Sunday, May 17, 2009

Sony entry level external flash HVL-F20AM


Right on the heels of Canon announcing the Speedlite 270EX, Sony announced their entry level external flash together with the A230, A330 and A380 DSLRs. The new flash is the HVL-F20AM and is priced very competitively at USD130. (Watch for street price of less than USD100).

The image is quite small and at the time of posting, Sony has not released high resolution images yet. However, from the picture, it looks like it has a flash head that can be rotated upwards to allow for bouncing of the flash. This is comparable to the entry level offerings by Canon or other 3rd party flash manufacturers.

The main drawback is that it only has a Guide Number of 20. This compares favourably to the built-in flash which has a Guide Number of 12 and is a direct flash but may not be significant enough for the investment, although highly affordable. The new entry level flash should be able to give lighting that's not too harsh on the subject through bouncing it off the ceiling. Being an owner of the HVL-F58AM, I don't think I will be getting one anytime soon but if you are looking at a beginners kits, the A230Y and this flash would be a good start.

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