Flash-Camera Mismatch?

[Ed Rooney]

I have a Sony RX10 and a Sony NEX-6 and I'm wondering if I can use my Nikon SB-600 Speedlight on them? I also have another Nikon flash unit, larger and earlier. Can't put my hand on it right now. 

 

Thanks, Edo

[John Mitchell]

There are lots of inexpensive hot shoe adapters for sale on e-bay and Amazon. However, you might end up having to use your flash manually -- i.e. no TTL.

 

Sony makes a dedicated hot shoe adapter (with TTL capability) for the NEX-6, but I believe it only works with Sony flashes. I've been meaning to buy one since I have a great hulking Sony flash mouldering in my cupboard. Personally, I've never been a big fan of flash, so it never did get much use.

[Ed Rooney]

That's about what I found out so far, too, John. And nothing at all about the RX10.

 

If I'm gonna do some tabletop, I'll need some controlled lighting. It's been as dark as a cave so far this fall now nearing winter. I have all this gear, still the answer is always to throw more money at the problem. I got rid of my studio light kit when I moved into digital. 

[Peter Jordan]

FWIW, I have an Olympus FL-50 flash gun. On Olympus cameras hot shoe it uses 4-pins and gives full TTL metering and control.

 

I put it on the RX10 and find it can be used in manual setting.  I cannot turn it down far enough to avoid over exposure (in a small room) but it has a swivelling head and in bounce flash it gives good exposures.

 

My point is that the hot shoe on the RX10 is an "ordinary" one and not a Sony/Minolta(?) one so any bog standard flash should work. 

 

Hope this helps.

[Peter Jordan]

FWIW, I have an Olympus FL-50 flash gun. On Olympus cameras hot shoe it uses 4-pins and gives full TTL metering and control.

 

I put it on the RX10 and find it can be used in manual setting.  I cannot turn it down far enough to avoid over exposure (in a small room) but it has a swivelling head and in bounce flash it gives good exposures.

 

My point is that the hot shoe on the RX10 is an "ordinary" one and not a Sony/Minolta(?) one so any bog standard flash should work. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Corrrection, it does work OK in manual mode with direct flash.  When I tried it before I was using ISO Auto with 200 minimum.   Setting it down to ISO 80 ddid the trick.

[Ed Rooney]

I don't know. This sound like fooling around with the spring on a semi-automatic handgun.

 

So Peter, what you're saying is I can test out the Nikon flash right on the RX10 hot shoe and there's not that much chance of an explosion, electrocution or, worst of all, creating a candid selfie?

 

Bouncing is mostly what I want to do, off a nice low white ceiling. I also have a diffusor . . . or is it a confusion? Simple basic lighting is what I'm going for. I don't want to be mistaken for the Original Chuck, with all his gear. The most I'd be carrying is a half-a-glass of wine. 

[Betty LaRue]

Ed, are you wanting isolations or just simple backgrounds? If you are trying for a pure white background, a small light tent and lights like I got are pretty ecomical. Of course, I made my own tent out of pvc pipe and white fabric. But these lights work really well. PBL Studio continuous light kit. Two lights with soft boxes and stands at Amazon for about $100.

 

No, they aren't the quality of expensive ones, but I think they are great, giving me pure white light. If you want uneven lighting, then use one and a reflector, or back one light off a bit, or add another layer of white fabric to one side.

 

I tried tabletop with my two Alien Bee studio strobe lights. I had a white paper roll for the background curved forward on the table for the items to sit on. I got dirty grey backgrounds because I didn't have background lights. I also had to fiddle with intensity a lot and took a lot of shots until I got the exposure right, because i didn't have continuous what-you-see-is-what-you-get light. And then I had to do a LOT of PP to get the background white.

 

But if you are wanting simplicity, bouncing flash is fine. I do food that way, also using natural light from my window. But I have to shoot tight or down without the light tent, or I get background clutter.

Betty

[AndyMelbourne]

Unless I am mistaken (which is possible) I believe different makes of flash can have different trigger voltage values through a hotshoe. With this in mind it might be worth a little bit of research into your flashgun/camera combination trigger values before you begin this experiment. The last thing you want is fried circuitry.

Andy

[Peter Jordan]

I don't know. This sound like fooling around with the spring on a semi-automatic handgun.

 

So Peter, what you're saying is I can test out the Nikon flash right on the RX10 hot shoe and there's not that much chance of an explosion, electrocution or, worst of all, creating a candid selfie?

 

Bouncing is mostly what I want to do, off a nice low white ceiling. I also have a diffusor . . . or is it a confusion? Simple basic lighting is what I'm going for. I don't want to be mistaken for the Original Chuck, with all his gear. The most I'd be carrying is a half-a-glass of wine. 

 

Edo,

 

I stopped short of just saying "Stick the Nikon flash on the RX10 and get on with it!"

 

The reason for not giving that advice is, as Andy says, that flashes have various trigger voltages and a high voltage could fry the camera.

 

For example, I do have an ancient Braun flash in a drawer somewhere that cannot be used on any of my modern cameras.

 

That being said, I  did not think that any made-for-digital flash gun will have a dangerously high trigger voltage which is why I did not hesitate to try my FL50 on the RX10. 

 

I did not know whether your Nikon flash was bought for the D700 or whether it is a Vietnam veteran.

 

So far never got a candid selfie out of mine.

 

I do bounce flash off the ceiling when doing things on a white background.   I have thought about getting a light tent like Betty suggests but decided I already have too much stuff.

[spacecadet]

. The most I'd be carrying is a half-a-glass of wine. 

+1.

There's a list of trigger voltages online somewhere. It's very variable but it turns out most modern ones, and a lot of older types are fine, (except the Vivitar 283, which is a shame)

SB600 is only a few volts, it says here

http://speedlights.net/2010/11/24/nikon-sb-600-speedlight-review/

and the general view is that all Nikons are under 12V.

Go ahead, Ed. You could even try some ordinary incandescent light fittings, if you still have any, and tweak the colour balance. I'm sure you know that energy saving bulbs are tricky.

[mickfly]

FWIW, I have an Olympus FL-50 flash gun. On Olympus cameras hot shoe it uses 4-pins and gives full TTL metering and control.

 

I put it on the RX10 and find it can be used in manual setting.  I cannot turn it down far enough to avoid over exposure (in a small room) but it has a swivelling head and in bounce flash it gives good exposures.

 

My point is that the hot shoe on the RX10 is an "ordinary" one and not a Sony/Minolta(?) one so any bog standard flash should work. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

I couldn't use triggers satisfactorily on my RX10, nor my canon or Yongnuo flash guns, I'll try again later to make sure, BUT the RX10 hotshoe is NOT standard, it is smaller, and has electrical 'pins' at the front. I am trying to find an adapter, with no luck so far.

[Peter Jordan]

I have a Kindle book about the RX10.    On external flash it states that the hot shoe is the Sony Multi Interface shoe and gives full flash control with Sony flash guns.

 

It also says that third party flash guns can be used, but only with both camera and flash gun in manual mode.

 

The author had tested the following flash guns on the RX10:

 

Canon 430 EXll

Fuji EF20

Yongnuo YN560lll

Sony  HVL F20M

Sony  HVL F43M

Sony  HVL F60M

[Ed Rooney]

 

I don't know. This sound like fooling around with the spring on a semi-automatic handgun.

 

So Peter, what you're saying is I can test out the Nikon flash right on the RX10 hot shoe and there's not that much chance of an explosion, electrocution or, worst of all, creating a candid selfie?

 

Bouncing is mostly what I want to do, off a nice low white ceiling. I also have a diffusor . . . or is it a confusion? Simple basic lighting is what I'm going for. I don't want to be mistaken for the Original Chuck, with all his gear. The most I'd be carrying is a half-a-glass of wine. 

 

Edo,

 

I stopped short of just saying "Stick the Nikon flash on the RX10 and get on with it!"

 

The reason for not giving that advice is, as Andy says, that flashes have various trigger voltages and a high voltage could fry the camera.

 

For example, I do have an ancient Braun flash in a drawer somewhere that cannot be used on any of my modern cameras.

 

That being said, I  did not think that any made-for-digital flash gun will have a dangerously high trigger voltage which is why I did not hesitate to try my FL50 on the RX10. 

 

I did not know whether your Nikon flash was bought for the D700 or whether it is a Vietnam veteran.

 

So far never got a candid selfie out of mine.

 

I do bounce flash off the ceiling when doing things on a white background.   I have thought about getting a light tent like Betty suggests but decided I already have too much stuff.

 

 

 

I shot this in a restaurant with window light, but it is a possible type of subject and setup I might be shooting at home.

 

No cutouts, no light tents, no at-home studio (even a tiny one), and no throwing money at problems. 

 

Betty and Lynda: it's a good idea to have an ongoing profitable subject if you're going to setup a studio. You had a jewelry account at one point, Betty, so you had a profit motive. My over-all decision is to not spend money to shoot stock; I don't see it as cost effective any more.  I'm talking about me, no everyone.

 

I did some research on YouTube before posting my question here in the forum. Anyway, I still don't feel secure about this. I do not want to risk my RX10. 

 

Peter, in Vietnam, using a flash would be targeting yourself as snipper bate. My Nikon speedlights are both digital era. 

 

Thanks, people

[mickfly]

I have a Kindle book about the RX10.    On external flash it states that the hot shoe is the Sony Multi Interface shoe and gives full flash control with Sony flash guns.

 

It also says that third party flash guns can be used, but only with both camera and flash gun in manual mode.

 

The author had tested the following flash guns on the RX10:

 

Canon 430 EXll

Fuji EF20

Yongnuo YN560lll

Sony  HVL F20M

Sony  HVL F43M

Sony  HVL F60M

Peter, you stated... "My point is that the hot shoe on the RX10 is an "ordinary" one and not a Sony/Minolta(?) one so any bog standard flash should work."

It's not an ordinary one!

I also have the Kindle book, and the Canon 430EXII. It does not work on the camera, can't change any settings on flash gun when it's mounted and even when set to manual and then mounted can't change the settings ie power output, but it doesn't fire anyway so it's moot.

[Betty LaRue]

 

 

I don't know. This sound like fooling around with the spring on a semi-automatic handgun.

 

So Peter, what you're saying is I can test out the Nikon flash right on the RX10 hot shoe and there's not that much chance of an explosion, electrocution or, worst of all, creating a candid selfie?

 

Bouncing is mostly what I want to do, off a nice low white ceiling. I also have a diffusor . . . or is it a confusion? Simple basic lighting is what I'm going for. I don't want to be mistaken for the Original Chuck, with all his gear. The most I'd be carrying is a half-a-glass of wine. 

 

Edo,

 

I stopped short of just saying "Stick the Nikon flash on the RX10 and get on with it!"

 

The reason for not giving that advice is, as Andy says, that flashes have various trigger voltages and a high voltage could fry the camera.

 

For example, I do have an ancient Braun flash in a drawer somewhere that cannot be used on any of my modern cameras.

 

That being said, I  did not think that any made-for-digital flash gun will have a dangerously high trigger voltage which is why I did not hesitate to try my FL50 on the RX10. 

 

I did not know whether your Nikon flash was bought for the D700 or whether it is a Vietnam veteran.

 

So far never got a candid selfie out of mine.

 

I do bounce flash off the ceiling when doing things on a white background.   I have thought about getting a light tent like Betty suggests but decided I already have too much stuff.

 

 

 

I shot this in a restaurant with window light, but it is a possible type of subject and setup I might be shooting at home.

 

No cutouts, no light tents, no at-home studio (even a tiny one), and no throwing money at problems. 

 

Betty and Lynda: it's a good idea to have an ongoing profitable subject if you're going to setup a studio. You had a jewelry account at one point, Betty, so you had a profit motive. My over-all decision is to not spend money to shoot stock; I don't see it as cost effective any more.  I'm talking about me, no everyone.

 

I did some research on YouTube before posting my question here in the forum. Anyway, I still don't feel secure about this. I do not want to risk my RX10. 

 

Peter, in Vietnam, using a flash would be targeting yourself as snipper bate. My Nikon speedlights are both digital era. 

 

Thanks, people

 

 

You are so right that I had the jewelry business to cause me to set up continuous lights and a tent.  That said, one of my tabletop shots has sold probably 5 times on Alamy, more than paying for my setup.  Everything else I sell is gravy.  But I do know where you are coming from.  We all go toward the same destination by different paths.

[Ed Rooney]

As I've said, I was asking about the tech connection between an RX10 and a Nikon SB-600. I think I've made the decision NOT to try the combo. I'll come up with another answer. I'm glad you got some repeat sales using your light tent, but I've had repeat sales on images where I did not use a light tent . . . so maybe it's not such a great idea to take a path dictated by anecdotal evidence. My biggest problem is a lack of space. That I have no solution for. 

 

And you know what's interesting? If you decide to setup and shoot tabletop you will soon run out of subjects you have on hand . . . and then you will have to buy subjects, be they a cup of yogurt or a throwing knife. And the images may sell or they may not sell. 

 

By the way, I just set up a new blog site for showing images, a free Website, sort of:    http://edoruan.blogspot.com/

[John Mitchell]

If the RX10 has the same "multi-interface" shoe as the NEX-6, then this Sony adapter allows you to use older Sony flashes that fit the Minolta-style hot shoe that Sony inherited.

 

I realize that this adapter isn't what Edo needs or wants but thought I would mention it for posterity.

[Betty LaRue]

Maybe do the table top work with one of the Nikon cameras. Since it will be on a tripod (I'm assuming here) the size/weight of the camera won't matter. And the flash will work.

While I love my Fuji and RX100, I mostly shoot my table work with my Nikon.

[Ed Rooney]

Yes, that is one of the possibilities. I might keep the D90 and the macro. I couldn't get much for the D90 now anyway. 

 

I was about to open a new post about tabletop, but this one seems to have morphed into that now. And since I'm the OP I can't offend myself, right? I'm also thinking that continuous lighting might be better than a speedlight. One light bounced off the ceiling and some reflectors should be enough. Any suggestions? Yes, I'll be on a tripod. 

[mickfly]

If the RX10 has the same "multi-interface" shoe as the NEX-6, then this Sony adapter allows you to use older Sony flashes that fit the Minolta-style hot shoe that Sony inherited.

 

I realize that this adapter isn't what Edo needs or wants but thought I would mention it for posterity.

 

It's not standard, it's not multi-interface and there isn't an adapter for the RX10 to allow the use of any other flash guns. I bought and returned the standard adapter which you link to John as it was no use.

I did try my existing guns Linda (if you were addressing me), but they do not work even with camera and strobes in manual, and don't really fit very well.

Sorry to be part of the hijackers Ed, please don't be offended.

For tabletop I would use a cheap studio kit with modeling lamps, either one or two, and a couple of reflectors, but not with RX10 as I can't use anything on the shoe, yet.

[Peter Jordan]

Yes, that is one of the possibilities. I might keep the D90 and the macro. I couldn't get much for the D90 now anyway. 

 

I was about to open a new post about tabletop, but this one seems to have morphed into that now. And since I'm the OP I can't offend myself, right? I'm also thinking that continuous lighting might be better than a speedlight. One light bounced off the ceiling and some reflectors should be enough. Any suggestions? Yes, I'll be on a tripod. 

 

You seem to be going off the idea of flashgun on the RX10, there are certainly plenty of other options.   However, I have now established, from usually reliable people, that the trigger voltage on my FL50 flash is 5 volts.   A listing for Nikon SB600, shows that it too is 5 volts, so it looks OK to try your flash on the RX10

[Ed Rooney]

"Sorry to be part of the hijackers Ed, please don't be offended." -- mickfly

 

That's no problem for me at all, Mick. I think conversation should be allowed to follow its own flow.

 

Yes, Peter -- I'm going to be careful and conservative in this matter. And I want things to work perfectly with full functions. I'm the opposite of a handyman. At the moment, I'm going out of my mind trying to open the battery holder of my otherwise perfect Leica M6.

[Betty LaRue]

"Sorry to be part of the hijackers Ed, please don't be offended." -- mickfly

 

That's no problem for me at all, Mick. I think conversation should be allowed to follow its own flow.

 

Yes, Peter -- I'm going to be careful and conservative in this matter. And I want things to work perfectly with full functions. I'm the opposite of a handyman. At the moment, I'm going out of my mind trying to open the battery holder of my otherwise perfect Leica M6.

Try a screwdriver or a pry bar. If neither of those work, a hammer will ease your mind.

[Chuck Nacke]

Edo,

 

I just went back to Vivitar 285's in manual and using a flash meter.

worked for me in 1989 as well as in 2014 and it is a lot easier with

digital then it was with film.

 

You can buy 285's all day for less than $30.00 per unit.

 

PC connection, slave any way you want to sync.

 

Chuck

[Ed Rooney]

I have a 285 and a flash meter, too, Chuck 

 

Your description of what you show up with for a corporate portrait (?) reminds me of Andy Rooney's telling of being photographed by Eddie Adams. Odd when you consider Adams won a Pulitzer for that quick B&W snap of that VC being shot in the head in Saigon in '68.