Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
09-23-2010, 06:55 PM   #31
Veteran Member




Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,553

Staff note: This post may contain affiliate links, which means Pentax Forums may earn a small commission if a visitor clicks through and makes a purchase. If you would like to support the forum directly, you may also make a donation here.


QuoteOriginally posted by GeneV Quote
Some time with a soldering iron might definitely save some money there. I've heard mixed things about those cables mating up to the camera and flash. They have contacts for just about every brand all crammed into one connector.
This one looks to be Pentax specific and even has the locking pin. US $16.75

TTL Sync Remote Cord for Pentax Samsung Flash P-TTL E3F - eBay (item 320591924902 end time Sep-24-10 11:03:42 PDT)



Thank you
Russell

09-24-2010, 06:02 AM   #32
Veteran Member
GeneV's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Albuquerque NM
Photos: Albums
Posts: 9,830
QuoteOriginally posted by Russell-Evans Quote
This one looks to be Pentax specific and even has the locking pin. US $16.75

TTL Sync Remote Cord for Pentax Samsung Flash P-TTL E3F - eBay (item 320591924902 end time Sep-24-10 11:03:42 PDT)



Thank you
Russell
That's the best looking one I've seen. The others have boucoup pins in a half-circle. If at least one end had the contacts on both sides you could daisy chain them, but as you noted, there may be some surgery needed to connect multiple units.

By the way, as I posted on another thread, have you looked into this rig? XTTFSP Xotopro Tumax TTL Twin Flash Set Dedicated for Pentax Cameras, DMF880 Flash/Macro Controller Guide Number 104 ft., DMT Twin flash Units Guide Number 19.7 ft.. The two flashes on the ends of the long sticks will have no batteries.
09-24-2010, 06:19 AM   #33
Veteran Member




Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,553
QuoteOriginally posted by GeneV Quote
By the way, as I posted on another thread, have you looked into this rig? XTTFSP Xotopro Tumax TTL Twin Flash Set Dedicated for Pentax Cameras, DMF880 Flash/Macro Controller Guide Number 104 ft., DMT Twin flash Units Guide Number 19.7 ft.. The two flashes on the ends of the long sticks will have no batteries.
That's pretty nice and the price is within what I would consider affordable.

Thank you
Russell
10-31-2010, 01:52 PM   #34
Inactive Account




Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,310
Got around to make something out of nothing. Only things left is getting velcro to fasten the thingy around the flash, and then experiment with materials to put on the front to diffuse.









Bread









11-03-2010, 05:13 PM   #35
Veteran Member
yeatzee's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Temecula
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,675
The biggest peice of crap I've ever owned just broke.... the Pentax AF 360FGZ flash. Its battery compartment door refuses to stay shut, meaning in constantly turns off and I have to re-do all of my settings.

Soooo, because of this, no macro's from me any time soon guys

So I have a question which is relevant to the thread. Since the 540 is more powerful, will it be harder to use as a macro flash (significantly more diffusion needed?)? Also, I've noticed most of my favorite macro photographers use small flashes like the AF 200FGZ flash. Does anyone have one here? Do you adjust the settings in the camera instead of on the flash like the other brand equivalents?
11-03-2010, 06:00 PM   #36
Veteran Member
TOUGEFC's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Brisbane
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,561
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by yeatzee Quote
The biggest peice of crap I've ever owned just broke.... the Pentax AF 360FGZ flash. Its battery compartment door refuses to stay shut, meaning in constantly turns off and I have to re-do all of my settings.

Soooo, because of this, no macro's from me any time soon guys

So I have a question which is relevant to the thread. Since the 540 is more powerful, will it be harder to use as a macro flash (significantly more diffusion needed?)? Also, I've noticed most of my favorite macro photographers use small flashes like the AF 200FGZ flash. Does anyone have one here? Do you adjust the settings in the camera instead of on the flash like the other brand equivalents?
Have you tried tapping the door shut with sticky tape?
Ive got the 540 and its fine to use with macro, if you find its too powerfull just turn the power down and thus in return gives faster recycling charge time
11-03-2010, 06:08 PM   #37
Veteran Member
yeatzee's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Temecula
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,675
QuoteOriginally posted by TOUGEFC Quote
Have you tried tapping the door shut with sticky tape?
Ive got the 540 and its fine to use with macro, if you find its too powerfull just turn the power down and thus in return gives faster recycling charge time
How low of a power can it go to? Obviously I don't shoot my macro's with full power on my flash Usually at ~1/8

And yes I have, but it still wont stay closed. I've tried layers and layers to no avail. The only way I could get it tight enough on would be wrapping the tape around the flash blocking all of the buttons

11-03-2010, 07:03 PM   #38
Veteran Member
TOUGEFC's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Brisbane
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,561
Original Poster
Well the lowest it can go is 1/64, from memory when im doing reverse stack on insects i think im normally on around 1/8-1/16
11-03-2010, 09:54 PM   #39
Veteran Member
yeatzee's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Temecula
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,675
QuoteOriginally posted by TOUGEFC Quote
Well the lowest it can go is 1/64, from memory when im doing reverse stack on insects i think im normally on around 1/8-1/16
Is its 1/64 power roughly equivalent to the 360's 1/32 power?
11-03-2010, 10:04 PM   #40
Veteran Member
TOUGEFC's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Brisbane
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,561
Original Poster
I dont know, ive never used the 360 before. Maybe ask one of the flash experts
11-03-2010, 11:04 PM   #41
Veteran Member
Eruditass's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2009
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 2,207
QuoteOriginally posted by Russell-Evans Quote
The price of a third party P-TTL cable is under $20 now. If I was putting this together again, I would be looking at modding two of the cables together to make a dual head.

The more power in the flash system, the more you can stop down and the more DOF you can get. This is pretty important for 1:1 macros.

Thank you
Russell
Until you start getting into extreme diffraction limited scenarios, then you have to focus stack.

Instead of cables, I've been using P-TTL wireless. Is there an advantage of P-TTL sync cords over wireless other than battery life?
11-11-2010, 10:55 AM   #42
Forum Member
jax_zee's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Milwaukee, WI, USA
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 78
QuoteOriginally posted by iamclaus Quote

Inspired by a DIY LED ring light project from 120mm, 90mm and 70mm LED rings from metku.net/index.html?path=mods/ring-light/index_eng in that I used the DVD spindle case lid as the lens of the finished LED ringlight and the base of the spindle case for the backside. The lid was trimmed to sit flush with the raised portions of the base. 55mm holes were then cut to match the inside diameter of the smallest LED ring.

3.5mm minijack cables were then attached to the LED rings and threaded through the DVD spindle case base to allow for strain relief.

The LED rings each require 12v of power and together draw roughly 420mAh. Two 9v alkaline batteries are wired in series to provide 18v which is then fed to a NTE966 voltage regulator which drops the voltage down to a constant 12v. From there, three 3.5mm minijack ports are connected in series.

All the parts fit neatly into an Altoids tin which can be mounted to the bottom of the camera so that everything is handsfree. Each LED ring can be powered separately simply by plugging or unplugging the respective cable.

A modified Cokin filter holder is mounted to the back of the LED ringlight and the whole assembly attaches to the lens via a standard Cokin adapter ring. This allows the LED ringlight to be mounted on any lens that you have the proper sized Cokin adapter ring. However, vignetting may be an issue with lenses requiring filters larger than 55mm or with wide viewing angles.

More photos of the setup can be found on [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mp2k_net/4487764218/in/set-72157624440069598/"]Flickr[\URL]...
Creative piece of work. I've been toying with the idea with either fiber optics or LEDs and you've given me some added inspiration
11-11-2010, 12:39 PM   #43
Inactive Account




Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,310
QuoteOriginally posted by yeatzee Quote
So I have a question which is relevant to the thread. Since the 540 is more powerful, will it be harder to use as a macro flash (significantly more diffusion needed?)? Also, I've noticed most of my favorite macro photographers use small flashes like the AF 200FGZ flash. Does anyone have one here? Do you adjust the settings in the camera instead of on the flash like the other brand equivalents?
I use the 540, examples without diffusion are posted just above your post. They were taken in P-TTL and M. I have tried the flash (with my giant macro thingy) in the flash's M mode and the 540 is really strong but it can go really low to! So far i used 1/8 to 1/32 with good results, including toilet paper as diffusion on the "macro flash thingy".

I think you would be very happy with the 540. But to be frank....

Rense does it with his built-in flash And he does it with grace! So you wouldnt need an external flash, the magic is in the extension of light.

Anyways....heres one with 2 white tissues on the home made macro flash, and the 540 in M mode. I dont remember, but i think this was 1/4.

Last edited by the swede; 11-11-2010 at 12:47 PM.
11-11-2010, 03:44 PM   #44
Veteran Member
Steve Beswick's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Ontario, California
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,736
QuoteOriginally posted by iamclaus Quote

Inspired by a DIY LED ring light project...
Why does the grip on your K20 look so weird?
11-11-2010, 04:53 PM   #45
Veteran Member




Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Alameda, CA
Posts: 3,206
Don't have a DIY macro rig yet, but I just picked up a Minolta Bellows 1 in mint condition for $25.

I know I can use the macro rail (the lower one in the photo below).

About the bellows, I'm not sure what to do yet:

1. Replace the mounts at the ends to attach to Pentax camera and to take pK-mount lenses. I have a cheapo pK-mount 3X TC that can act as organ donor.

2. Or I can just buy glassless Pentax-Minolta and Minolta-Pentax adapters.

3. Get a Minolta (lens)-to-Pentax (body) and buy a Minolta lens to dedicate to this rig (frankly, I'm not too crazy about this).

4. Sell it.

Have any of you done this before?

Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
cap, diy, diy macro, flash, lighting, macro, photo studio, post a pic, strobist
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
DIY Macro Ring Flash for DSLR (Easy/Cheap/Durable) - The "Fring" SF1 Flashes, Lighting, and Studio 17 02-01-2012 07:42 PM
DIY PTTL Macro Flash wildlifephotog Photographic Technique 3 10-12-2009 01:36 PM
Mobile flash rig PentaxPZ Flashes, Lighting, and Studio 8 08-15-2009 10:08 AM
My DIY Macro Flash Diffuser aegisphan Flashes, Lighting, and Studio 2 04-19-2008 09:03 AM
Post your weirdest lens rig selar Pentax SLR Lens Discussion 0 03-24-2008 04:12 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:37 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top