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12-11-2010, 02:17 PM   #1
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muti flash p-ttl on pentax

Hi there, im currently on the way to getting back into shooting with my pentax stuff and while i have some bigger flash's that require radio triggers and some studio ones that cant leave the home i was thinking of grabbing one or two more speedlights (sigma 530 dg super) for a more portable system.

I currently have one already and have used it off camera quite well, using the popup flash as a commander. How well dose the p-ttl system work though with 2-3 flash's off camera?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

12-11-2010, 08:23 PM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by Usuqa Quote
Hi there, im currently on the way to getting back into shooting with my pentax stuff and while i have some bigger flash's that require radio triggers and some studio ones that cant leave the home i was thinking of grabbing one or two more speedlights (sigma 530 dg super) for a more portable system.

I currently have one already and have used it off camera quite well, using the popup flash as a commander. How well dose the p-ttl system work though with 2-3 flash's off camera?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
I only have one pttl flash, but i have 3 other Pentax film era flashes. I have used Manual mode to control these multiple flashes with synchronizing flash from the camera onboard flash. I've also used two of these flashes in manual mode with Gemini Infinity V2 transmitters. Manual mode allows one to easily adjust the power of each flash individually, if allowed by that flash. Don't know about pttl for multiple flashes; can't try that with but one pttl flash :-)
12-12-2010, 01:11 AM   #3
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I don't know much about the Sigma, but I have two Pentax 540 units.

Multiple flash p-TTL is quite simple to set up. By default, the two external flashes have 1:1 ratio (contributing equally to the exposure). It's easy to set up 1:2 ratio. The built-in flash can be set whether it contributes significantly to the exposure, or acts as a control flash only.

Be careful though, p-TTL in K10D and K20D (and probably K100D, K110D, K2000) are notorious for not providing correct exposure. K7 and K5 (and probably K-x and K-r) are much better.
12-12-2010, 09:52 AM   #4
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I have used my sigma 530 dg super off camera on my gx10 using the built in flash as the controller and i was genarly happy with what it could do.. i now that shiny objects could trick the camera tho.

Im getting a new pentax body and with some of the cash i have over from selling my other stuff im thinking if i should get one or two of the sigma's again since they are going for about £150 atm. Thats why i was asking about the p-ttl in multi mode.

Can u use stuff like high speed sync in p-ttl with mutiflashs?

Its good to know its easy to set up the ratio's, it would be nice to have the flash's change power as you adjust settings, unlike when your using manual flash's .

Just there are some pretty cheep speed lights these days with decent power for manual only but id like the option to shoot wide open with fast glass which high speed sync could let me do.

Currently if i want to do that, id have to mount the sigma, set it to hss and use an optical trigger to fire off one of my more powerful strobes (which then acts like a constant light).

12-12-2010, 12:39 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Usuqa Quote
...Its good to know its easy to set up the ratio's, it would be nice to have the flash's change power as you adjust settings, unlike when your using manual flash's ....
Is this true? The only ratio i've seen in my instruction book was the 1:2, outside that i think one would have to adjust power by setting flash EV settings individually. But i may be totally wrong on that.

With manual, my Metz48 allows one to use power fractional settings down to 1/64. For a total adjustment on say 3 flashes, one could use aperture for exposure adjustment.

But you said you wanted to use your lens wide open - why is that - to blur the background perhaps (just trying to learn :-))
12-14-2010, 03:05 PM   #6
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Metz 50 AF-1& K20D with a Newb

I'm of course looking for best value, & room to grow. I'm thinking the Metz 50 AF-1 MZ 50317PS.

The K20D is my 1st dslr so I'm wanting a flash that will be with me for a while. I've looked at the others, but from my newb position, it looks like the Metz is the best choice if they get them in stock.

I would love to get a 2 flash master slave setup p-ttl but not sure what will work & be within price range.

12-18-2010, 07:43 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by glee46 Quote
I'm of course looking for best value, & room to grow. I'm thinking the Metz 50 AF-1 MZ 50317PS.

The K20D is my 1st dslr so I'm wanting a flash that will be with me for a while. I've looked at the others, but from my newb position, it looks like the Metz is the best choice if they get them in stock.

I would love to get a 2 flash master slave setup p-ttl but not sure what will work & be within price range.

The metz 50 cant act as a master, only a slave... you can use the on-board flash as a master but it cant do HSS. You need the higher end metz,pentax or sigma flash.

SRS are selling sigma 530dg supers for £150 atm, build quality isnt as good as the metz but its more powerful and more featured (Can act as a master and do hss)

12-19-2010, 07:14 AM   #8
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A few Choices

QuoteOriginally posted by Usuqa Quote
The metz 50 cant act as a master, only a slave... you can use the on-board flash as a master but it cant do HSS. You need the higher end metz,pentax or sigma flash.

SRS are selling sigma 530dg supers for £150 atm, build quality isnt as good as the metz but its more powerful and more featured (Can act as a master and do hss)
I'm really new, so I'm studying full time to learn just about everything.

I did look at the Sigma 530dg super & almost went with it. The Metz 50 is on backorder.

What do you think would be best here. I'm thinking a few different setups.
1. (2) Segma 530dg Supers = @ $340
2. (1) Segma 530dg Super & (1) Metz 50 = @ $400

I know I could get the Metz mecablitz 58 AF-2 @ $400 + Metz 50 @ $230 = $630. That's way out of my budget.

Any input would be great..
12-19-2010, 09:51 AM   #9
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i went with the sigma 530 dg super as my first flash, then i went with the metz 50 as my second. As much as i like the metz i feel another sigma would have been better.

Why? same menu system, the ability to work as a dumb wireless flash (triggered by flash light) so you can go full manual with your flash without the need of a radio or optical trigger (the metz was meant to have this but doesn't in the pentax version).

The metz is good, it has the ability to be updated by usb and has the ability to turn the auto power off (my reason for getting it). The last thing you want is your flash turning off on you when you have a little quite time and its up high somewhere on a stand.

If you didn't need hss or auto flash and wanted to go full manual there are cheep flash's on ebay with similar power outputs but are manual only. Some cheep radio triggers. A setup like that would cost around £250? for 4 flash's and the triggers.

Ive only use manual flash's so far off camera and didn't find it that hard when doing studio stuff, a few test shots and all was ok.. but when i was using my d3 with my sigma flash (had no nikon flash) being full manual on the body was a right pain when shooting at an event as i had to constantly change aperture or flash power depending on subject distance (a reason to get a p-ttl flash so it works itself).

Im still getting used to working with the p-ttl off camera with more than one flash so ill let you know how that goes on for me
12-20-2010, 02:09 AM   #10
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I'm also interested in this topic, I just purchased a Metz 58-AF2, (BHPhoto's last one in stock, which arrived today) but I will be looking for the ability to run HSS off camera eventually.

Will the Metz 58-AF2 & Sigma EF610 DG Super work well together? (Any limitations i should be aware of?)

So I could for example have 1xMetz on Camera & 1xSigma Off-Camera (or vice versa) wireless?

Could I then use 3 Flash P-TTL system with 1xSigma, 1xMetz and Onboard flash for non-HSS shots (1/180th) and have them all work in harmony?
12-20-2010, 04:13 AM   #11
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Set up as many flashes as you want, but as stated, unless you make manual changes on each off-camera flash they will all contribute equally. So you better have them positioned in such a way that equal lighting is what you want.
The PTTL system is not smart enough to tell different flashes to be different brightness. (There is the contrast setting, but never used it for more than a few tests shots and never noticed much effect from it)

For quick location setup and shoot, they work well. Just need to take some care with positioning the lights for exposure.

For studio work, I put everything in manual.
At least there is no guesswork, and no PTTL weirdness with specular highlights destroying your exposure.
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