Flash System : Sony

Flash System

Virtually all SLR cameras provide automatic flash control systems today. However, many of the enabling technologies that make automatic flash possible originated in DYNAX cameras. In particular, DYNAX products were the first to offer control of external flash via the camera body, as well as automatic control of multiple external flash units, including the ability to vary their individual flash ratios. This latter function was something that until then, only professional photographers had undertaken to do, and it was a task that had to be performed manually. The DYNAX series can take credit for making sophisticated flash photography available to everyone.

Auto Zoom Flash

This function uses data from the lens's read-only memory to enable the selected focal length of the lens to automatically control the amount of flash coverage. When a wide-angle lens is used, flash coverage will automatically be wide and reach to the periphery of the image; when a telephoto lens is attached, the flash coverage will narrow in order to increase the amount of illumination on the subject.

Automatic Fill-Flash

Fill-flash makes use of flash to creatively illuminate a backlit image. Before its introduction as an automated feature in the 7000, such use of fill-flash was considered an advanced technique employed by professional photographers. Immediately before the flash fires, the automatic fill-flash technology determines the optimum shutter speed and aperture to retain background detail, the ambiance of the backlit area, and also to prevent background overexposure. In addition, it controls flash output so as to create a pleasing illumination of the subject and to prevent its overexposure.

Flash Compensation

In the past, when shooting with day-sync or slow-sync and a standard flash system, over exposure was often the result because the subject remained exposed to the ambient light after the flash had fired.

To prevent this, both the amount of exposure and flash output needed to be fine-tuned. The 7000 was the first camera to incorporate flash compensation control, automate it and provide the function as an Auto fill-flash function for slow-sync.

Twin-Lighting Control

In studio photography, a portrait can be given a certain sense of depth that results in an impressive image. This is achieved using two or more flash units employing different flash ratios. The 7000 and 9000 provided control of two separate external flash units and their flash ratios.

To set this up, the main flash is attached to the camera's control grip (which, for additional flexibility, can be separated into two parts and connected by a cable), while the second flash is mounted on the camera's body. The flash units are controlled serially. First, the main flash starts firing and the control mechanism uses direct metering to measure the illuminance of the subject on the film plane to calculate two-thirds of the necessary amount of light.

Based on this calculation, the main flash stops firing when the two-thirds figure is reached, at which point the second flash is fired to complete the required illumination. The result is a 2:1 flash ratio that produces a photograph with a pleasing 3D-like depth of field.

Wireless Flash System

Until the release of the DYNAX 7xi with its sophisticate built-in flash technology, automatic control of external wireless flash was unavailable. The 7xi used its built-in flash in combination with an external wireless flash unit, which was capable of high-speed intermittent firing--a method that greatly contributed to the advancement of wireless flash control.

This advanced technology's sequence begins when the 7xi's built-in flash sends a pulsed signal to the external flash, which reacts by firing a repeated pulsed light, rather than a standard burst, until commanded to stop. The camera's direct metering then determines the proper exposure on the film plane and the built-in flash signals the external flash to quit firing. Twin-lighting control using the built-in flash is also available.

ART en EU 2008 10 DYNAX Flash System