dinners/gatherings where I take only a handful of pictures. also product pictures when I sell things. I would say you can get 200+ pictures with flash before before you need to replace battery. REMEMBER refresh/recharge rate is slow, so the time between shots are longer.

[Pulkadrage]

Cant you keep it turned on all the time? Im not into taking pictures, I like to record videos only, and I dont want it to flash for a half second only? :(

[Mikenopolis]

@ChasperGabriel That's the lens I use 90% of the time. it's my general purpose Sigma 18-200 F/3.5-6.3

[Mikenopolis]

@IfImGeorgeWhosThat NO! it does NOT have a sensor to do wireless flash AND it will also not be able to trigger another flash (I have a Sony F58AM for more serious needs) which I think is dumb. I tried getting a third party wireless trigger but with no TTL, pretty much useless. like I said, get it if you need something light to bounce light here and there.

[Mikenopolis]

@IfImGeorgeWhosThat NO! it does NOT have a sensor to do wireless flash AND it will also not be able to trigger another flash (I have a Sony F58AM for more serious needs) which I think is dumb. I tried getting a third party wireless trigger but with no TTL, pretty much useless. like I said, get it if you need something light to bouce light here and there.

[IfImGeorgeWhosThat]

are you able to use this flash wireless?