Review on 📸 Sigma EF-530 DG Super Flash for Sony DSLR Cameras by Sean Davis

I had high hopes for this flash as it is a Sigma and I am very happy with the quality of their lenses. I was a little hesitant about how new the Sony Alphas are and was skeptical that any of the early non-Sony flashes would work well with the Alpha. Well, unfortunately I had to listen to my skepticism. The flash doesn't have many opportunities to really use it in professional situations. It's better than Sony's cheap flash, but not good enough for field use. I gave it the go-ahead and tried it on 3 weddings in June this year but was disappointed and unsure of its reliability. There are problems with the mechanics of it. An example is that there are times when it has a lot of trouble autoscaling and goes back and forth, 17-85, 17-85, over and over again without stopping. It's as if the range sensor can't determine the distance to the object and gets caught in a loop. Even removing the batteries does not solve the problem. I've found that focusing on different subjects in the field can break the cycle and get back to shooting, but in a dynamic wedding setting that's just not an option. The flash just refuses to fire until I remove and reinsert the batteries. I also use a Sony Alpha A100K and a Sony Alpha DSLR350K, which work well with Sony branded lenses and accessories, but this flash doesn't seem to fire at all on the A100 and is unreliable at best on the A350. All in all, this could maybe be used for a slave flash, but I certainly wouldn't consider it for a main flash. Spend the extra cash and get the quality flash you need. Don't count on it unless you're an amateur and can get away with something less reliable.