SR Disabled in Wireless Flash Mode?

[Old Timer 56]

Hi Gang:

I am currently using my K10D built-in flash to trigger a Vivitar 283 via a "peanut" slave on the 283. Camera is in manual exposure mode. Works fine but I noticed that SR seems to be disabled when I do this. In the PhotoME exif viewer under the Manufacturer Notes is says that SR is on but not stabilized. I tend to routinely have SR on when I hand-hold the camera but there doesn't seem much point in this situation. Anybody else encounter this?

Richard

[Old Timer 56]

Originally Posted by Old Timer 56

Hi Gang:

I am currently using my K10D built-in flash to trigger a Vivitar 283 via a "peanut" slave on the 283. Camera is in manual exposure mode. Works fine but I noticed that SR seems to be disabled when I do this. In the PhotoME exif viewer under the Manufacturer Notes is says that SR is on but not stabilized. I tend to routinely have SR on when I hand-hold the camera but there doesn't seem much point in this situation. Anybody else encounter this?

Richard

Well, I discovered that I don't really have to use Wireless Flash with this set-up. Perhaps that flash mode is more intended for use with Pentax flashes. The flash modes available for manual exposure are Flash On, Flash On + Red Eye, and Trailing Curtain Sync. So I just set the flash for Flash On, adjust the flash output to minus 2, and shoot. SR is then fully functional and I can set the shutter speed to anything up to 1/180 sec. The slave sensor in my Vivitar 283 is the "digital" type, engineered to ignore the preflash. Good thing because I don't see any way to turn that off.

Richard

[mattdm]

Originally Posted by Old Timer 56

Well, I discovered that I don't really have to use Wireless Flash with this set-up. Perhaps that flash mode is more intended for use with Pentax flashes.

Yeah -- it makes the on-camera flash send pulses of light containing control data to the off-camera units.

[Old Timer 56]

Originally Posted by mattdm

Yeah -- it makes the on-camera flash send pulses of light containing control data to the off-camera units.

I figured as much. But I still wonder why SR is disabled in Wireless Flash mode. I like to sometimes work in the ambient light and that often requires a slow shutter speed. Of course I could put the camera on a tripod (I did that in the "old days" shooting film) but I like the mobility of hand-holding the camera. SR makes that easy.

Richard

[stewart_photo]

Originally Posted by Old Timer 56

(snip) But I still wonder why SR is disabled in Wireless Flash mode. I like to sometimes work in the ambient light and that often requires a slow shutter speed. (snip)

Part of the reason may rest in the two sentences found on page 67 of the owners manual... "The Shake Reduction function will not fully work when shooting at slower shutter speed, for example when shooting a moving subject or night scene. In this case, it is recommended that the Shake Reduction function be turned off and the camera used on a tripod." In other words, a limitation of the shake reduction system.

So, if we ignore slower shutter speeds (as in the ambient light situations you mention, Richard) and just focus on normal flash situations, the remainder of the reason may rest in the notion that flash is reasonably fast enough to freeze any movement, making shake reduction pretty much unnecessary.

stewart

[Old Timer 56]

Originally Posted by stewart_photo

Part of the reason may rest in the two sentences found on page 67 of the owners manual... "The Shake Reduction function will not fully work when shooting at slower shutter speed, for example when shooting a moving subject or night scene. In this case, it is recommended that the Shake Reduction function be turned off and the camera used on a tripod." In other words, a limitation of the shake reduction system.

So, if we ignore slower shutter speeds (as in the ambient light situations you mention, Richard) and just focus on normal flash situations, the remainder of the reason may rest in the notion that flash is reasonably fast enough to freeze any movement, making shake reduction pretty much unnecessary.

stewart

Well, I've been shooting at about 1/15sec with the flash in a room with light fixtures. The short duration of the flash certainly freezes any subject motion but the light fixtures would be blurred by camera shake without SR enabled. At least in my old shaky hands. I could shoot at a faster shutter speed (up to 1/180sec) but that would defeat the idea of capturing the ambient light. The result would be an obvious flash picture, less natural looking.

As it is, my set-up does work with SR, with the flash mode set to Flash On. I guess users of off-camera Pentax flashes have to live without SR if they use the Wireless flash mode. That doesn't make any sense to me. As for the manual, obviously SR will have no effect on freezing subject motion, only on reducing the effects of camera shake. I have used it to good effect in hand-held night scenes and other low-light situations (without flash). That includes scenes with subject movement. Anything moving (people, vehicles, etc) tends to be burred but static parts of the scene are sharp. This is rather contradicts what the manual suggests.

Richard