I have an HVL-F42AM flashgun -- but when I attach it to an alpha 300 DSLR I can't get it to work. Neither manual (both written in that peculiar sony-English) helps. There seems to be no WAY OF SETTING THE a-300 TO RECOGNISE THE FLASHGUN.

[bimccan31]

I  want to set an A-300 DSLR to accept and activate an HVL-f42AM flashgun. Neither manual helps -- any advice?

[cmosse]

Does that mean that the build in flash pops up instead?

• Please check the following:
• flash is turned on and batteries are new
• flash fires if you press the test button
• flash is mounted correctly on camera
• is it possible to mount the flash on another Alpha camea to cross check whether the flash is working OK on other model
• check if the contacts in the flash shoe of the camera are clean. Clean them if neccessary

[Mick2011]

Hi bimccan, welcome to the Sony Forums

The flash is fully compatible with the a300, so I'd guess you either have the flash settings wrong or the conact terminals are needing a clean.

Wipe the terminals on both  the camera and the flash unit, and have a play with the TTL settings on the flash, see if that helps.

Cheers

Mick

[Mick2011]

Sorry, cross-posting with cmosse there

All good sugestions..

It just occurred to me you should try to reset the flash unit before you do anything else.

Mick