Sony hot shoe adapter?

That's not an automatic flash. That's a manual flash. My advice would be to pay a bit more, but get a lot more, and buy a used Sony F56AM or Minolta 5600HS(D). These can be found from reliable source for <$200.

http://www.lensrentals.com/buy/sony/sony-hvl-f56am-flash-serial-number-1481858

Unless you're doing strictly studio shots where you never need automatic modes, at least having the ability to use TTL is very nice (TTL=Through The Lens metering -- the flash pre-flashes, and the camera uses that to precalculate exposure).

The 56/5600-series flashes were the nicest made for Minolta. There are features missing relative to newest, greatest Sony flashes (I forget which, but some hybrid not-fully-automatic-not-fully-manual modes don't work), but they work pretty well as either standard TTL (which you'd use at a party) and full manual (which you'd use at a studio).