Sunpak long has been a top maker of electronic flash units. Sony, while it began producing single-lens reflex cameras later than competitors such as Nikon, Pentax and Canon, still produces a variety of solid digital cameras. Adding a professional-level bounce flash such as the Sunpak 383 to a Sony DSLR opens new possibilities for advanced photography.
Instructions
1. Add the FS-1100 adapter to your Sony DSLR. Because Sony uses the former Minolta hotshoe, you will need to do this in order to trigger the flash with the camera's shutter button. If you plan to use the Sunpak 383 flash unit off the camera, use an optical slave device to wirelessly connect the flash to the hotshoe adapter. You will not need either of these devices if you choose to set the flash's parameters manually for each use.
2. Mount the Sunpak 383 electronic flash unit on the hotshoe of the Sony DSLR via the FS-1100 adapter. The hotshoe is located just above the viewfinder eyepiece. All electronic flash units, no matter what company manufactured them, will fit this hotshoe adapter.
3. Set the ISO speed on the back of the Sunpak 383 to match your chosen ISO speed on the Sony DSLR. This is important if you do not use the FS-1100 adapter because you will lose through-the-lens metering and must operate the flash as a manual unit. ISO is the equivalent sensitivity of the camera's sensor to photographic film. A low ISO, such as 100 or 200 will need a lot of light to expose properly, while high ISO speeds such as 800, 1,600 or 3,200 will need much less. It is important to set this before shooting so the flash calibrates to your level of shooting.
4. Compose your image through the Sony DSLR viewfinder. Check the distance on the lens focus ring scale. You will need to set this information manually on the Sunpak 383 flash unit to match your camera's settings. The flash itself has its own metering system and does not connect directly to the camera's metering information.
5. Practice shooting a lot of test images before you shoot an important event. Because the Sunpak 383 is essentially an independent unit from the camera, you will need to know how the combination of flash and camera reacts in a variety of lighting and shooting circumstances. Test it in poor lighting as well as good lighting situations. The Sunpak 383 has a swivel head that also can be set at different angles up and down to use as a bounce flash. This prevents direct flash from washing out images, but it also takes practice if you are unfamiliar with such a flash unit.
Tags: will need, flash unit, electronic flash, FS-1100 adapter, Sony DSLR, bounce flash, electronic flash units