A77 flash overexposure

[mikeyp2000]

I was wondering if Sony have any updates for us on a77 flash overexposure issues.  A quick visit to dpreview Sony forums will find many many a77 users have similar problems.

To get a decent flash exposure, flash exposure compensation needs to be set to -.7 to -1.0.   This is true for the built in flash or any Sony external flash, either for direct or bounced. 

My old a700 and a55 used to expose perfectly with flash exposure compensation set to 0.

Outdoors using the hvl-f58 or f-42 flash to fill in shadows on bright sunny days, I now need to use -2.3 to -2.7 flash exposure compensation where the a700 and a55 would need -1.7 to -2 for a natural fill flash. 

So the problem for lots of people seems to be that they can get exposures that seem ok but the flash settings required are a bit unnatural, as if the a77 flash exposure scale is -.7 to -1 out of sync with people's expectations.

Is there any knowledge in Sony about this?

[blaireau_photo]

Hi mikeyp2000

I am discussing this with a contact of mine and I will let you know their thoughts (just double checking a couple of things first).

Thanks,

Simon

[blaireau_photo]

Hello again

As far as I am aware, this issue with the flash is something that has been advertised as 'rectified' by a previous firmware update so please could you confirm if you have installed the latest version from here (Version 1.5):

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SLT-A77/updates

If you already have this installed, I will need to highlight this to customer support within Sony to see why the firmware update hasn't solved this.

Thanks,

Simon

[mikeyp2000]

Simon,

That was quick! 

I am indeed running v1.05 (I assumed you made a little typo stating 1.5 above 🙂   )

When I installed the update, the List of Improvements made no specific mention of flash exposure but does mention an intriguing 'other improvements' as the final point.   Was flash exposure one of the 'other improvements'?   I'm also curious to know what else may have been improved.

Just for reference, here are two threads from Gary Friedman on the dpreview forums.  In case you haven't heard of him, he is and independent and well respected Sony photographer, selling his own guides to various Sony Cameras and offering touring seminars on the Sony flash system.

Thread 1: Before sending off for repair

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=39679384

Thread 2: After camera back from repair (no fault found!!!!)

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1037&thread=41341717

Cheers,

Michael

[mikeyp2000]

Hi,

I was wondering if there is any news on this?

Cheers,

Michael

[blaireau_photo]

Hello again

Apologies for not getting back in touch sooner - I have been trying to verify some information about whether this is something that should have been rectified by the last firmware update - further apologies for the slight typo

I have now highlighted this thread to technical support at Sony to see if this is definitely something that should have been fixed in the update and if this is indeed the case, I can advise further.

Thanks,

Simon

[stchurc49]

Hello my A77 (firmware 1.0.5) is suffering from chronic overexposure too.

I have tried using with both my Sony F42 and Minolta 5600 HS(D) but the exposure is very erratic. I've used with ADI and Pre-flash but the flash is far too unreliable exposing anywhere between +0.5 - +2.

I have no problems when using them on my A700 or my Minolta film bodies.

It's got to the point where I'm using the A77 as an available light only camera and my A700 if flash is required. I'm not exactly happy about this considering the sum I spent on my A77.

Regards

Steve

[cmosse]

Dear Michael

regarding flash exposure of A65/A77 it took me a while to find out how the camera works and what settings will suit better for certain shooting conditions.

Generally I found out that the flash indeed is set to a somewhat higher level compared what I was used from A55 or even the old Minolta 7D.

One clue to understanding is the way the A65/A77 try to balance ambient/natural light with the flash light. It

seems that the camera and its exposure algorithms are setup up to gain more of the ambient light, so that

parts of the scene which are not reached by the flash are not underexposed, which could happen with A55. In this regard I have found flash exposure of A65/A77 indoors (with poor lighting) better most of the times than on previous models.

When using A65/A77 as pure fill in flash outdoors (brighten up shadows) it seems however that the new algorithm produces images with less balanced results, in fact the parts which are lit up by the flash seem to be overexposed and I too end up  using flash compensation.

On close inspection of the images however I found out that most of the images which seems too bright are not overexposed in a technical aspect (burned out highlights which can not be recovered) but just very very bright. Too  bright however to result in a natural looking fill flash image. So what I do now is to make sure I use the following settings for outdoor fill flash work:

- set ISO to low values, avoid high settings (please note that there can be situations where the flash output

already has reached its lowest possible setting and therefore flash overexposure will happen. E.g. when using F2, ISO1600 and 2m distance required GN would be 1 - which is not available)

- enable High Speed flash (custom setting of the flash)

- use flash exposure compensation

- in addition to this basic settings I also found out that using a flash diffuser will give me best results (set

metering to TTL instead of ADI)

I have attached a comparison of a basic setup:

from left to right (A65 using HVL-F58 as external flash, P-mode, ISO 200):

0 flash compensation, -1 flash comepnsation, -0.7 flash compensation + diffuser

For my taste the one with the diffuser looks best, other might even prefer the "paparazzi" style harsh flash of the standard setting.

For critical exposure I always use RAW format as it gives the opportunity to adjust exposure to a large degree in post processing. The RAW files from Sony contain enough headroom to enable recover of highlights even from flash images which seem to be overexposed.

I hope this hints are helpful for you.

Message was edited by: cmosse

[blaireau_photo]

Hello again

Thanks for confirming also that you are definitely running the latest firmware 1.05 from here:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/SLT-A77V/downloads/FW_A77_V105_WIN

Many thanks also to cmosse for the comprehensive hints and tips - please let us all know how you get on.

Simon

[mikeyp2000]

Cmosse,  thanks for your ideas.  It seems that what you are suggesting are a series of workarounds for a problem that should really be fixed.  Your sample at 0 flash compensation shows clear overexposure so you have the same problem.

I was mostly aware of your tips but it is nice to see them all gathered in one place.

My point is just that the scale needs to be redesigned. At the moment the flash is only useable from -3 to 0 with 0 being around a stop too much flash (perhaps useful for some creative effects). I cannot dream up a single use for flash set between +1 and +3.

I can confirm I am running v1.05.

Simon - I received an email from Sony Support about this a day or two ago.  Did you lend a little helping hand here?

Cheers