Off camera flash cable for mirrorless

[paulhanley]

I'm new to the forum and apologise if this has already been covered.

Are there any inexpensive off camera flash cables for the Sony multi-interface shoe? Any "Sony compatible" cables I have found are not compatible with the mirrorless system and the pesky multi-interface shoe.

I was completely misled by the manual for my a6000, the menu system on the camera and a number of review sites including DP review about wireless flash control on the Sony mirrorless system. Believing that I could replicate what I had previously done easily with my Canon gear I invested in  a HVL-F60M and a HVL-F43M. It now transpires that I cannot control off camera flash with the a6000. To control flash wirelessly, one must be attached to the body. I am aware that Sony produce a hot shoe adapter which is very difficult to find in the UK but the cable is completely unavailable. I have also been told that even if I could find these accessories the flash attached by the cable would no longer operate as a wireless controller. At the moment I am using the F60M on camera as a controller for the F43M with the flash on it turned off. This is far from ideal.

 

Would two Nissin Di700As with an Air 1 NAS TTL-commander a better option?

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Paul

[Iveturnedintoacamera]

Velo has a new cord I just received.Purchased from B&H it's under $30.00. Have not put it to real world use yet but did fire off a few shots using my i40 Nissin flash and an older Yongnuo(shot that in manual)

I used with with the A7RII and A7s.

 

It's not as well made as the Nikon SC-29 I had when I was a Nikon user. That cord has been throw thousands of shoots.

[michelb]

Off camera through a cable will not allow WL control to other flashes.

 

I had not thought about it but tried and it does not work. I tried 2 combinations:

- A7II, Sony FA-CS1M, Minolta Cable CD connected directly under the HVL-F60M connector.

- A7II, Sony ADP-MAA, Minolta Cable OC-1100 connected directly under the HVL-F60M connector.

In both cases the flash reverted to Remote and did not control my WL flash (HVL-F43AM)

 

In case you don't know, Sony uses the Minolta off camera cables/shoes and adapters from the Minolta era and they are often interchangeable. Since Sony introduced the new MIS shoe for A-Mount cameras, some adapters are necessary to use them intelligently.

 

There are basically 10 items to know about:

 

- Minolta Cable OC: This was for the TTL era of the Minolta X series and 1st Generation Maxxum/Dynax Alpha cameras of 1981-1987. Limited use unless you have some of the adapters described below

- Minolta Cable OC-1100 (same as Sony FA-CC1AM): This was for Alpha cameras from 1988 and later Sony digital A-mount cameras up to about 2011 when Sony introduced the MIS shoe. I will refer to this as the Autolock shoe. It can still be used with Sony ADP-MAA adapter.

- Minolta Cable CD (same as Sony FA-MC1AM): This is a male/male connector 1m cable that allows connecting 2 flashes that have the connector like you have at the bottom of your HVL-60M flash  or if not present on your flash through a shoe that accepts this connector

- Minolta Cable EX ( same as Sony FA-EC1AM): This is a 1m cable with male/female connectors that can extend the camera/flash distance

- Minolta Off camera shoe: This was for flash units the same era as Cable OC.

- Minolta Off camera shoe OS-1100 (same as Sony FA-CS1AM): This is the shoe for the Autolock type Minolta/Sony shoe before MIS.

- Minolta TC-1000 (same as Sony FA-TC1AM): This allows connecting up to 3 flash units in parallel using either the cable CD from a flash or Cable OC-1100 or MIS shoe below.

- Minolta FS-1100: this allows the mounting of 1st generation TTL flash units on the Minolta Autolock shoe. Most won't work anymore in TTL anyways but can be used with some limited combinations.

- Minolta FS-1200: this allows mounting of an Autolock shoe flash on 1st generation A-Mount film cameras and is of limited use unless you have some of the older 1st generation cables/shoes

- Sony FA-CS1M: this is  a new Sony item that allows on camera mounting to connect one of the above cable CD/EX or under flash mounting for off camera flash mounting. So you would need 1 of these to mount your F43 on camera and through a Cable CD and EX for further distance, connect the F60 by its connector hidden behind the door at the bottom. You could also mount the F60 on camera and through its bottom connector and a cable CD and FA-CS1M connect your F43 off-camera.

-Sony ADP-AMA: This is to use the MIS shoe flash units on older Autolock shoe A-mount cameras or through the older cable system. So here you could use this mounted on an OS-1100 shoe connected through the above cables.

- Sony ADP-MAA: This is the reverse of the above in that it allows connection of older Minolta flashes to the MIS shoe. This can be used on camera and through the Cable OS-1100 above, you can connect your F60 directly underneath.

 

Many of the above cables can be available in used condition ( mostly the Minolta's) at much more reasonable prices that what Sony is selling them for.

 

 

For WL:

If you don't need ratio control or require changing channels, a HVL-F20M or HVL-F32M could be used as controller units for both of your flash units.

[firemist]

I am hoping to use this Vello cable

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1176894-REG/vello_ocs_smi3_off_camera_ttl_flash_cord.html

 

with the new Nissin i60A.