Recently got my Sony a7r II and now looking for a flash or strobe but just found out that not much 3rd party support in the market. And just yesterday I saw a youtube video for NISSIN Di700A (air commander) for SONY, anyone have any reviews, or should I stick to Sony's Flash HVL-F43M/HVL-F60M for TTL and full compatibility?
FLASH FOR SONY A7R II ADVICE NEEDED.
- Thread starter tenth4
- Start date
If you want off camera 2.4G trigger with full TTL and HSS support, then Nissin Air1 and Di700A combo is pretty much your only choice for now.
Otherwise for manual flashes you can use YongNuo or if you want TTL you can stick to Sony flashes.
Otherwise for manual flashes you can use YongNuo or if you want TTL you can stick to Sony flashes.
I m hoping to use my flash for cosplay, cause some of my photo turns out underexpose for subject and overexpose for background, and if I do spot metering the subject will be perfectly exposure but the background will be blown out.
Does the Di700A come with TTL for off camera? Or should I stick with HVL-F43M or HVL-F60M?
Does the Di700A come with TTL for off camera? Or should I stick with HVL-F43M or HVL-F60M?
Last edited:
if you want a compact flash go for the nissin i40. allows bounce too. however no off camera function i am aware of.
Yes, FULL TTL and HSS support with Nissin Air 1 trigger. I am using this combo now..waiting for the nissin's receiver for Sony flashes, will come out this winter according to them
What's your take on the Nissin Di700A with the commander? Is it good and could you kindly show me a sample photo taken with the flash?
Well..I think showing you a bad pic or good pic doesn't say anything about the flash. Unlike image quality of cameras or lenses, pics cannot show how a flash performs, it can only show how I use the flash.
Overall I think the build quality is pretty good. TTL is accurate but I shoot manual mostly anyway. At a relatively low price (around 350 for the combo) I think it's a good deal.
It's not a big investment anyway, if you dont like it, you can always sell it.
The most important point is, if you want to shoot off cam flash with TTL support using 2.4G radio trigger, the Nissin combo is pretty much the only choice for MI mount.
For cosplay events I don't use flash anymore unless I can setup a booth (which I am too lazy to do, and I also need to enjoy the event myself....). Don't like to shoot in AFA anymore nowadays as the lighting is really bad and the convention is always crowded. Also the ceiling is to high for bouncing. I have tried on cam flash, off cam flash, all kinds of diffusers, it turned out that I simply cannot get good shots with or without flash. For outdoor events like EOY, flash is really not necessary, Sony cameras have enough DR to handle the highlight and shadow. It's just my two cents.
Here are some shots I took in C85 2013 with the original A7.
EOY 2014 with A7
This year's EOY with A7M2
last week's ICDS with A7R2
Well..I think showing you a bad pic or good pic doesn't say anything about the flash. Unlike image quality of cameras or lenses, pics cannot show how a flash performs, it can only show how I use the flash.
Overall I think the build quality is pretty good. TTL is accurate but I shoot manual mostly anyway. At a relatively low price (around 350 for the combo) I think it's a good deal.
It's not a big investment anyway, if you dont like it, you can always sell it.
The most important point is, if you want to shoot off cam flash with TTL support using 2.4G radio trigger, the Nissin combo is pretty much the only choice for MI mount.
For cosplay events I don't use flash anymore unless I can setup a booth (which I am too lazy to do, and I also need to enjoy the event myself....). Don't like to shoot in AFA anymore nowadays as the lighting is really bad and the convention is always crowded. Also the ceiling is to high for bouncing. I have tried on cam flash, off cam flash, all kinds of diffusers, it turned out that I simply cannot get good shots with or without flash. For outdoor events like EOY, flash is really not necessary, Sony cameras have enough DR to handle the highlight and shadow. It's just my two cents.
Here are some shots I took in C85 2013 with the original A7.
EOY 2014 with A7
This year's EOY with A7M2
last week's ICDS with A7R2
can I ask if u used flash for the cosplay shot of Matoi Ryuko? or did you just spot meter and shoot? Cause I'm trying to achieve that look but my photo for subject is perfectly expose but my background is washout with white but for your I can still see the colors of other people clothes in the background.
No flash for these shots. I use manual with auto ISO and adjust ev comp. Spot meter is redundant for a7 as you can easily adjust ev comp.
Expose to the highlight and recover shadow details in post. Should be fundamental knowledge...
BTW, all a7 cameras have around 13-14 stops of DR. But the native raw file and OOC JPEG do not make fully use of the incredible DR. Adjust in post and u can find out how much shadow details u can recover.
i would suggest phottix as im using it and really like it,however they do not launch the new mitros+ with ISO hotshoes yet..currently im using it with the adaptor that comes with my a99, works really well with its odin trigger and never fails me before. and in the future if u decided to go to bigger strobes, u can also buy their indra500 or indra360 which is what i intend to do too
sounds like you are over-exposing the background? im not an expert in flash but i do use them in bright day light for wedding shoot, i do is expose the background and use flash(manual power) to brighten up my subject..slight minor over/under exp on the background or subject can always do recovery using post processing.
I got for myself both the Nissin i40 and Di700A. The i40 is much better suited for "daily" use as it's small and light thus will not look out of place on your camera. Don't be fooled by it's small size. It's quite a powerful flash and also does HSS even when bouncing. The Di700A is interesting for off camera flash work. Pretty light for it's size but too bad lost it's feature to HSS when the flash head is pointed any other way other than straight on.
Last edited:
To Lancelot,
If you want to use flash where the backlighting is very strong, then you expose for the background. Choose an ISO that gives you as low a shutter speed as possible without getting blurred images. Then set the flash on manual and use maybe 1/16 to 1/4 power flash adjusting for the subject distance. This way, the flash will only expose the subject. Then you get perfectly balanced shots with the foreground subject lit by your flash and the background nicely exposed. And to make the flash lighting less harsh, people use all kinds of diffusers. I shoot this way most of the time and usually test shoot some shots of the space I want to cover to get the flash exposure right first before actually framing. And the A7s have lots of latitude to play with slight under or over exposures so if you are pressed for time to shoot and move, then just get into the exposure ballpark, take your shots and post process. Generally over expose slightly or expose for the highlights. You can easily recover shadow details in Photoshop and especially if you shoot RAW. I don't shoot RAW at all and I have not much problem recovering shadow details from the A99's JPEGS, as much as many criticize it for poor compression quality.
Bouncing is the best for really flattering light... but sometimes it can't be done... so at most I use the built-in bounce card of the 60AM... I've given up carrying all manner of bounce contraptions around....
If you want to use flash where the backlighting is very strong, then you expose for the background. Choose an ISO that gives you as low a shutter speed as possible without getting blurred images. Then set the flash on manual and use maybe 1/16 to 1/4 power flash adjusting for the subject distance. This way, the flash will only expose the subject. Then you get perfectly balanced shots with the foreground subject lit by your flash and the background nicely exposed. And to make the flash lighting less harsh, people use all kinds of diffusers. I shoot this way most of the time and usually test shoot some shots of the space I want to cover to get the flash exposure right first before actually framing. And the A7s have lots of latitude to play with slight under or over exposures so if you are pressed for time to shoot and move, then just get into the exposure ballpark, take your shots and post process. Generally over expose slightly or expose for the highlights. You can easily recover shadow details in Photoshop and especially if you shoot RAW. I don't shoot RAW at all and I have not much problem recovering shadow details from the A99's JPEGS, as much as many criticize it for poor compression quality.
Bouncing is the best for really flattering light... but sometimes it can't be done... so at most I use the built-in bounce card of the 60AM... I've given up carrying all manner of bounce contraptions around....
Last edited:
Similar threads
