Sony HVL-F42AM High Power Digital Flash for Sony Alpha DSLR Cameras

Wireless is perfect Very powerful This is well worth the money .This flash is a huge improvement over the HVL-F36AM it recycles really fast no wait. I can light up a 15 foot room with one of these.Try putting a gary fong or Stoffen diffuser on this it will even your light out and ...

Publisher : Sony
Company : Sony
List Price: ~~$299.00~~
Our Price: $172.00
You Save: $127 (43%)
Used Price : $160.00

Features

High-power illumination (guide number: 42)
Longer effective range of over 30 ft. (10.5m)
Versatile bounce angles: 90° up, 90° left, 180° right
Auto white balance (signals color temp. to camera)
Retractable wide-angle panel (16mm angle)

Product Description

Powerful Flash for More Creative Freedom. The HVL-F42AM Flash Unit gives Sony ¿ system photographers more illumination power for every shooting opportunity, with effective range greater than 30 feet (10.5m), versatile bounce angles (90° up, 90° left, 180° right) and high-speed sync to catch fast action. It also provides intelligent features like auto zoom optimized for image sensor size, auto WB with color temperature signal to camera, and accurate ADI metering capability -- plus wide zoom angle (16mm) with retractable wide panel, simple controls, flash test button and fast recharging time to help you shoot more quickly (guide number: 42).

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Customer reviews

Wireless is perfect Very powerful by .. Kevin (Flushing)
This is well worth the money .This flash is a huge improvement over the HVL-F36AM it recycles really fast no wait. I can light up a 15 foot room with one of these.Try putting a gary fong or Stoffen diffuser on this it will even your light out and spread it around the room. A Bare bulb only fires straight forward only filling the forward portion of the room .

On some of these reviews when they say this is a weak flash are uninformed and unaware of their equipments potential.If you buy any flash and use only the bare flash firing forward it will not fill a room it will fire straight forward the way it was intended to do.You will see some idiots fire a bare flash at peoples faces and wonder why it doesn't work .

Try bouncing it off the ceiling preferably a white one a green ceiling will turn everyone into green people aliens.
And also invest in a diffuser or umbrella for it a stoofen or gary fong or a 1 dollar frosted tupperware bowl and cut a hole in it . . Or get a 24x24 softbox and soften it up a bit.

In WL mode it does have to be in line sight with the camera and it is very reliable .(Hint for newbies put the flash on the camera power on camera. Turn on flash head .Select menu on camera go to flash select wireless. Remove flash head from camera then flip camera flash up you are now in wireless mode) ( you can also just push the WL button on the back of the flash and select wireless flash in the camera menu , then flip up the camera flash and you are in wireless mode.
I use two of these and they do everthing that I need them to do and then some .I use only one with a 60" soft white umbrella and get everything I need from that. I will use two on large groups of people 8 or more ... well worth the money I would buy again if needed .
...Highly recomended You can get a hvl-56AM or Hvl-58AM which are more powerful but the 56 is discontinued and don't support white balance mode and the 58 is very expensive but worth every penny (plus the HVL-F58AM will control this flash and fire a flash off the camera at the same time no annoying pre-flash ...The TTL is very nice also ...I chose this over the Sigma after long researching . I get mixed reviews from people using sigmas saying some work great and some don't .
I just wanted it to do what it is supposed to do with no hassels and this is why I chose these flashes and glad I did. I also just ordered the HVL-F58AM I will have two 42's and a 58...I will update later..

I am updating this I have been using the HVL-58AM all can say is what a flash it is powerful and controls the all the 42's I love them all 42's and 58..

I now have 4 HVL-F42AM's and a HVL-F58AM the F58 can fire all these or you can use Radio triggers like the RF-602 canon or Nikon sets with a SC-6 adapter and a FS-1100 adapter for the camera .. The HVL-F42AM have to be mounted on camera to fire Radio triggers just disable the standby mode so they don't go to sleep in 3 minutes or extend it..

I want to tell you that you will see bad reviews from people lacking skills the tools are only as good as the photographer ..A good photographer learns how to use and make the best out of his equipment a bad photographer complains about the equipment ..

You can buy any camera you want in a DSLR it will not make you a better photographer learn to master what you have GO to [...] and find strobist and learn lighting skills 101

Exceeds Expectations by .. Michael J. Foran Jr. (USA)
I've owned the F42AM flash for about 3 months now and am very pleased. I think it is the most powerful flash out there for the Sony mount for under $300. It 'zooms' the flash focus in conjunction with your camera lens zoom, has a click out wide angle dispersion filter so it works with wide angle lenses, does bounce/angle/rotate orientation, and its wireless capability is not equaled at this price. In auto mode snapshots are consistently right on. Manual or custom control settings are simple and easy. When in off-camera wireless mode using bounce mode with a diffuser it is almost like having a room full of studio lights. I know its big brother has even more power and features that the pros need, but for advanced amateurs or beginner pros this flash can't be beat.

This flash has really improved my indoor photos by .. Tabitha Gallman (Calhoun, GA)
This flash has really improved my indoor photos. I have been using the built in flash on my Sony A100, but this high powered flash gives me more control of the lighting. I like that I can adjust the flash to bounce the flash around where I want it. This is a needed tool for beginning photographers who need good quality indoor photos. Good quality for the price.

Smarter than me by .. M. Mowery (Owosso, mi United States)
I use this on my Sony a300 DSLR, and it's just amazing to behold how this thing communicates with the camera. It even seems to work great in TTL metering mode when bouncing the flash off the ceiling. The wireless mode is awesome, I sometimes hold the flash off to the side with my left hand and take the photo with my right hand. A great improvement over the built in flash, it eliminates the shadow that was occasionally cast by my workhorse zoom lens when it was extended. I doubt if it would be powerful enough for professional use, but at my level it's just great, and as the title says, I think it's smarter than me.

The best investment after the camera by .. Matthew Holliday (NYC)
This flash has taken my photography to new levels. It is surprisingly powerful for its size and for the money and its recycle rate is pretty impressive.

I haven't had an issue with the battery life of the unit. 1 set usually gets me through 2 Portrait sessions although I always keep spares on hand just in case. The low battery warning comes on very early on but it keeps going for ages afterwards.

Output definitely benefits from the use of a diffuser for which I am using a little Sto Fen diffuser. Gives a very even spread.

The wireless function is what I use the majority of the time and I find to be seamless over surprisingly long distances in full daylight.

If you wait long enough you can get these for around $165 new from Ebay. I know this to be the case as that is where I got my second one!

The only down point is the awful Sony/Minolta flash connector that is used to connect it to the top of the camera. Every time I attach or remove it I can feel the plastic straining slightly. Also means that you need an adapter to connect into standard flash accessories such as the excellent Pocket Wizard Range.This isn't a fault with the flash just with the range of cameras in general.