2026-07-17 Vivitar Auto Focus Zoom 730AFM

The Vivitar Auto Focus Zoom 730AFM has the Minolta flash shoe, so only fits on Minolta and some early Sony digital cameras. It has the contacts to work with Program Minolta film cameras but not with any of the Sony digital cameras.

That is not to say the flash is useless as shown on the Sony α700 camera (below). For starters the AF focus assist beam will help the camera focus in low light situations out to around six meters (20 feet). You can set the camera to manual exposure mode and try setting a shutter speed and aperture at a medium ISO. Take a shot. Then you have several choices.

If the resulting image is burnt right out switch the LO/HI switch to “LO” and shoot again.
If the image is dark check the LO/HI switch setting

If it is set to LO, set it to HI
If it set to HI, try setting a wider aperture setting

There are other fun things you can do to get a great image. For example try bouncing the flash off the ceiling or wall. You can zoom the head to settings from 28 mm to 85 mm. Simply spreading the beam wider will reduce its power.

Then you can get even more creative by using optical triggers with additional flash units. The real advantage of digital is being able to adapt to the lighting, and in this case you can play with the lighting because you can see the results.

Have fun…

If you want to really get boggled with information, I heartily recommend an internet site that attempts to explain the various levels of flash automation Minolta went through.
A Minolta/Sony Alpha Flash Compendium - Other Flash Systemsmhohner.de › sony-minolta › flashcomp_other

The entire site is an excellent resource for all things flash. Go to mhohner.de

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