A couple of new gadgets

[Greg Beetham]

I just received the latest edition of the Sony Pulse magazine, (incredibly well produced mag. must cost a fortune) and amongst other things too numerous to mention, the accessories page lists two new itemS that weren't there in the last issue, FLASH HOT SHOE ADAPTOR, there are two types, there is an image and model numbers but no description of what each one does.

FAHS 1 AM has a regular hot shoe on the top with centre contact only, it also appears to have a rectangular port with cover on the LH side (not sure what that could be) and I assume the i-shoe on the underside, (although this one could have a tripod thread instead come to think of it).

FAST 1 AM the only thing visible is the x-sync port on the LH side (can't see anything else) and I would assume has the i-shoe on the underside.

Greg

[David Kilpatrick]

The FA-HS1AM adapts directly to hoe shoe flash or - more important - to Skyport, PocketWizard and similar hot shoe mounted flash triggers. It has a battery, and as a result of my correspondence with Paul Genge and his determined lobbying of the Japanese designers, when fitted to a camera it signals 'flash ready' to the system. This means you do not have use Manual exposure to be able to use studio flash sync, and in turn makes it possible for the Alpha 350 to be used with Live View in the studio.

The older FS-ST1AM is the original Minolta type adaptor to isolate flash cable trigger voltages, but it is not really needed with the A700 or A900 - they have their own PC sync socket, and can handle voltages up to 400v anyway. This unit does not signal 'flash ready' to the camera, and the A350 can not be used with studio flash with live view (because in Manual mode, the A350 LV reflects exposure, and this nearly always means a totally black screen when set up for flash, but viewing by modelling light).

David

[Greg Beetham]

Hey David ol' chap, while you're in the lobbying mood....
how about nagging/getting them too resuscitate the Minolta ring flash, and fix the controller back the way it should be...what do you think our chances are of that happening?
Greg

[David Kilpatrick]

I think there is some chance. The issue is known about - they are aware that users want the ring flash back.

David

[PhotoTraveler]

How about other shoe mounted stuff, like a GPS that hooks on and USB cable that plugs into the camera (and don't forget to put a Shoe on top of the GPS so flash can still be used). And a small flash trigger for A900 users.

Over at DPR there was a post a person had of all the booths, they showed Sony area with a guy shooting a model, he had something on top of the A900, didn't recognize it but it was pretty small and had a white patch, looked like some sort of optical trigger. Image wasn't good enough to make it out. Does Sony really not see the need for something to trigger flashes or do they have something neater in mind?

[David Kilpatrick]

The Nikon D90 of course has a GPS socket for such a device - the A900 has not, but who knows? Here is what was happening in the studio area of the Sony stand when I was there - make-up revival:



They appear to be using tungsten lights not flash, so I do not know what would have been fitted to the camera. The lighting system is not familiar to me, could be the German Briese make (very expensive indeed) from the colour of the design.

David

[PhotoTraveler]

The D90 plugs the GPS into the USB port. No special port. Nikon isn't using the 10pin port like previous nikon solutions before for 3rd party units. Works on other models that support GPS D200,D300, D700, D3, D2Xs There is no reason sony can't do the same and have a firmware update for anything needed.

I will try to find a shot that was shown in the nikon forum of the sony booth, it looked different than was is shown there.

[PhotoTraveler]

Found them. Guess DKs shot is in the area around the corner. Maybe the white is just a glare. I'm sorta thinking there is an antenna there. But this thing looks to connect pretty directly to the shoe. Not a mountain of adapters.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=29623881

You will have to wait for this poorly thought out thread to load, sony shots at the bottom. Lesson for everyone, don't cram a post full of huge images, especially on the lead in post.

[David Kilpatrick]

The D90 plugs the GPS into the USB port. No special port. Nikon isn't using the 10pin port like previous nikon solutions before for 3rd party units. Works on other models that support GPS D200,D300, D700, D3, D2Xs There is no reason sony can't do the same and have a firmware update for anything needed.

I will try to find a shot that was shown in the nikon forum of the sony booth, it looked different than was is shown there.

No it does not! (D90 GPS socket is entirely separate from the USB, which is behind the main interface flap)

David

[PhotoTraveler]

interesting, what I had previously read was it used the USB port. Now looking at nikons site, I see mention of the special port, and it uses 10 pin for other models.

Doesn't make much sense, as there is no reason it can't just use the USB port, not like it's useful for much of anything else.

[youpii]

FA-HS1AM costs $129
Is the old FS-1100 working with D-SLRs ?