Hello everyone!  Very new here & in need of any help--all will be appreciated!  I have the sony a100 & 2 alien bees B800s.  I have 1 48-inch Translucent White “Shoot-Thru” Umbrella, 1 48-inch Silver/White Reversible Bounce Umbrella, and 1 40" umbrella softbox. I need to know how to set up my camera with my lights.  What kind of meter should I get?  and where?  How do I even begin?  I have never shot with lights before.  I have been told that my camera doesn't have a sync--what does that mean?  Then I was told about getting a hot shoe--I don't see that available through Sony--and I don't even know what it is.  I know I am very clueless, and you all have been so wonderful to me.  Thanks in advance for all the help.

Angel

Wow, where to begin!!! I can try to answer some of your questions but I don't know anything about your specific camera. I went on Sony's web site and looked at it but there weren't a lot of pictures of the camera to tell if it had a hot shoe. A Hot Shoe is a device that is usually on top of your camera. It is a guide or slide for off camera flash units to attach. It looks like Sony sells a flash for the A-100K camera but again it's hard to tell by the pictures on their site. Hopefully someone that has that camera will answer. The sync cord they are referring to is a cord that goes from the Alien Bee flash to the camera. If the camera has a sync cord attachment built into it then the cord would plug in there if not, you would purchase a small device that slides into the cameras Hot Shoe and then plug the sync cord in to it. I hope that made sense. After you connect your camera to the sync cord your flash will go off when you press the shutter release button on your camera. If you go to this site: http://www.studiolighting.net/studio-lighting-tutorials/ you will find a whole bunch of tutorials covering studio lighting and they go over in detail how to set up your lights etc. and it's all for free! You will probably want to get a flash meter after you get the right things to connect your camera to you Alien Bees. I know Alien Bees sells the sync cords and the Hot Shoe sync units but I'm not sure if the sell them for your secific camera, call them and see if they do. Basically a flash meter is a light meter that measures the flash units light and helps you set up your flash units for the proper settings. The turorials on the site mentioned above will cover all of the things your asking questions about. I hope that helped you. Check out studiolighting.net and see if the totorials help you if not you can send me a email and I'll see if I can't find you more places that will. I hope that helped you...

Eric

bish29047@msn.com

Your camera does have a hotshoe, but it is a proprietary hold-over from minolta.  You can buy an adapter relatively cheaply...  and probably need one for most hotshoe flash triggers.

Hi y'all,

I have a similar issue.  I have also purchased a Sony a100 and just purchased my first studio light (AlienBee 800) and I'm hoping that some of the more experienced users can lend me the benefit of their experience. The light can be fired from either a connection or as a slave.

Connected, you need a PC cord input. The a100 does not have an input (at least not that I can find), so it will require a Hot Shoe to PC cord adapter. The problem is that the adapter shoes purchased at camera stores do not fit with Sony's (and older Konica Minolta) flash shoes.  I haven't found a conversion one yet.

When I fire it as a slave using the wireless flash, there appears to be a timing issue where the flash fires later than the shutter release. I measured the flash output with a Sekonic light meter and the light output is correct; however, when triggered as a slave, the photos come out super underexposed. I assume it is from the light firing being delayed.  Any ideas on how to get around this?

Please excuse me if I sound ignorant, but this is my first foray into studio lighting and I'm anxious to start playing with my new toys! I appreciate it,

Travis Owney
www.animalallure.com

Well I hope that I am wrong for you guys here . . . BUT ... if what I was told last week is correct then you may be SOL in terms of using your lights with this camera . .. I have the Maxxum 7D which does have a sync port on the camera. . however.  . it went out last week. . . so I came home and called Minolta. .. sure they will fix it . . . $300 .. . soooo in talking to my friend she said . . . dont' do that just buy the adapter that slides on your hot shoe of your camera and plug your lights into that. . . wonderful news. . . I thought. . . . Minolta(aka Sony now) is an "off breed" and our adapters are all bass ackwards. . . sooooo not wanting to order something and have it not work I called B&H and told them my situation . .. they did some research and revealed that Minolta/sony does not make the piece like that any longer. . . and gave me a link to a different adapter. . . it is one I already have to use my flash on a bracket and will not work to do what I need it to do . .  so then my friend said she got her adapter from Alien Bees(she uses Canon) . .. so I called Alien Bees. . . they confirmed the same thing that the adapter would not work on Minolta products. .. . Soooooo . . . I hate to be the bearer of bad news and if you should figure out a solution to this problem I would be eternally grateful . .. .because it would save my camera a $300 trip to the repair store. . .

Let me see if I can help you.  I have been using the A100 very sucessfully with studio lights since I got it back in August.  So don't fret.  There are several solutions you can use, but here is the direction I took to keep my costs down a little.  First, you will need to add an adapter since the preflash from the onboard A100 flash will not work with studio strobes.  This will give you a PC port and a standard hot shoe.  You can purchase one of these on e-bay for less than $20.  Just type in Sony Alpha flash adpater in the search bar in e-bay and you will see a bunch.  Mine came from Hong Kong in about a week (http://cgi.ebay.com/Flash-Hot-Shoe-Adapter-f-Minolta-Sony-Alpha-as-FS-1100_W0QQitemZ170066846874QQihZ007QQcategoryZ64354QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem).  Now second is where you will need to make a choice.  One, is since the AB's have a low trigger voltage, you can just hook up the cord that comes with one of them to the side of this adapter.  The other AB will be slaved to this first strobe when it fires. 

Two, you can purchase an infrared sync that fits on the standard hotshoe of the adapter you bought.  This will slave both of the AB's to the infrared (invisible) singal sent from the infrared sync. 

Three, and this is how I did it, you can buy a wireless trigger.  A lot of people recommend the Pocket Wizard, but I could not justify the cost.  I bought I wireless trigger off of e-bay for less than $30 (http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Channel-Wireless-Flash-Trigger-for-Film-or-Digital_W0QQitemZ280066210840QQihZ018QQcategoryZ30086QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem).  I think it came from New York in a couple of days.  You can slave the second AB off the first or buy a second receiver.  I have two receivers, and in this configuration I have never had the strobes not fire.  The Pocket Wizards I think have a greater range, but I am rarely over 10m from my strobes which is well within the range of the wireless transmitter I have.

You will then have to learn about metering.  Your camera will need to be put in M (or full Manual) mode since it doesn't understand that studio flashes are going to be fired.  This is where a hand-held flash meter comes in handy.  If you don't have one, you can do trial and error with the histogram, but you will waste a lot of time.  I bought a used flash meter for about $60, again off e-bay.  It does everything I need it to do.  It doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of the expensive ones, but I pretty much use one setting for my studio shots and that's about it.  Let me know if you have further questions and I will try to help.

Ryan

ahhhhh RYAN .. . you are a saving grace. .. Now . . .I use the 7D which it does say this is compatible with it ... but I use NOvatron lights which all plug into a power pack and then the power pack powers the lights. .. . so my sync cord comes from the power pack to the camera which will now be via the adapter?  Mypower pack can be set at 250 watts or 500 watts and the power to the lights is shared depending on how many lights I have plugged in and am using . .. so for instance if I'm using one light then all the power goes to that one light, but if I'm using 3 lights then the power is spread amongst the 3 lights.. . . so do you think this will cause any voltage problems?  I am converting to Canon so the adapter will be just if I need to use the Minolta as a backup in the studio . .. but I want to have that option if I need it . ..

 

 

Do you know the model number of your power pack?  From what I have seen, since I don't personally own one, the normal Novatron trigger voltage ranges from 7.5V to 12V.  I think some older models have a much higher trigger voltage.  I am uncertain what the 7D triggering capability is, but I would assume 6V-12V to be safe.  If you decide to go ahead and buy this adapter to try it out, which $20 is a lot better than $300, then there are some modifications you can do to make it safe for use with any triggering voltage, even the really high ones.  The wattage going to the lights doesn't change the triggering voltage of the power pack.  How long did you use the 7D with the pack until it failed?  To make the modifications to the adapter you will have to open it up change the circuitry.  Really easy if you know how to do it, if you don't then I can try to walk you through it when you get the parts.  Do you have an external flash that still works on the hot shoe?

I don't have the model number here. . the power pack is at the studio . .. it is an older model though I'm thinking. . . I used the novatrons for like 2 years before the sync port "broke" .  .it like falls out of the camera and the little nut thing that the sync port screws into is down in the hole where the sync port fits . . and you can see alittle yellow wire .  . that I"m thinking is suposed to be connected. . .  I am technical challenged. . . and would not be able to do any modifications with a walk through . . . a major wreck waiting to happen I promise LOL . . . I just didnt' want to fry my whole camera . .. and yes my external flash still works on the hot shoe . . .

 

 

If it was just a wire that broke on the PC Sync port connector, then I don't see any reason why the adapter wouldn't work.  I thought that maybe the sync port might have been over driven, but that does not sound like the problem.

I've also been using my lights with the Alpha, after being told I couldn't.  I bought a hot-shoe adaptor off ebay, and it's worked perfectly EVERY time. (knock on wood)  Then the sync cord that comes with the bee hooks right into it.  Very simple--BUT, I'm going to be looking into wireless.  Thanks for the info!

 

WOOOO HOOOOO hopefully teh answer to my prayers. . . as long as I can standt he piece of tape over the sync port LOL . . . YIPPEEEE!!!

You guys rock!  The thought of looking on ebay didn't even occur to me.  I purchased a sync adapter from Wolf before realizing that it didn't fit (it seems I would have know this since I've used Minolta and now Sony cameras since I was 13.  Thanks for the great help!!!

Travis

www.animalallure.com 

Ryan,

Thank you so much for all the great info.  I ordered what you suggested today!! I am so grateful for all your help.

Angel

You're welcome.  Post some of your shots when you get them.  It looks like there are a lot of people here that can get you over those first humps of using studio lighting.  I know I needed it when I started.

I had the Minolta 7d and now have the SOnyA100..... the biggest disappointment for me has been the sync issue. I had to search ebay etc. for the hot shoe adapters I needed. Look carefully at the ones for sale on ebay. Some of them are some type of aftermarket hot shoe I would be wary of them. You want the Minolta Fs1100 hot shoe adapter (if you can find one). I read the ntoe about the wireless..... would love to try it if I could figure out how. Good luck! :)

I actually purchased one of the "after-market" varieties, and it's great.  That doesn't mean that I'm not a little concerned about it, but it works for now and that's what I need.  It was only about $10 on ebay.

I wish I had known that when I paid twice what an fs1100 was worth on ebay!!! I got overly nervous about only having one adapter!! :)

Herb Keppler has an article about hot shoes and the Minolta/Sony one, in particular. He also gives the address of a Hong Kong company, Gadget Infinity, that makes an adapter that works. I bought one because I have a Maxxum 7D and Alien Bee strobes. I also bought their verson of the short MInolta cable release cord.