who has problems with broken hot shoe of Nissin Di700A?

[dierk]

I have been very satified with the functions of the Nissin Di700A and AIR commander. I wrote about it in October here on SAR: http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/guest-post-by-dierk-topp-the-new-nissin-di700a-air-1-wireless-ttl-flash-for-sony/

 

I use it with different setups like umbrellas and diffusers. Yesterday I noticed, that the flash was hanging down from the tripod, only fixed by the cable of the PS8 power pack. The diffuser has been mounted for a while as you see on the first image. The wheight of it is about 160 gr. very light!

 

Is the Di700A only for amateur use??

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

 

[Guest Peter Kelly]

That is worrying although, from my perspective, not at all surprising.

 

I have said from the start that I was never worried about the contacts of the new Sony foot/shoe (although most criticised them), but rather the strange 'lugged' design. Instead of them being solid 'runners', it always looked like a weak spot.

That said, the Sony HVL-F60M has a different problem in that the foot cracks around the base, leaving it usable but wobbly and slightly loose. I had to replace 3 feet while I owned them (and noticed the design of that part was changed!).

 

Unfortunately, I think it inevitable that having a large, heavy gun (not so much the weight, but rather the length of the leverage) will lead to a lot of strain at that point and if the foot is made to withstand severe pressure then that would be transferred to other parts; the worst case scenario being the hotshoe of the camera. I suspect the designers do consider that and think photographers will prefer swapping the foot (that's why those four screws are so obvious) than having an expensive camera repair if the shoe was ripped off.

 

I do know some colleagues, from the 'paparazzi' side of things, that prefer to use a bracket for their flash, or stick with the old 'hammerhead' design, to lessen the risk (as well as helping with mounting external batteries, etc.).

 

The bottom line is that when using physically big flashguns you need to be aware of the potential risk.

[Colorado]

I have three of these flashes and two have broken the foot. I only use the Di700A off camera and now only use a mount that holds the flash body not the foot. I agree with Peter, the leverage is the issue. On a bright note as I stated elsewhere in this forum Nissin (Minox USA) replaced the broken feet free of charge.

[dierk]

examples of hot shoes:

the left one is a professional flash SB800 from Nikon, on the right is the broken plastic Nissin Di799A

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Guest Peter Kelly]

Certainly the Nikon foot is more like I would envisage, but the design still goes to possible issues when accidents happen.

 

I suspect most people would prefer a solid foot and for the shoe to be fully attached to the chassis, meaning that all but the most severe knocks could be shrugged off. Of course, in the case of such an accident you might suffer damage that would write off the whole camera (I've seen a Canon with the whole top plate ripped off).

 

With that in mind, in hindsight, perhaps people would have preferred to just replace a simple foot, in about 10 minutes.

 

The problem comes if the design gets the balance between these positions wrong and you find that you are replacing the foot every other time you use the camera. That becomes very tedious and annoying!

 

From these examples and my experience with the HVL-F60M I tend to believe Sony have erred too far on the side of weakness. I'd love to hear the designer's thoughts on it though.

[mwkennedy841]

I have the same problem with the broken shoe.  I mistakenly used a clamp type flash holder while off camera flash remotely and the flash unit just barely leaned over and the plastic broke.  I have removed the shoe by removing the four screws and unplugged from junction system bottom of flash.  I am currently trying to find the replacement part by contacting Nissin: Air 1 Commander & Di700 A 

·  U.S.A.
New England Imaging Distribution, LLC
TEL:603-504-6317 / FAX:603-287-4834
741 Main Street, Claremont, NH 03743
info@NEIDLLC.com  I am hoping to find the part..     

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!