SB-26 with K100D

[wmmk]

Hello Pentaxians,
Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy! (I apologize for sounding like a typical teenager, but I'm a bit excited at the moment)

I have a flash that's smaller than my camera body at last! My dad is a journalist and his paper's editor's husband is a great pro photographer. To make a long story short, he's a family friend and has been very supportive of my photography; he gave my dad an SB-26 at work today for me to use. As far as I know, this is mine to keep.

This is a great piece of equipment, especially compared to my old 285HV. I haven't even put in batteries yet, but the fact that this was designed during the AF era is pleasantly apparent. The built-in/stow-away bounce card and wide angle panel, swivel, LCD, and AF assist light are all very nice to have.

I do, however, wonder if using this on camera this will mess up my K100D and whether or not the TTL and auto zoom features will work with my Pentax gear. I'm also trying to figure out a way to use this and my 285HV at the same time. Unfortunately, I'm shooting a school dance Friday night and won't have time to buy any new RF flash triggers from Hong Kong between now and then. I have heard about the SB-26's slave function, but again, am not sure how this will integrate with my current equipment.

Sorry if I seem urgent to figure everything out, but to be perfectly honest, I am in a bit of a crunch.

Thanks so much,
Will

[barondla]

Whoa, by SB26 do you mean a Nikon dedicated flash? If so do not put it on your Pentax. The large hot center pin and the ground rails of the hot shoe are the only standardized connections between all the companies. All those smaller contacts are brand specific. Mr. Nikon never checked with mr. Pentax etc. These contacts all do different things in different systems.
So:
1. Nikon ttl won't work with Pentax. Heck, Pentax ttl won't even work with Pentax K100D. It needs P-ttl.
2. The SB26 is probably a film flash so the voltage may be too high for a DSLR.
3. IF one of the dedicated Nikon contacts happens to mate with a Pentax contact all hell could break loose. It could be similar to plugging an AC 120 volt appliance into a 220 wall socket. Ouch. You could kill both units.

Using the flash as a manual off camera unit with slave is fine.
Don't kill your camera/ flash.
When using dedicated flash camera systems they must be made for each other. Sorry.
thanks
barondla

[cmv]

Good points by barondla but you can just tape over the pins that you don't want connected. So you want the main pin open and the side of the flash mount but all the small pins should be taped off. Use a quality rubbery tape like electrical tape as the clear tapes are too easy to scratch holes in.

Unfortunately, you'll have to use it just like your Vivitar 285 HV. If you haven't ventured over to Strobist then you might want to do so as you can learn a ton about how to use flash manually:

Strobist

You should test the voltage of course -- people at the Strobist Flickr group might already know the answer if you trust second hand information. It would of course be safest to only use it off camera.