What Is Wrong With the Built-in Flash of Sony Alpha A55?

"me" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:57:53 -0000, "R. Mark Clayton"
wrote:

Use NiCd batteries that can provide lots of current for rapid recharge.

Try again? Suggest you RTFM for the camera in question.

Wouldn't that be a job for the OP?

Where is one supposed to put these?

In the external flash he (you?) obviously needs. Use modern NiMH cells
though *not* NiCd, they were problematic at best.

Trevor.

"Trevor" wrote in message
...

"me" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:57:53 -0000, "R. Mark Clayton"
wrote:

Use NiCd batteries that can provide lots of current for rapid recharge.

Try again? Suggest you RTFM for the camera in question.

Wouldn't that be a job for the OP?

Where is one supposed to put these?

In the external flash he (you?) obviously needs. Use modern NiMH cells
though *not* NiCd, they were problematic at best.

Maybe (memory effects etc.), but they loved rough usage and could provide
big currents (e.g. for drills, and rapid recharge of flash units).


Trevor.

On 2011-12-17 10:57 , R. Mark Clayton wrote:
"Gettamulla wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:16:58 -0500, sherman wrote:

No way SONY manufactured a camera that takes forever
to recharge after 3 shots with the built-in flash.
Thank you, anyway.

He is 100% correct. The solution to the problem is to use an external
flash.


And quite a lot of other possibilities. The flash is clever enough not to
completely discharge if it does not need to, but once the capacitors are
empty (after say 3 to 4 shots) he will have to wait for them to recharge.


Possibilities not mentioned: -

Use a longer exposure time even with a tripod if more than about 0.03s.

You'd need a lot more time than that for the usual home snapshot at
Christmas. Better to pop up the ISO.

Use NiCd batteries that can provide lots of current for rapid recharge.

The camera flash uses the camera battery which is Li-ion, and for that
matter every bit as good as NiCd for current. For external flashes,
NiCd is not used much anymore, NiMH having much tamer life cycle
characteristics as well as high current output.


--
"I see!" said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.

"R. Mark Clayton" wrote in message
...
Maybe (memory effects etc.), but they loved rough usage and could provide
big currents (e.g. for drills, and rapid recharge of flash units).

And have been almost totally supeceded by LiOn and NiMH in both cases.

Trevor.

"Trevor" writes:

In the external flash he (you?) obviously needs. Use modern NiMH cells
though *not* NiCd, they were problematic at best.

On the one hand, I think you're being unduly harsh on NiCd batteries.

On the other hand, OLD NiCd batteries that have been sitting around
since they were current technology are nearly certainly useless; I don't
see any reason anybody would benefit from actually using NiCd batteries
in ordinary flashes these days.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, ; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

"Trevor" writes:

"R. Mark Clayton" wrote in message
...
Maybe (memory effects etc.), but they loved rough usage and could provide
big currents (e.g. for drills, and rapid recharge of flash units).

And have been almost totally supeceded by LiOn and NiMH in both cases.

And LiOn have severe issues of their own, including bursting into
flames. Also, they tend to need to be very tightly integrated with the
charging systems, and hence to be proprietary batteries rather than
general-purpose batteries, which is a severe disadvantage.

--
David Dyer-Bennet, ; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

"David Dyer-Bennet" wrote in message
...
And LiOn have severe issues of their own, including bursting into
flames. Also, they tend to need to be very tightly integrated with the
charging systems, and hence to be proprietary batteries rather than
general-purpose batteries, which is a severe disadvantage.

Not really since the voltage makes them useless as GP replacements anyway.
When properly made and used as designed, they are often a good choice.
But I've never bought a NiCd cell since NiMH became readily available, and
have found no reason to want one.

Trevor.

"Trevor" writes:

"David Dyer-Bennet" wrote in message
...
And LiOn have severe issues of their own, including bursting into
flames. Also, they tend to need to be very tightly integrated with the
charging systems, and hence to be proprietary batteries rather than
general-purpose batteries, which is a severe disadvantage.

Not really since the voltage makes them useless as GP replacements anyway.
When properly made and used as designed, they are often a good choice.
But I've never bought a NiCd cell since NiMH became readily available, and
have found no reason to want one.

Modern hardware is often fairly voltage-tolerant. For example, the
third-party external battery pack I use with my D700 runs with a
proprietary Nikon EN-el3e battery, or with 8 alkaline batteries, or 8
primary Lithium batteries, or 8 NiMH batteries.

For another example, Nikon's SB-800 flash runs with either 4 internal AA
batteries, or with 5 using the extended battery compartment door. And
those batteries can be alkaline or NiMH.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, ; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:58:05 -0600, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
: "Trevor" writes:
:
: "David Dyer-Bennet" wrote in message
: ...
: And LiOn have severe issues of their own, including bursting into
: flames. Also, they tend to need to be very tightly integrated with the
: charging systems, and hence to be proprietary batteries rather than
: general-purpose batteries, which is a severe disadvantage.
:
: Not really since the voltage makes them useless as GP replacements anyway.
: When properly made and used as designed, they are often a good choice.
: But I've never bought a NiCd cell since NiMH became readily available, and
: have found no reason to want one.
:
: Modern hardware is often fairly voltage-tolerant. For example, the
: third-party external battery pack I use with my D700 runs with a
: proprietary Nikon EN-el3e battery, or with 8 alkaline batteries, or 8
: primary Lithium batteries, or 8 NiMH batteries.
:
: For another example, Nikon's SB-800 flash runs with either 4 internal AA
: batteries, or with 5 using the extended battery compartment door. And
: those batteries can be alkaline or NiMH.

Which brings up a somewhat related question: Is there any good reason why NiMH
batteries shouldn't be used as replacements for alkalines in, say, a
flashlight? If any device is voltage tolerant, a flashlight, which contains no
complicated electronics, ought to be. But NiMHs (the ones I use anyway) are
slightly larger in diameter and won't fit in a flashlight. I've looked at
several AA-using flashlights, and none of them will accept NiMHs. Is that
intentional? I don't see why it should be, but I don't see how it could be
accidental either.

Bob

On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:03:55 -0600, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
: "Trevor" writes:
:
: In the external flash he (you?) obviously needs. Use modern NiMH cells
: though *not* NiCd, they were problematic at best.
:
: On the one hand, I think you're being unduly harsh on NiCd batteries.
:
: On the other hand, OLD NiCd batteries that have been sitting around
: since they were current technology are nearly certainly useless; I don't
: see any reason anybody would benefit from actually using NiCd batteries
: in ordinary flashes these days.

The knock on NiCd's was they suffered from hysteresis issues. If you recharged
a NiCd without letting it fully discharge first, it would lose some of its
ability to hold a charge. And the effect was cumulative; if you did the same
thing again, you'd make it worse. Or so the conventional wisdom went. I don't
think I ever used NiCd's enough to see the full effect.

I believe some people claimed to have resurrected hysteretic NiCd's using
heroic methods, but I guess it was a tedious process at best.

Bob