As a yet another Canon turned Sony user, I have a fair amount of gear that seems to have survived the transition so far. Loving my A7II so far. Lighting, however, remains a sore subject. I'm disappointed to find that HSS and TTL are not supported from my current Yongnuo 568II flashes, and this seems a common theme in general regardless of brand or model.

 

I'm hoping that now that we're here at late 2015, there are some better choices that my initial googling have not yet revealed.

 

Obviously looking for remote power control and HSS, but would love TTL too. Also wanting cross compatability with at least Canon and Sony. Cherry on top would be an LED modelling light.

 

1. I know the Nissin Air system has just been released, but this involves me buying all new flashes, restricting myself to sony only, and there are no triggers available for it yet/

2. I'm wondering if Paul C Buff Einsteins are the answer? Anyone have any experience with them and the sony alpha, specifically going for times around 1/8000? I don't think they do TTL though.

3. Seems there are a lot of cheap chinese ebay strobes now. I'd be open to trying one out if someone can recommend one based on experience.

4. Odd question but can you mix trigger systems? Like if I got Phottix Odin's can I have a sony TCU, but then use Canon triggers for my Yongnuos?

 

Open to suggestion too, just trying to get something cross system without having to buy two systems.

 

Thanks!

 

I am afraid you are trying to find the perfect solution that does not exist. You will probably struggle to get something working.

 

Have you ever tried or considered all you are asking for to happen with Nikon equipment ?

 

The same applies to Sony

 

Flash systems that provide TTL, HSS and WL are now a computer ( your camera) talking (and needing the proper language) to talk to a computer peripheral (your flash).

Trying to mix any combination of Canon/Nikon/Sony cameras and flash is doomed for failure since the Sony language is like nothing the Canon or Nikon can understand. The same applies the other way around too.

 

Manual flash triggering is normally possible as long as there is ABSOLUTELY NO CONTACT with potential flash contacts that may cause a talking attempt between the 2 units ( camera and flash).

For example i have this older Minolta flash ( the ancestor to the present Sony system) that has a simple flash ready contact ( 1981 technology ) and with an adapter that does make the contact, the camera recognizes the flash as ready and changes the shutter speed to X-synch. However, when i release that shutter, no flash gets triggered and i get the shutter speed selected by the X-synch program of the camera because the camera is also expecting other information exchange with the flash and since no other contact or talk between the 2 ever takes place, the synch does not happen.

 

Camera = Computer

Flash = Computer peripheral

 

Ever try to make a PC run MAC software ?

 

Every company has its own proprietary flash/camera language and protocol and to my knowledge, there is still no flash that can talk in all protocols, even less at the same time.

Canon flash doesn't work unless you go manual and check the flash exposure. I'm looking at getting a Rotolight NEO On-camera LED. You can adjust the color temperature and can be used on any camera.

 

 

 

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I am afraid you are trying to find the perfect solution that does not exist. You will probably struggle to get something working.

 

Have you ever tried or considered all you are asking for to happen with Nikon equipment ?

 

The same applies to Sony

 

Flash systems that provide TTL, HSS and WL are now a computer ( your camera) talking (and needing the proper language) to talk to a computer peripheral (your flash).

Trying to mix any combination of Canon/Nikon/Sony cameras and flash is doomed for failure since the Sony language is like nothing the Canon or Nikon can understand. The same applies the other way around too.

 

Manual flash triggering is normally possible as long as there is ABSOLUTELY NO CONTACT with potential flash contacts that may cause a talking attempt between the 2 units ( camera and flash).

For example i have this older Minolta flash ( the ancestor to the present Sony system) that has a simple flash ready contact ( 1981 technology ) and with an adapter that does make the contact, the camera recognizes the flash as ready and changes the shutter speed to X-synch. However, when i release that shutter, no flash gets triggered and i get the shutter speed selected by the X-synch program of the camera because the camera is also expecting other information exchange with the flash and since no other contact or talk between the 2 ever takes place, the synch does not happen.

 

Camera = Computer

Flash = Computer peripheral

 

Ever try to make a PC run MAC software ?

 

Every company has its own proprietary flash/camera language and protocol and to my knowledge, there is still no flash that can talk in all protocols, even less at the same time.

 

I have been struggling with flash solutions too.  I even e-mailed Phottix technical support.  Michelb is absolutely correct that you CANNOT mix systems.  The Mac/PC analogy is spot on.  I was trying to use my Canon 580 on my new Sony A7ii.  Sure it will fire but everything is manual (no TTL).  Very frustrating.  So I ordered the Phottix Odin transmitter/receiver and Phottix Mitros+ flash.  Both have been back ordered for months.  But good news: I received the Odin last week and the Mitros+ should arrive next week.  So now I can do off camera flash (new technology for me).  I'm hoping this Photix system will work with my Sony flashes.  (They claim they will.)  Time will tell.

 

Gary Fong has literally hundreds of tutorials on flash and the A7 system:

 

http://www.garyfong.com/tutorials

I understand this is looking for the holy grail of flash but I'm honestly surprised this is still an issue. You would think that since there is a commander/transceiver getting the initial signal, then sending it to a receiver/transceiver to process, at some point someone would have thought to also intercept and then interpret, allowing for one 'commander' with any mix of triggers. Million dollar business idea there, I'll have to get on that.

 

I get the pc running mac software analogy, but to take it one step further I guess what I'm looking for is an emulator that would let me do just that.

 

Ok so let's rule mixing systems out. So far it still looks like my three choices are:

 

1. Einsteins (the smartest bet to make?), as with the cyber commander you could use HSS and manual across any camera system, forsaking TTL right?

2. Buy a flash and trigger system for each camera company. Yikes!

3. Live without HSS and TTL. This, IMHO, is not really an option. For me at least. =)

Hmm no, I'll correct myself somewhat. Seems that Einsteins don't really do HSS exactly. Here's some reading to help others trying to understand if not overcome these issues. Knowledge is power right? =)

 

http://wiki.pocketwizard.com/?title=Understanding_HyperSync_and_High_Speed_Sync

Bit of an update while researching this (incredibly annoying) issue. You really have FIVE choices at this current time (without getting into crazy electronic hacks):

 

1. Buy a flash/strobe system for each camera brand (Canon, Nikon, Sony is my focus, no idea about other systems such as Pentax, Olympus, etc). Doing just triggers is not enough, it's the whole system. This is a ludicrous notion for most people.

2. Live without advanced features such as TTL, HSS, FEC, etc. Existing Canikon gear will work up to max sync speed of your camera (usually about 1/250th of a second) and with manual power levels. While doable, this is obviously restrictive and overall undesirable.

3. Shoot with a ND filter on your camera, and increase your flash output accordingly. This is what I call 'HSS without HSS'.

4. Buy a single new flash for your new system. Use new flash on camera at minimum power to trigger your existing system using optical trigger. This works and gets you HSS back with minimum investment.

5. My research points me to a new strobe that will work for all three brands of Canon, Nikon, and Sony. You will have to use the commander unit appropriate to that system, but the strobes have triggers built in for all systems. This gets you everything, but it is not cheap! It's also possible that the Phottix Indra will be updated to support Sony via firmware, but this is complete speculation/hope (I sent them an email but did not hear back). You can read about the new system here:

 

http://flashhavoc.com/cononmk-abc-ttl-transmitter-for-k4t-strobe-released/

 

No doubt others will follow.

 

While I appreciate Sony's efforts and innovation, I am miffed to find out that it does not truly support Canon/Nikon flash equipment, and really should not be advertising that it does. It took everything I had financially to make the jump into an A7II with 25mm Batis, so I can't really afford anything additional right now. So far I am leaning towards going back to my old system, selling all my Sony stuff at a loss and wait until there are more options in terms of lighting (and Sony has both proper RAW and touch screen heh heh).

 

HTH