Flash gun help!

am4nf

am4nf

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adam
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Bought a centon fh85 for my Sony alpha a200 as I had bought a Nissin but it was advertised wrong so I bought an adapter but wanted something that went straight on, the centon works manually pressing the flash on the back but I can't get the green auto check to come on and when attached to the camera it's red light flashes with af but won't fire.....
 
Out of curiosity I looked fh85 up and sounds like the Nissin in that it is a universal head that needs a make/body specific adaptor.

So just what is it you have bought and was it sold as compatible with your Sony A200 ???
 
The nissin says nikon on it

The centon was advertised as Minolta dedicated, I went on the basis that Minolta is the same as Sony with regards to lens
 
The centon fits straight on the nissin needs the adapter but it flashes the centon doesn't
 
Just heard back from the seller that is is for a 35mm slr so not compatible with mine
 
am4nf said:
The nissin says nikon on it

The centon was advertised as Minolta dedicated, I went on the basis that Minolta is the same as Sony with regards to lens
Click to expand...

Oh! lens mount compatibility IMO has nothing at all as a guide as to whether a flash would be compatible :(
 
am4nf said:
Just heard back from the seller that is is for a 35mm slr so not compatible with mine
Click to expand...

This one worries me more ~ a lot of the older 35mm film body flash guns had very high trigger voltages compared to those designed for modern dSLR's
Note ~ I am not saying this the case with either the Centon or the Nissin but there are or were some risks using such old flashes on the new dSLR bodies.

The high voltage can fry the circuitry in modern dSLR's ~ something to be very wary of or about.

Hopefully your A200 has sufficient protection against such a mismatch?
 
Yeah this flash says it has an extremely low voltage output from what I've read, cameras fine
 
For the Sony A200 there are a number of possible flash options - the key thing is that the flash have the 'iISO' hot shoe (which was originally a Minolta design, and Sony continued to use for a number of their cameras).
They will all be second hand now, having been discontinued for several years
From memory;

Sony / Minolta branded

Minolta 3600 hs(d) / Sony HVL-F36AM
Minolta 5600 hs(d) / Sony HVL-F56AM
Sony HVL-F42AM
Sony HVL-F60AM

There were also a few third party flashes made which were compatible - these are flashes which had specific versions for specific brands, so make sure you get the Sony one!

Jessops 360 HFS - Similar to the Sony / Minolta 36
Yongnuo 560 I & II - both are manual flashes, so more suited to off camera use where you are using several flashguns in a portable studio type setting
 
The centon one fits straight on..... but just won't fire from the camera lol
 
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