Sony hotshoe adapter for third-party flash

[tonywild]

<p>Sony makes great cameras, but their legacy Minolta hotshoe is a pain in the you-know-what. Does anyone know if there's such a thing as a hotshoe adapter that will let me use a Sunpak auto383 flash on my A200? I have the new F20 mini-flash but it only has a giude number of 20 vs the Sunpak's 36 (m), and the Sunpak's a lot more versatile. I'd also like to know if there's some way I can fire the Sunpak remotely using the F20 or the pop-up flash as a trigger. Thanks in advance.</p>

[sattler123]

<p>http://www.adorama.com/PASTR114.html</p>

[dave_redmann]

<p>The part you want is known as an "FS-1100", and it will adapt the Minolta i / Sony Alpha hot shoe to the Sunpak 383 flash (or any similar flash). I have an actual Minolta FS-1100, and use it to fire my Sunpak 383 on my Maxxum 5D. The original Minolta part is getting harder to find, but Juergen has linked you to a third party adapter, and I think there are eBay vendors who sell the same thing for $10 or $15 (just search eBay for FS-1100). I think Sony actually also sells one, but it is outrageously expensive.</p>

<p>As for triggering the Sunpak remotely, you can do so with any flash, using a Wein Peanut or similar device (often called an optical slave) connected to the Sunpak. And of course if you don't want a camera-mounted flash firing (even with, say, -2 EV flash exposure compensation), you can get radio triggers that attach to the FS-1100 or similar device and the flash. There are cheap $25 sets and $400 Pocket Wizard set-ups, with some in betweens like the Paul Buff set (about $110).</p>

 

[gregory_king1]

<p>Get used to the one-handed simple operation of the iISO shoe, and you'll realize that the old style is the one that's the pain. ;-)</p>

<p>Being able to quickly, safely, and easily install or remove a flash with one hand is worth it to me.</p>

<p>Unless you need to use those older flashes with other cameras, consider investing in flashes with the proper foot. Yes, it's unfortunate that all the other camera makes won't upgrade to the more modern design...but that's not Sony's fault. ;-)</p>

[robert_paul1]

<p>Tony, if anything is a 'pain in the you-know-what', it is the old fashion hotshoe. You have to screw it down, which takes time, and often the knob is hard to grab. Then when you remove it, sometimes it's hard to unscrew, as I tightened it too much. The Minolta/Sony hotshoe is much quicker, push it in and it's locked. Push a button and pull it off. Very easy and fast.</p>

[tonywild]

<p>Thanks for the quick responses, I really appreciate them. Technically, the Sony-Minolta hotshoe is superior, no doubt about it. I meant 'pain in the you-know-what' only in the sense that it's difficult if not impossible to find third-party flashes at a reasonable cost that are compatible with it. Any standard-mount flashes you have from another system aren't usable even in manual mode without an adapter like the Adorama model suggested by Juergen, but I can't find a retailer in Canada that carries them. I've heard a few scary stories about UPS and FedEx delivery from stateside so I'd rather not go that route if I can avoid it, hence the 'pain'.</p>

[Member69643]

<p>I was just testing that combo yesterday, as a matter of fact. I bought one of the third-party adapters off eBay and also a wireless set, and it works fine. Once you have the adapter any of the wireless flash sets (transmitter & receiver) can trigger the flash. The 383 is a superb flash and you'll LOVE using it wirelessly. Total cost would be less than $50 for the adapter and the wireless device.</p>