Sony A580 Flash
The Sony A580 features a built-in, pop-up flash, which operates in either Auto, Fill-Flash, Slow-sync, Rear Sync, Wireless, and Flash-off modes. To release the flash from its compartment, press the button on the left side of the pentamirror housing. Close it again by pushing the flash head back down.
The Flash mode is changed from the Function menu. In Auto flash mode (available only in the camera's Auto, Auto+ or Scene Selection modes), the camera automatically determines when to fire the flash based on lighting conditions, and will pop-up the flash automatically. In Fill-Flash mode, the flash fires with every exposure, regardless of ambient lighting. Slow-sync mode fires the flash for foreground fill exposure, while allowing the background to "burn in". The Rear Flash Sync mode fires the flash at the end of the shutter time, rather than the beginning. If you have moving objects in the scene with lights, such as a car, this will produce a sharp image of your subject, with a "motion trail" following behind it when shooting at slower shutter speeds. The flash is off when Flash Off mode is selected, or when the flash is down in non Auto exposure mode.
A Flash control option in Record Menu 2 allows you to select between ADI and Pre-Flash TTL. The only difference between the two is that ADI takes into account focus distance information from the lens, which can make for more accurate flash exposures -- especially with highly reflective subjects. A Red-Eye Reduction option is available through Custom Menu 1. When Red-Eye reduction is enabled, the camera will fire a few low-power flash pulses before it actually snaps the picture, to make the pupils of your subjects' eyes contract.
Flash exposure compensation can be set via the Function menu, measuring two stops lower or greater, in 1/3-stop increments. This is in addition to standard exposure compensation.
The A580's built-in flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 12 meters or 39.4 feet at ISO 100. That's about average for the consumer SLRs we've tested. Maximum sync speed is 1/160s. High Speed Sync (HSS) shooting with shutter speeds up to 1/4,000s is available with Sony HVL-F58AM and HVL-F42AM external flash units.
The A580 also has a top-mounted hot shoe for attaching an external flash unit. The shoe design and contact arrangement are proprietary, set up for Sony's own dedicated flash units. As is usually the case for consumer SLRs, no PC-sync terminal is provided.
The Wireless mode lets the Sony A580 work with compatible remote flash units with wireless capability, specifically the Sony HVL-F58AM and HVL-F42AM. Four separate control channels are available for wireless operation, to allow multiple photographers to work wirelessly in the same area without interfering with each other. You're limited to a single external flash unit vs the 3 groups that you can control with Sony's higher-end models, but it still opens a lot of creative possibilities, when the flash doesn't have to be attached to your camera. Operating in Wireless mode with a compatible external flash unit, the Sony A580's flash exposure compensation adjustment can adjust the intensity of the external flash remotely, once the camera and flash unit have been initially synced to each other.
Flash Test Results
Coverage and Range
Very good flash range with uneven coverage at wide-angle. Our standard shot required less than the average amount of exposure compensation.
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| 18mm@f/3.5 | 55mm@f/5.6 |
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| Normal Flash +0.3 EV |
Slow-Sync Flash 0 EV |
Coverage. Flash coverage was uneven at wide-angle (18mm), but much more uniform at telephoto (55mm). Uneven coverage at wide-angle isn't unusual, though, and some if it is due to shading by the lens itself (we measured about 2/3 EV of lens corner shading at 18mm at f/3.5).
Exposure. The Indoor Portrait test scene required +0.3 EV flash exposure compensation. (Most cameras we've tested required about +0.7 EV for this scene, so the Sony A580 performed better than average here.) The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode produced bright, even results with no exposure compensation, though with a stronger pinkish-orange cast from the room lighting.
| Flash Range: Wide Angle | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft | 7 ft | 8 ft | 9 ft | 10 ft | 11 ft |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
| 12 ft | 13 ft | 14 ft | 15 ft | 16 ft | |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
 1/60 sec f3.5 ISO 100 |
|
| Flash Range: Telephoto | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft | 7 ft | 8 ft | 9 ft | 10 ft | 11 ft |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
| 12 ft | 13 ft | 14 ft | 15 ft | 16 ft | |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
 1/100 sec f5.6 ISO 100 |
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ISO 100 Range. With the 18-55mm kit lens, flash exposure started out a bit dim at 6 feet at wide-angle but became quite bright at 7 feet and remained bright all the way out to 14 feet. Flash exposures were still usable all the way out to 16 feet, the limit of our test. At full telephoto, flash exposures started out bright at 6 feet and remained bright to 8 feet, then gradually became dimmer as distance increased. Good results here.
| Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range | |
|---|---|
| Wide Angle | Telephoto |
 11.2 feet ISO 100 |
 7.0 feet ISO 100 |
Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Sony A580's built in flash is rated with a Guide Number of 12m at ISO 100. That works out to about 11.2 feet at f/3.5 and 7.0 feet at f/5.6, the maximum apertures of the kit zoom lens. In the shots above, the Alpha 580 performs as Sony says it will, producing very good exposures at the rated distances. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.
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