Pentax 540 Flash, K10D and what hot shoes adapters to get

switch79 · 10-15-2007, 07:15 AM

Hi all,

I will be purchasing the Pentax 540 flash in the next day or so and was wondering about some of the Pentax accessories that can go with it in partticular the hot shoe adapters.

What advantage will these provide and what are their main functions. Here are the links to the BH Photo page with the respective products.

Pentax | Hot Shoe Adapter F | 31022 | B&H Photo Video

Pentax | Off Camera Shoe Adpater F | 31046 | B&H Photo Video

Pentax | Hot Shoe Adapter FG | 31045 | B&H Photo Video

also, will it be worth my while to purchase the extension cords as well? For alot of the stuff I do i dont need a flash, however when i do need it i have been using a Sigma EF430ST with some good results

All this gear has got me a little confused. The main thing for me is to have a top notch flash with an option to do some wireless flash photography. Thats all.

Thanks in advance

1 confused flash photographer seeking advice!

Groundloop · 10-15-2007, 08:11 AM

I'll be watching this thread since I'm expecting my 540FGZ to arrive in the next day or so. I'm hoping to use it in wireless TTL for macro shots, but without having all the pieces together to play with reading the manuals doesn't really help me. I was 'out' of photography quite a while (my last system was a Contax RTS II) and the only way to get off camera TTL was using cords. There's obviously been a lot of advances in technology since then and I'm having to play catch up!

*Peter Zack* · 10-15-2007, 08:21 AM

This is an excellent thread below that should answer those questions. There's limited use for the cables and if you are mainly concrned with wireless, you might want to wait for now.

540FGZ wireless operation

ChrisA · 10-15-2007, 08:26 AM

The hotshoe adapter Fg attaches to the hot shoe on the camera, and has a 5P socket on the top.

You connect a Sync cable 5P to that.

The Off-camera adapter F has a tripod socket on the bottom, a hot shoe socket on the top, and a 5P socket on the side.

You connect the other end of the 5P cable to the Off-camera adapter F, and attach the flashgun to its hot shoe socket.

However, the AF540 FGZ also has a 5P connector in its side, so it's possible to use that instead of the Off-camera adapter F.

The Hot Shoe Adapter F is for using more than one off-camera flash gun.

Easiest would be to download the K10D manual from here. It has diagrams of the various setups on pp 183-184.

For wireless, of course, you don't need any adapters

SLC Flyfishing · 10-15-2007, 10:01 AM

The flash works beautifully in wireless mode, with the caveat that you have to use the on board flash to trigger it. So if you are not comfortable with having the flash expose from your camera as well then you better buy a hot shoe adapter. I have really enjoyed mine though and it works extremely well.

SLC

rogerstg · 10-15-2007, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by SLC Flyfishing

The flash works beautifully in wireless mode, with the caveat that you have to use the on board flash to trigger it.
SLC

Another caveat is that the auto zoom feature does not seem to work in wireless. That's probably not an issue for macro stuff.

RBellavance · 10-15-2007, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by SLC Flyfishing

The flash works beautifully in wireless mode, with the caveat that you have to use the on board flash to trigger it. So if you are not comfortable with having the flash expose from your camera as well then you better buy a hot shoe adapter.

The onboard flash can be set to only trigger the remote flash, and not contribute to the exposure. See custom option "Flash in wireless mode" on the K10D.

nosnoop · 10-15-2007, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by switch79

I will be purchasing the Pentax 540 flash in the next day or so and was wondering about some of the Pentax accessories that can go with it in partticular the hot shoe adapters.

What advantage will these provide and what are their main functions. Here are the links to the BH Photo page with the respective products.

I would recommend using the wireless flash and forget about the cables and adapters for now. They are only useful if you have specific needs.

If you do decide in the future that you need the cable, you can use the adapter FG and F5P cords. Adapter FG allows you to use built-in flash at the same time (adapter F would block the pop up flash). AF540 has direct plug in for F5P cord and you do not need a off camera adapter (required for AF360FGZ). Another option is the promaster flash cord.

SLC Flyfishing · 10-16-2007, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by rogerstg

Another caveat is that the auto zoom feature does not seem to work in wireless. That's probably not an issue for macro stuff.

The auto zoom works well wirelessly in my case. Perhaps I'm the exception though.

SLC

*WMBP* · 10-16-2007, 09:58 AM

Shooting in wireless mode, I am able to set the flash (540FGZ) to "auto-zoom" -- but as far as I can tell, the flash doesn't actually do any zooming. For example, I just tested with the Pentax 16-45 on my K10D, with the lens zoomed to 45mm. The flash unit (wireless, slave) showed P-TTL and auto-zoom, but the focal length shown was 16mm. This was the case even after I took the photo. NOTE: You would probably NOT expect the zoom to show the right focal length until you press the shutter, because it's the pre-flash signals that send info to the flash.

On the other hand, just connected the 540FGZ by cable to the K10D and took the same shot -- and as soon as I press the shutter down half way, the flash knows the focal length....

Will

Groundloop · 10-16-2007, 07:48 PM

My 540FGZ arrived today and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with it. Wireless TTL and being able to trigger it without the pop up flash contributing to the final exposure is bordering on magic as far as I'm concerned.

It's not all perfect though. Like Roger and Will, the auto zoom doesn't work wirelessly on mine either, but since I'll be mostly using it off camera only for macro/close up work, that's not a big deal.