I know....botol told me. Still...envy u

but if sony launched the new lower mp FF in couple of months, i might consider to get it...

A900 is ok...24mp will be great in pixel manipulation like cropping n editing.

mmg la bro then aku yer lappy kaboom la pastu ...

wow marushin, how many body u going to own and use it...u become collector edi

SHOfrE3zE: Nice! I'd prefer it as a neutral-WB version though; the colors would stand out more since they're mostly primary colors.

chiggy: Congratulations! That is probably a record-breaking price among all of us!


I got myself the new Sony HVL-F20AM flash!


It's a quickly-foldable flash that turns off when it is flipped down.

It also turns off the moment you start turning the flash downwards so you can't use it at a halfway position.

It has a very nice, solid springy snappy feel. You will enjoy the tactile feedback from flipping it! I would say it feels 80% similiar to closing the HVL-F58AM flash stand. It has rubber padding on the front to prevent the A900's prism head from marking the flash.


It takes 2 AAA batteries.


When mounted on the Sony Alpha 900 (or any Alpha without a pop-up flash, according to the manual), it can control the Sony F36AM, F56AM, F42AM, and F58AM. However, the F20AM cannot be used as an off-camera flash. This is the first Alpha flash that can't.

The F20AM cannot control off-camera flashes when mounted on the A100/A200/A230/A300/A330/A350/A380/A700 as far as I know (and according to the manual) but I will update this post if I find that it actually can, tomorrow night...

Fortunately, the pop-up flash of the A100/A200/A230/A300/A330/A350/A380/A700 all can trigger off-camera flashes. So it's not a functionality that is strongly needed on those cameras anyway!

Off-camera Group Ratios

The F20AM cannot set off-camera group ratios even on the A900 but that is fine by me - ratios would need a complex interface on the back of the flash, like the F58AM, since the Alpha flash ratios are set on the flash and not the body. It's also meant to be simple to target the A230/A330/A380 market while throwing in a bonus for the A900 crowd.

Bonus Combination!

Nikon has a SU-800 unit which mounts on their flash mount, and triggers off-camera flashes. Nikon also sells a SB-400 flash which is small and can be set to bounce mode.

Canon has a ST-E4 unit which mounts on their flash mount, and triggers off-camera flashes. Canon also sells a 270EX flash which is small and can be set to bounce mode.

However, this Sony HVL-F20AM combines both the trigger unit and small flash into one! If you wanted to use both the SB-800 and SB-400 flash at the same time, you could not! If you wanted to use both the ST-E4 and 270EX flash at the same time, you could not!


Here it is, compared to my Sunpak PF20XD for size. Longer, thinner, just as wide.

There are only 3 switches on the F20AM - the DIRECT/BOUNCE switch, the TELE/WIDE switch and the ON/OFF switch (which is the swivel point.)

Setting the DIRECT/BOUNCE switch to DIRECT sets the flash to point forward, while BOUNCE points it up 75 degrees.

Setting the TELE/WIDE switch to TELE sets the flash zoom head to 35mm APS-C/50mm full-frame, while WIDE pulls a diffuser in front of the flash head, effectively making it 18mm APS-C/27mm full-frame.


Interestingly, and very cleverly, Sony designed it so that when you're in BOUNCE mode, and you set the TELE/WIDE switch to WIDE, the diffuser 'skips' past the flash zoom head so you cannot use BOUNCE and WIDE at the same time. In such a condition it would be the same as BOUNCE and TELE.

That said, you do not need to shoot BOUNCE and WIDE - when you bounce off a ceiling, the distance travelled makes the light spread out widely so it's already pretty much WIDE. If you use the wide panel diffuser on your other flashes while bouncing the flash off the ceiling, you are just wasting a lot of flash power!

And now, I can finally use my F58AM off-camera on my A900 - previously, I'd have to mount the F58AM on the A900 in order to trigger off-camera flashes! Thank you Sony for saving some wireless functionality for the A900!

wow wow owowowow~~
so u organizing a TT soon?
maybe i can take a look that f20
+ return back ur IR filter

the TT is tonight, as posted by albnok in alpanatics.

Aiyak. Tonight cant doh. And nice review albnok. (: Seems like it's made as a mini flash for just the a900 right?

dingenius3:

What: Sony F20 TT Session
When: 7:30pm onwards Wednesday 22nd July 2009
Where: Restoran Pelita (mamak near KLCC)

Who's coming:
1. albnok
2. thisiskj
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Kul | Mo0: It's a mini flash for any Alpha (which is why it's marketed for the A230/A330/A380 owners). Just that it can trigger off-camera flashes on the A900.

bro how much is this a700 going for? FTZ means? sorry noob here.....

Free Trade Zone....http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/ftz/index.php

FTZ = free trade zone

website = FTZ

Same here man. Gonna OT tonight

And albnok, although the A200 has a pop-up flash to trigger wireless flash, it is still not that efficient yet la... (unless them flash guns are either near, the place is dark, a lot of white bouncy things around..) sometimes it just doesnt trigger them, and it annoys me, do you think that this happens cos the pop up on the A200 is rather small and yea, pendek sikit?

Cos i was talking to zeeg yesterday bout the F20 too... and we werent sure of whether the F20 wuld have that ability on A200-A700... now we know la... thanks for the review albnok!

Which would you guys recommend between Sigma 30 F1.4 and SAL 16105?

Both around RM 1500 (2nd hand). Currently i have a Sigma 24-70 F2.8.

Have to decide pretty soon.

millenia3000, I don't believe the F20 will help you in that situation; bouncing will reduce WL range. I do want to find out today if the F20 offers that much more range in terms of WL triggering.

Again, that's what the manual says but I have yet to try.

This is a reply I typed in Dyxum:



The... or rather, my primary use for this flash, is split into three categories:

1) casual events / parties

I will not bring any other flash, just camera, standard or wide zoom and F20. I'd use high ISO and bright apertures anyway to get the ambient light of the party in. It is likely I will use DIRECT flash and blend in plenty of ambient light to reduce the harshness. So, power is not an issue for me.

2) paid events / parties

If I am covering an event and I am paid to take photos, I am obviously not going to use the F20! The F58 is the man for the job.

3) paid shoots with off-camera flash

I probably won't use the F20 as a front light (my Strobist style rarely calls for dead-on front light.) So I don't need any power from the front.

According to the math, though:

F20 = 20 meters at 50mm ISO100 F1.0

So at F5.6 ISO400, the range at full 1/1 power, direct, is 40 meters / F5.6 = 7.14 meters. When bounced we divide it by 2 and get 3.57 meters. I think that's far enough for me, but I am not afraid to use ISO1600 so I get my 7.14 meters range.

I should be able to get an idea of its range hopefully this weekend. You can tell if the F20 fired full power; it does whirr like a F42.

i vote for the sigma 30mm f1.4...

it will more interesting if can trigger other flash when F20 (in bounce mode) mount on all alpha system. so can avoid the direct flash to subject.. hope u can test this also albnok with A200 n F42..

if can't apa boleh buat...

What: Sony F20 TT Session
When: 7:30pm onwards Wednesday 22nd July 2009
Where: Restoran Pelita (mamak near KLCC)

Who's coming:
1. albnok
2. thisiskj
3. ahmike
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

tak boleh la bro... i think alb test edi...