BEST FLASHGUN FOR SONY RX10?
Previously, I've used a METZ AF64-1 with an RX10 and although it was pretty good, I didn't find it to have a very intuitive menu system, so when it came to finding a decent flashgun for my new RX10 IV, I decided to look at the Sony range.
The flagship of the range is the HVL-F60RM but that's one hell of an expensive flashgun and is aimed at professionals. Many of its features would not work on the "lowly" RX10, so I had to look further down the product list for something that would provide a great feature-set without breaking the bank.
The Sony HVL-F45RM seemed like the perfect choice.The first consideration had to be the Guide Number. GN45 was about as low as I wished to go - nothing worse than a weak flash when you're at a wedding party with hardly any ambient light and a big group of people to capture. Sony's List Price is £400 at the time of writing, but a good online search will result in a much better price.
The HVL-F45RM provides a range of advanced features which the RX10 can take advantage of. Needless to say, there's still some redundancy due to the limitations of the camera, but for most occasions, the 45 suits the needs of most amateurs.
The flashgun features a zoom head complete with a built-in diffuser and bounce-card. The zoom range is 24-105mm and this can be controlled automatically by the RX10 or manually from the menu on the rear of the gun.
Modes include full TTL (which I'll be using almost exclusively), MANUAL, HSS & MULTI.
The head unit will move slightly downward (-8 degrees) and will tilt upwards and almost all the way back (150 degrees) and can rotate sideways almost 360 degrees. On the lower part of the body there's an LED light for close-range video work and it's pretty bright on its full power setting. It's not going to light up a room, but it'd good enough to light up head and shoulders in a darkened room. It's also very handy as a modelling lamp when doing still life or close-up commercial stuff.
The flash takes 4 x AA batteries and that should provide you with over 200 flashes. If using the flash for leisure purposes, I'd probably use rechargeables, but if I had something more serious to do, I'd switch to a set of ENERGIZER ULTIMATE Lithiums. Recycle time from a full discharge is around 2 seconds.
| Attaching |  |
|---|---|
| ADI flash metering | — |
| Burst | |
| P-TTL flash metering | |
| Auto Zoom | |
| Flash Range Display | |
| HSS (High-Speed Sync) | |
| Optical controlled wireless remote HSS | *10 |
| Optical controlled wireless remote flash | *10 |
| Optical controlled wireless controller | *7 |
| Optical controlled wireless Ratio (Controller) | *7 |
| Optical controlled wireless Ratio (Remote) | *8 |
| Radio controlled wireless HSS | *29 |
| Radio controlled wireless receiver flash | *29 |
| Radio controlled wireless commander | *30 |
| Radio controlled wireless Ratio (commander) | *30 |
| Radio controlled wireless Ratio (receiver) | *29 |
| Slow sync | |
| Modeling | |
| Multiple flash | |
| Manual flash | |
| AF illuminator | |
| Auto zoom control optimized for image sensor size | |
| Auto WB Adjustment with Color Temperature Info | |
| Red-Eye Reduction | |
| Flash Compensation | |
| FEL Lock | — |
| External Flash Settings | — |
*7 A separate wireless remote flash is required.
*8 A separate wireless controller (either an HVL-F43AM, HVL-F58AM, HVL-F60M or HVL-F43M) is required.
*10 A separate wireless controller (either an HVL-F20AM, HVL-F43AM, HVL-F58AM, HVL-F60M, HVL-F20M, HVL-F43M, or HVL-F32M) is required.
*29 Requires Radio Control Wireless Flash(sold separately) or Wireless Radio Commander FA-WRC1M(sold separately).
*30 Requires Radio Control Wireless Flash(sold separately) or Wireless Radio Receiver FA-WRR1(sold separately).
To find out more about this speedlite, click HERE!
