Sigma EF-610 DG ST Electronic Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

I had no idea what I was missing until I bought this Sigma Flash. I use a Sony SLT a57 camera that has a built-in flash. Every year I am the unofficial photographer for my wife's charity event. The pictures come out ok but a bit dark. The built-in flash was weak and partially cut off at the bottom by my large lens. So I always tried taking photos without flash, thinking I could adjust the ISO, speed and aperture so the photos come out bright and sharp. But that never happened.I was intimidated by the idea of buying a flash. How would the camera settings interact with the flash to give me good photos? I had no idea what to expect and I didn't want to study this phenomenon for hours. Recently I read a short article that explained what TTL is. Through The Lens technology basically lets the add-on flash act like a built-in flash by using the camera's metering system. It sounded simple, though most external flashes have buttons and settings to worry about.When I took a closer look at this flash, I noticed there was a TTL setting. I could set TTL on the flash, and put my camera on Automatic or a PASM setting, and let the flash do its thing. At least, that's what I thought it meant. Sure enough, that's how it works! It's amazingly simple. If you don't want to get all caught up in manual settings and other complicated approaches, you can literally let the flash and camera do all the work. The opposite is true as well, and as I become more familiar with my equipment, I will attempt to change settings and see how that influences my shots.My first photo with the flash was in a room that was fairly dark. I took a photo of my daughter and the shot looked like it was made in daylight. Amazing!If you want to transform your indoor photography without studying for years, get this flash. It does all the work.

When you compare the price of this flash to others, you realize that it doesn't have to be 100% perfect to be worth it. It isn't perfect, but it's good enough. Sometimes the TTL doesn't get it quite right and you get slightly over- or underexposed photos, but it generally gets the job done as long as you know its limitations. If you're a professional, this model probably isn't for you. I had the "Super" version of this flash with my old Pentax and it had all the bells and whistles, more than I really had any idea how to use. I decided to go simpler with this one and I think it'll suffice for what I need.

If there had been a choice of no start, I would have chosen that. This product started not to work after taking roughly 10-15 pictures within 2 months of very very causal use and I had to return it. Not expected to fail so fast for a product made in Japan. Also, it only provided enough lighting when it was about 10-15 feet like regular flash. For longer distance, your picture would be under-exposure even the distance is within zoom range advertised by the product and I had to increase MANUALLY the exposure in the camera to guess that I compensated enough. So very disappointing experience for a product made in Japan. I had some other flashlights of a little smaller zoom power and they worked much longer (at least over a year) even none of them can survive for longer than 2 years with a causal use only (like recitals and graduation ceremonies) but definitely they can work for more pictures than this one before they failed and they also did not have such a big problem of under-exposure like this one.

I really liked this flash, but I had to return two of them because of communication problems with my Sony SLT-A57 camera. The flash seemed well-built, powerful, and a good deal. It was even made in Japan instead of China. But the flash lost communication with my camera after about 50 shots or so. I even returned the flash and got a new one, but the new one had the same problem. The problem was that after about 50 shots, the camera shutter release wouldn't trigger the flash. In addition, the "flash ready" led in the camera viewfinder would not indicate that the flash was ready. At first, I thought that the flash had overheated, but it would still fire when I pressed the Test Button on the flash. The flash would still zoom in and out when I zoomed the lens, so there was still some communication between the camera and the flash, but not "take the picture.". I ended up paying a lot more money to buy a HVL-F43AM flash, but the Sony worked much better with my camera.

Build quality and operation for this flash is perfects. Great flash for under $150I am using it with Sony a77 ii + hot shoe adapter. I want to add the wireless version of the same flash for the next purchase, to work them with master-slave.Pros+ great build quality+ quick charging (for amateour photography)+ great power+ TTL works flawlesscons- not a wireless flash

I have a Canon speedlite for my Canon G11 camera, but am now using my Sony A55 most of the time. When my service club asked me to take some member portraits I knew I was going to need a new flash for the Sony and decided on this Sigma model. So far it has performed very well for me. I'm using it as a bounce flash aimed both up and to the side, reflecting off a white wall and ceiling and getting good, well diffused, directional light. It took me a while to master that technique until I realized that I needed to deploy the built-in diffuser to properly spread the light over the reflecting surfaces. The built-in pull-out white card (for enhancing catchlights) seems a bit flimsy, so I've made up a couple of my own out of white mat board, which I attach with Scunci hair bands (thanks to Larry Becker's "Cheap Shots" for that tip). Yes, the battery door is a bit flimsy, but thanks to other reviewers who highlighted that, I'm careful when opening and closing it, and haven't had a problem. I'm getting good battery life and fast recharges (about five seconds) when using Eneloop NiMH cells.