A99 flash sync speed

[mikeyp2000]

There is a growing concern over the sync speed for the A99 when used with third party flash or radio triggers.

It seems the centre pin on the new hotshoe has a slight delay in sending the 'fire now' signal.  This causes black bars to appear at the top of the photo at shutter speeds of 1/250.   1/250 is the A99's published flash sync speed.

More details can be read at:

http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/a99s-sync-speed_topic93240_page1.html

Indeed, on page 5 of this thread, a user called matthiaspaul provides other links to discussions with many other people having the same problem.

As the A99 is positioned as a pro camera, is it possible to have this problem fixed?

Thanks,

Michael

[blaireau_photo]

Hello Michael

I am going to flag this message to a contact who works at Sony to see if there is any further information available about this. When I get a response, I will let you know about it here.

Thanks,

Simon

[mikeyp2000]

Simon,

Much appreciated!

[petowen47]

This is pretty important.

When studio lights that work with the a900 cease to work with the a99, it's bad.

Why would Sony cripple the a99?

[cmosse]

I have checked with 2 studio flash sets (Multiblitz compact plus and Varilux Pro, connected with PC sync cable) and indeed at 1/250s (both with SteadyShot ON/OFF and also el. 1st curtain shutter OFF) the image at 1/250s showed a small black bar at the top of the image. Image taken with 1/200s are OK.

I do NOT consider this as a major problem. The sync spped as specified from Sony (1/250s) works perfectly well with Sony system flashes. Sony also mentions this issue in the manual page 118:

"Select the manual exposure mode and set the shutter speed to 1/250 second. If the shutter speed recommended on the flash is slower than that, use the recommended speed or an even slower speed."

Please also note that the Canon 5D MarkIII also features a flash sync speed of 1/200s - so the SLT-A99 is defintely in the same "league" regarding this spec....

Message was edited by: cmosse

[mikeyp2000]

Cmosse, my a99 and sony f58 will not sync faster than 1/200 when used with a radio trigger. Mounted on the camera, it syncs nicely at any speed with HSS enabled of course.

The same flash/trigger setup synced perfectly at 1/250 on my a77.

You won't have to look hard for people who have triggers that work at 1/250 on their a900 or a77 but out 1/200 on the a99.

It just seems a shame that such an expensive camera represents a downgrade in this respect.  If it is an easy fix in firmware, that would be great.

[codysims]

This isn't just for wireless triggers, you can't achieve 1/250 even with PC sync, whether the cable is connected to the camera directly, or to a hotshoe adapter that provides a PC sync socket.

I think it's a pretty big deal.. the camera isn't performing to advertised specs. I shoot with studio lights outdoors, and every 1/3 stop counts.

[blaireau_photo]

Hello everyone

I just wanted to let you all know that this is something that has been alerted to customer support at Sony. When there is any feedback on this, I will return here with details.

Thanks,

Simon

[cmosse]

"the camera isnt performing to advertised specs"

I do not think this statement is correct. WIth a system flash mounted on the camera it is definetely possible to use 1/250s with full flash output (no HSS).

Regarding sync speed with studio flashes Sony makes clear notes in the manual.

I wonder where is the real problem in practical use in using 1/200s instead of 1/250s. The pro Canon 5D M3 also can not get faster than 1/200s.

The A99 has different shutter than A77 (with significant higher durability) and therefore you can not directly compare these two models.

[mikeyp2000]

Simon, that is good news and any updates are always appreciated!   Did you manage to bundle in the query about wireless flash delays with the f20?

Going back to the sync speed issue, I believe a number of people have managed to trigger studio flashes at 1/250 with no black bar by using "dumb" optical triggers.  The problem only seems to arise when using triggers that rely on the PC sync port on the a99 or the centre contact on the new hotshoe.