At some point in your photography, you end up looking at getting a
wireless trigger to control the shutter on your camera and some device to link
your studio lighting and flash. The thing is that Sony didn't make a good job
by selecting a different design in flash attachment on the camera for their top
of the range cameras like the Sony A65/77/99. So when looking for a trigger it
can be a bit harder as there are only a few around and the price range is
either low or high and will make a difference on quality.
2.4G Wireless Aputure Trigmaster II Flash Trigger + Shutter
When I had my A65, I looked everywhere and then found Aperture made one
for the camera, the build is a bit fiddly but works fine and they reckon that
it will work up to 120 meters but I’ve found in the studio that sometimes it
needs to be in line of sight. But it comes with all the attachments your need
and the price isn't bad at about £40 and has 16 channels to work from.
I didn't have a problem with my flash working wirelessly as you just
have to put the pop flash on and then the flash would work TTL from the camera,
I should point out that I have the HMVL-58AM since that has the right
connection for the camera and doesn't need a hotshoe to reverse it.
Sony A99
When I invested earlier this year in the A99, I knew that it didn't come
with an on board pop up flash, but I thought it would still connect wirelessly
to the flash, how wrong I was. So this left me with a dilemma and had to shop
around for a new wireless trigger that would do the same work with the studio
lighting but would work with the flash in wireless mode. I know there are makes
out there like Cowboy but is hard to get outside the States. There is Pocket
Wizard but at over £200 is a bit over budget for me, Sony must have listen to
complaints as they do provide a hotshoe with the A99 as part of the package.
Pixel King for Sony TTL
The Pixel King is just shy of a £100 and comes with more leads than you
could ask for and a handy bag to keep it all in. You may notice that there's a
USB lead, well if Pixel do any firmware update then you can connect the devices
to a PC and keep them up to date, so no messing around in having to look for
something else if Sony decided to do an update that might not let your trigger
system work.
This set comes with 3 different groups and 7 different combinations,
which is more than anyone would need. It has that all-important TTL connection
and has a sync speed of up to 1/8000s and will work up to 100 meters and over.
I did a test and actually will work through solid walls with its radio signal,
not that you would find a situation to do this but was interesting putting it
through the test.
The receiver I love as I can connect it to the camera and then on top
connect my
Hahnel Giga T Pro II Wireless Remote Control that I
use a timer remote and for bulb work, so everything is tidy on the camera.
This is a super kit and I'm sure that for other makes of camera, it will
do just as a good a job, if you need to add an extra transmitter, that’s no
problem and for the price I think that it does as good a job as the more
expensive models. Pixel also does a receiver that can control light power
output amongst other things, but I didn't feel the need to go for that as I can
make do for the time being with what I've got.
So if you’re on a budget, either of these devices will do the job and a
good one at that, so don't be put off if you’re looking at getting a Sony Alpha
camera as there are work a rounds for these great cameras that are easy to use
and light to work with.
Thanks for reading, AndyD
