Sony HVLF20M, MI Shoe External Flash for Alpha SLT/NEX (Black)

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It is a very simple flash that is quick to recycle and relatively powerful for its small size with a Guide number of 14 in Std setting and 20 in Tele setting. Using PowerEx "Ready When You Are" AAA [NEW! 950mAh] NiMH Rechargeable Batteries - 4 Batteries Per Pack it recycles in under a second. The available controls are limited to a Standard/Tele rotating dial which slides a diffuser over the flash tube for between 18mm - 35mm focal length (Std) and a Direct/Bounce slider which changes the angle of the flash tube from facing forward to straight up. The on/off switch is actuated by merely lifting the flash up to a vertical position, when it is "off" it sits horizontally facing forward. The only problem I have with this power switch arrangement is that when the flash is "off" the multi Interface foot of this unit that slides into the shoe of the camera is sticking up and more likely to be damaged (see my customer pictures). The flash comes with a flimsy cloth drawstring bag to store and protect it which provides about as much protection as a handkerchief. You would think that for $150 Sony could provide a small case for this somewhat overpriced flash. I found a small leather case to put the flash into and I store it in the flat "on" position with the batteries removed. When taking pictures with it I have found that is has plenty of power even in totally dark rooms of relatively large size (25x25) with the flash set at the standard setting, the exposure was balanced with no hot spots and the white balance was dead on. The flash integrates well with the NEX-6 (and the Sony cameras referenced below) and according to Sony uses TTL/ADI (through the lens)/(Advanced Distance Integration) flash metering when used with Sony lenses that send distance information back to the camera. The camera calculates a specific guide number for each photo based on the distance from the subject using ADI, along with ambient light and pre-flash reflectivity of the subject and the background using TTL metering, this insured proper white balance and even exposure. This is way stronger than the internal flash by far and extends the cameras capabilities even though the NEX-6 does well in low light, more light when properly applied, is usually better. I have found that using the bounce setting with an index card extending above the flash to reflect some of the light forward produced nice balanced portraits without shadows. Note: It cannot be used off-camera and has no independent light sensing capabilities. Overall the flash is very small and light weight so it adds little bulk to the camera and is easy to attach to the camera once you remove the hot shoe protector from the camera and base protector from the flash. There are small, gold plated contacts at the front of the cameras hot shoe and at the base of the flash (see my customer photos) which communicate with them and they are delicate and need to be protected. Ordinarily, I would not keep replacing the hot shoe protector on a camera or a protector on the base of a flash but if these are bent or damaged in any way, the camera and flash will not cooperate with each other and that would not be a good thing so I replace the protectors after I use the flash and suggest that you do this as well. According to Sony, you should get about 90 flashes with AAA alkaline batteries and up to 150 with Ni-MH with quicker recycling time with the Ni-MH. I shot about 50 exposures with the "Ready to use" Imedion-Powerex batteries right out of the package with no significant loss in recycling time. Overall this is a good flash, certainly better than the built in one but not as flexible nor as powerful as you might expect for its $150 price. Addendum: This flash is also compatible with the following other Sony cameras according to their website: Cyber-shot Digital RX100 II Alpha NEX-7 Camera Sony a58 DSLR Sony a65 DSLR Sony a77 DSLR Sony a99 Full-Frame DSLR As well as the discontinued Alpha 37 and 57 DSLR cameras

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I bought this flash to use with my NEX-6--I wanted something smaller than my HVLF60M for use on the camera, and I wanted something that would wirelessly control the HVLF60M off camera. All of that works great, and the HVLF20M is the perfect size for the NEX-6. But I found an additional feature. With the HVLF20N on the camera as a master, the HVLF60M off camera as a slave, the NEX-6 flash setting set to wireless, and the camera mode set to Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual, you get high speed sync! Thats right--you can shoot with shutter speeds all the way up to 1/4000! The normal high speed sync caveat applies--flash range is greatly reduced. And you are limited to one flash group, I think. But this combination delivers a capability that I didnt think the NEX-6 had, and I havent found reference to anywhere else. Might work with other Sony flash combinations too.

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Battery life (using rechargable AAAs) was surprisingly good. I took over 200 photos some with bounce over a few hours and didnt have any issues with battery life. Illumination is good, much much superior to built in flash on my a6000. I was shooting in a large room. No one complained about burned retinas, didnt see a lot of red eye even though I didnt have the red eye feature turned on. Very Effective. Yes, Id buy another one. No need to spend $400 on a big flash unless you have professional needs.

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Picked this up to bring to a wedding I was packing light for in the hopes it would improve shots of my friends at the reception. The results totally surpassed my expectations. Even in a reception hall with a 30 foot ceiling, using the unit in bounce mode provided a great soft light and really enhanced subject separation from the background. Its no pro flash, but its leaps and bounds better than any built in flash and its still quite compact. I can see why some people dont like the fact that flipping it down is the only way to turn it off, but I found it super convenient when it was mounted on my camera. When I store it, I just take out the batteries so I can fold it flat. Quick recycling when paired with NiMH batteries.

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This seems to be the go-to "cheap" flash unit for Sony mirrorless APS-C cameras like NEX6 and the newer Alphas (i.e., Alpha 6000). Ive not seen any reviews of it being used with RX100M2 which its compatible with, so I went on blind faith that thing will turn out okay. RX100M2 is a nifty little camera with excellent image quality but its also been one of my most frustrating cameras to use b/c of the slow shutter speed it chooses for low light settings (wrote a lengthy review of that). Ive also always struggled with the poppy-uppy-flashy of RX100M2. Direct flash is too harsh so often, Id use bounce b/c the in-camera flash unit is spring loaded and can be tilted upwards as with most other Sony mirrorless cameras; however the bounce effect would only light up top half of the photo, so either the angle is wrong or the flash is too weak. I almost got to the point of selling the RX but decided to give it a try with this little guy (HLVF20M) to see how taking low-light, indoor photos might change. I used it at a wedding recently (as slave camera to the NEX5R outfit ;-) and must say, I got some fantastic photos with this thing out of RX100M2. I used bounce for all photos (the strobe can be pointed upwards), which is invaluable, and the pics came out smooth, evenly lit, and the color rendition was great. It looks rather funny to attach such a big piece of accessory to a little camera like RX100M2 but I really now appreciate the fact that the camera came with a hot shoe mount b/c it allows for things like this. If you think about it, to get TTL flash with a camera like RX100M2 is great. Also, the strobe part sits quite high distance apart from the camera lens, which is what you want anyway so this is good. Sadly, the updated RX100M3 model has dropped the hot shoe mount to make room for in-camera EVF, so as far as the RX100 series go, M2 is now the only model and perhaps the last model where you can attach external accessories. *Tears* Back to the flash unit. Its small, light, runs on its own batteries so the cycle time are fast and does not cut into the cameras battery, and is strong enough, as long as youre not expecting Speedlite-like strength and range. Again, the ability to bounce is invaluable. For mid-sized rooms, its perfect. I do wish it had swivel but Im not aware of any flash unit with swivel in this price range. One minor complaint is that the unit turns on/off by the hinge thats at the bottom of the unit. So in the off position, the flash unit sits parallel to the ground and to turn on, you swivel it upwards as you see in the product pic. I wish there was a separate on off switch, since the off position makes the unit protrude out compared to the depth of the RX100M2 camera. At $150, its not a bad price at all especially when you think full-sized flash units are $400+.

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I recently bought the NEX-6 and added this soon after (to replace the other Sony that incorrectly claimed to work with this camera). I had not used it much so when I decided to take pix at an outdoor - night - retirement party I had no clue what to expect. Since I was about 30 ft back from the guest of honor I used the 55-200 lens, something else I had not tried. I fired away from many angles and zoom levels and must say I was amazed at the results. The pix were clear and crisp and pretty much perfectly exposed. (I used auto settings on camera.) It turns out the wife of the retiree thought she had someone to take pix but he failed to show. I showed them my "practice" pix and they were ecstatic. I do think the price is a little high (no doubt due in part to no alternatives - yet), but its about as plug-and-play as it gets.

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I bought this flash for my SONY cameras for outdoor fill light on sunny days. This one is more than that. Can be a ceiling bounce and night time flash. Unfortunately it does not turn and does not have many positions BUT it is tiny, turns on and off by moving it up from the horizontal position and when fired sits quite high above the lens. Recharge time is fast. Control is from the camera (+/-, sync). Expensive but the ease of use and the dedicated SONY operation may justify the price. I used it with an a6400 and an a7RIII body.

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This is a great little flash. I use it on my Sony A6000 and its surprisingly good. Cycles in about 1 sec and its powered by 2 AAA batteries. Some people may complain that there is no on/off switch. When the flash is up, its on. When its flat light a right angle, its off. That too bothered me when I ordered it, but I figured out a work around. If you leave the flash in the on (up) position while mounted on your camera, and then turn off the camera, the power on the flash will go off as well even though its officially in the "on" position. The reason this is good is that now its off and flat so that it can fit into a camera bag better. If you use the Think Tank Mirrorless mover bags, this will fit perfectly into the iPhone pocket. Great little flash and gets the job done for those occasional fill flash moments.

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THIS IS THE PERFECT SMALL FLASH TO TAKE ALONG TO ADD FILL FLASH TO YOUR PHOTOS. IT HAS A BOUNCE MODE AND A TELEPHOTO MODE. WHEN MOUNTED ON MY RX10 III with F2.4-4 large-aperture 24-600mm zoom lens, SEE HERE: Sony DSC-RX10 III Cyber-shot Digital Still Camera IT FITS PERFECTLY AND FOLDS DOWN WHEN NOT IN USE. MY ONLY GRIPE IS THAT THE ON-OFF SWITCH IS INTEGRATED INTO THE FOLDING OF THE FLASH. WHEN YOU FLIP UP THE FLASH IT TURNS ON AND WHEN YOU FOLD IT DOWN IT TURNS OFF. I WOULD PREFER A SLIDING ON-OFF SWITCH ON THE FLASH ITSELF. OT EVEN FITS NICELY IN MY HARD CAMERA CASE.

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I always have my a6000 in my hand and love taking head shots. This has made the pics so much better. Easy to use, and uses 2 AAA batteries. Just place in the hot shoe and away you go. With the ttl feature all the shots are now perfectly exposed--especially in situations where you would normally have shadows without this simple flash. I am very impressed. My pics have improved overnight. Will use it a lot the next couple of weeks during my Christmas trip to the grandchildren.

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