Can't get Opteka flash to work with my α300

[shamrocks]

Hi there!  I'm new here but I've had my Alpha300 for about 6 years. I had an external flash that worked great and one day it just stopped working.  It was cheap, so I thought I'd replace it with another cheap flash.  I got the "Opteka EF790DG Super" which says it's compatible with Sony Alpha cameras.  I tested the flash, it works fine...I just can't get it to "talk to" the camera.  Does anyone have experience with this issue?  I had a photographer friend check it out, but he's not familiar with Sony cameras.  He said all the settings on the camera and flash looked correct, but it still wouldn't work.
I'm not a photographer, so please dumb it down for me.   
Thanks in advance!
 

[michelb]

When you say it won't talk to your camera, you mean with the flash mounted in the shoe on top of the camera, right ?

 

Sometimes the contacts for the flash on the camera get a little corroded or just need cleaning  mostly if the protector cap is not present. A little rubbing alcohol could do the trick

[IanML]

Some cheaper flashes work with the "original" alpha DSLRs but do not work with the SLTs or the NEX and a7 series.  That may be the problem.

[pf83]

I also have an older A350 (very similar to the A300) and one day, the external flash just stopped working.  I verified the flash works on my other Sony bodies and tried a few other flashes on my A350, and concluded that the flash shoe was now inoperative.  I traced the problem down to the flexible circuit that connects the flash shoe to the circuitry in the top of the camera, it's a little weak and I can see it breaking fairly often in this model.

 

You may want to see if you can find someone else with another older Sony camera to see if you can test your old (and new) flash on a different camera, that would help isolate the problem to your camera.

 

The replacement part from Sony requires considerable skill to disassemble the camera and install. An alternative is the much easier to replace top plate of the camera, the electronics just plug in fairly easily.  That part is pretty expensive from Sony, but at times can be had relatively inexpensively on eBay.  Although the A300 and A350 parts look similar, unfortunately the camera branding is on the top plate so getting the correct part is probably the best bet.

 

Finally, if you are not tied too much to your camera, one can find very good condition A550 or A580 bodies for around $200-300. That will let you use just about everything you've previously purchased for your camera and give a small upgrade.  If you don't have too much invested that you need to keep and don't need the optical viewfinder, $300-400 will get you into better newer cameras for previously owned or the lower end of new cameras in the mirrorless lines.

 

Hope that is helpful!

 

[shamrocks]

When you say it won't talk to your camera, you mean with the flash mounted in the shoe on top of the camera, right ?

 

Sometimes the contacts for the flash on the camera get a little corroded or just need cleaning  mostly if the protector cap is not present. A little rubbing alcohol could do the trick

Thanks for the tip! Yes, I have it mounted on the camera. Unfortunately, cleaning the contacts didn't help.

 

Some cheaper flashes work with the "original" alpha DSLRs but do not work with the SLTs or the NEX and a7 series.  That may be the problem.

Mine is an alpha 300.

 

I also have an older A350 (very similar to the A300) and one day, the external flash just stopped working.  I verified the flash works on my other Sony bodies and tried a few other flashes on my A350, and concluded that the flash shoe was now inoperative.  I traced the problem down to the flexible circuit that connects the flash shoe to the circuitry in the top of the camera, it's a little weak and I can see it breaking fairly often in this model.

 

You may want to see if you can find someone else with another older Sony camera to see if you can test your old (and new) flash on a different camera, that would help isolate the problem to your camera.

 

The replacement part from Sony requires considerable skill to disassemble the camera and install. An alternative is the much easier to replace top plate of the camera, the electronics just plug in fairly easily.  That part is pretty expensive from Sony, but at times can be had relatively inexpensively on eBay.  Although the A300 and A350 parts look similar, unfortunately the camera branding is on the top plate so getting the correct part is probably the best bet.

 

Finally, if you are not tied too much to your camera, one can find very good condition A550 or A580 bodies for around $200-300. That will let you use just about everything you've previously purchased for your camera and give a small upgrade.  If you don't have too much invested that you need to keep and don't need the optical viewfinder, $300-400 will get you into better newer cameras for previously owned or the lower end of new cameras in the mirrorless lines.

 

Hope that is helpful!

Thank you so much for all the info! I have been thinking about upgrading and have even (gasp!) been looking at Nikons, but I can't justify spending the money right now.