Question from a student: I’d like to get into the off camera flash gear a little but my problem is I’m just finding it a little difficult to work out exactly what will work with my Sony Nex 6 camera setup.
I’ve looked at your recommended gear for flash page and I like the idea of the Yongnuo RF-603 radio triggers and the Yongnuo YN-560 II flash.
I have a sony alpha NEX-6 which I believe has a “standard” hotshoe but I’d like to know if this flash is compatible and just to clarify that I would need to buy the Nikon transceiver and the sony adaptor that you have linked to?
Thanks very much for any help or suggestions you can give!!
– W.M., a student in the Intermediate Photography Class
Answer from Jim: Honestly, I’m not sure on this one. You’ve stumped me. Here’s the issue.
Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, etc all use the same standard hotshoe. Sony decided to be different and used the Minolta hotshoe. That is my #1 complaint with Sony products is they always dump the industry standards to create their own technologies, which has the practical effect of stranding customers with problems like this.
After years of using the Minolta hotshoe, Sony finally decided to switch over to the standard hotshoe with the Sony Nex 6. The problem? Despite calling it the “Multi Interface Shoe” or even sometimes calling it the “Universal hotshoe”…. it certainly is not. Nex 6 users are having all kinds of problems finding ways to use standard flash accessories on their systems.
I am not saying it is impossible to make inexpensive third party flashes work with the Sony Nex 6. The issue is that it depends on a lot of different factors in the way the third party accessory is made and if it works with the Sony.
It is my hope that we will soon see a good Multi Interface Shoe to REAL standard shoe adapter soon, but I couldn’t find anything that works for sure. Several devices on eBay and Amazon claim to do it, but the reviews say it is unreliable.
I can see two options: (1) Try buying a few items on Amazon and simply test it to see if the products work with the Nex 6, or (2) Pay up for the proprietary Sony brand flash accessories. I realize that neither option is perfect by any means, but I haven’t found any other way just yet.