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?

[dahanse66]

Hi Mike,

Any News? World be very interesting if there is a solution. I Share the same Problem...

Thanks and Nice Day!

Daniel

[blaireau_photo]

Hello again everyone

I have just had some further feedback from customer support at Sony relating to outdoor flash use and I wanted to summarise this here.

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 if necessary.

In addition to these basic settings use of a flash diffuser can also enhance flash illumination results (when using an diffuser metering has to to be set to TTL instead of ADI).

For critical exposure 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.

Thanks,

Simon

[mikeyp2000]

Interesting feedback, Simon.

Unfortunately, it's just not anything new.  I think it's fairly obvious that there is a certain minimum flash output and at certain high ISO settings, that this minimum output is sufficient to overexpose the image.

However, the people who wrote to you seem to have missed the original point.  That is, the a77 and A65 seem to need negative flash exposure compensation at any ISO to achieve a "normal" exposure.  Apparently the A57 has no such issues.  My A55 and A700 had no such issues.

Can you ask them to take two identical photos with identical settings using TTL flash.  One photo on an A77 (with F.E.C. set to zero) and one photo with an A57 or A700 or A55 (also with zero F.E.C.) and they will soon see that the A77 is about a stop brighter.

Cheers

[gbloncourt]

Hello All,

I have been reporting this issue, along with many other, since December 2011.  I still don't get it, how come Sony cannot fix it.  Simon and Cmosse, thank you for the "WORKAROUNDS", we know them already, some are even on Gary Friedman's book.

WE DON'T NEED WORKAROUNDS, WE NEED THE ISSUE TO BE FIXED ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Let me resume the issue again:

At ISO 640 and above, using P, A, S, or M, either in TTL or ADI, the sony a77 erratically overexposes while using the onboard flash or Sony External flashes.

The last firmware 1.05 didn't fix it ...

Cheers

Message was edited by: gbloncourt

[muhlstein]

I use my Minolta 5600 HS D flash with my A700 camera: no problem at all. I use the same flash with my A77 camera and my pictures are overexposed.
My problem is that the overexposure is not consistent. Sometimes a negative compensation of -0,7 is sufficient and sometimes a compensation of -3 is not!
I would like to know if the problem would disappear, should I buy and use a new HVL-F58AM Sony flash. I would very much appreciate if people using the HVL-F58AM Sony flash and the A77 would bother to write two lines about their experiences. Many thanks in advance.

Micheyp2000's post does not make me feel very optimistic...

[dahanse66]

I use the f58am. There are the same Problems as written here. I Cant believe how Bad the Sony Support of there customers is...

Regards

Daniel

[heho_A77]

Hello,

I'm using the A77(firmware 1.0.5) with the internal flash and the old Minolta 3600HS-D. Same problem, overexposure without flash compensation. Normally a flash compensation of about -1.0 works.

Regards, Heiko

[cmosse]

I have just done a test with HVL-F58 and A77 (indoors), subject distance about 1-2.5m, set camera to AUTO mode + fill flash and also P mode with manual ISO settings (100-800). As long as I did not get closer to the subject as the flash range indicated in the display of the flash I did not encounter severe flash overexposure, by contrast most of the exposures were spot on.

So it would be helpful if you could post a sample of flash overexposure you have experienced with this combination.

[muhlstein]

Thank you for your answers. Cmosse, I cannot take pictures using the same combination, as I have no HVL-F58AM flash, but the old Minolta 5600 HS D, and my question was precisely to determine whether it would solve my problem if I would buy the new Sony flash; apparently not!

[johnkoh]

I have the same problems as well, and I've been trying to see what I can do about it.

The helpdesk at Sony.de said that they could only evaluate the problem if i send the camera in for servicing - which I'm not sure it would help in any case.

This problem is rather disturbing as I photograph often during live events with 2 cameras (A850, A77). I need to remember that -1Ev on the 850 is a -2Ev on the A77, etc..

While its true that I could work around it by lowering the Ev, lets face it: this is a problem, and given the age of the A77, its not good to have to work-around it.

I've heard of people who do not have the problem - so I'm hoping that someone at Sony spotted and solved the issue at production. Now if i can get the reassurance that by sending my camera in for servicing/recaliberation, the problem can be resolved, I'll send it in immediately..