Mount for Pentax 360 flash

spyglass · 10-16-2007, 12:36 AM

Does anyone know of an economical mount / adpater that will fit on the bottom of a flash for attaching to a tripod? I am just looking for a plactic unit that has a thread fitting for tripod mounting when I use my second flash as a remote. I see that the 540 comes with one (why Pentax cheaped out and never included one with my 360's is beyond me. Is it possible to buy the 540 plastic mount by itself?
I wish that Pentax would have spent a bit more money designing their flash units. The 540 appears to be cheaply built and has jamming promblems. Several camera shops all warned me off the 540 saying that the pile of dead returned ones was starting to block out the sun. The battery door on the 360 is incredibly flimsy and is just waiting to break (and I treat them like my first born). I see my old Vivitar flash sitting on the shelf (the one I used to use on my Pentax K1000 (but am terrified to use on my *ist for fear of too high a trigger circuit voltage and possible damage to the DSLR) and believe that it would with stand a nuclear blast and shake my head.
Any help of the mount issue would be greatly appreciated, as would any comments about the quailty of the Pentax flash units.

Thank you,

Michael · 10-17-2007, 09:04 AM

I too have been looking for a tripod mount for my AF 360. Manfrotto produce a universal hotshoe mount which retails in the UK for about £11

spyglass · 10-19-2007, 01:13 AM

I have the camera hot shoe adapter which mounts to the hot shoe of the camera and lets you mount a flash on top of it, and also run a cable of to an off camera shoe adapter (ridicuously tiny thing that offers no solution for supporting the flash other than holding it up by hand). I went to the Pentax site and see that they do have a 3rd adpater. It looks like the on camera hot shoe adapter but instead of have conection pins on its bottom it offers a tripod thread for mounting. They want $49 for it at most places I have found. Amazon.com looks like they may and an avenue to get one for $24. Pentax should have kitted the 360 up with the buit in jack like the 540 and sold it with the mounting plate. I basically need 2 of them for the macro setup that I am planing. I am just going to design and build my own. It would not be that difficut at all. I just hoped to save myself the hassel. It could be easily bent out of a thin sheet of aluminum, or I might even l cast 1/2 a dozen of them out of aluminum (not much heavier than plastic, but much stronger). I will take a picture of them and post it here for you to look at.

Spyglass

GaryML · 10-19-2007, 11:06 AM

Originally posted by spyglass

I have the camera hot shoe adapter which mounts to the hot shoe of the camera and lets you mount a flash on top of it, and also run a cable of to an off camera shoe adapter (ridicuously tiny thing that offers no solution for supporting the flash other than holding it up by hand).

I also have one of those, but mine has a tripod socket on the bottom. Just attach it to a tabletop tripod or any cheap tripod or light stand. It works fine, but it did cost about $25.

The Pentax AF-540FGZ comes with a little plastic table-top stand and my Nikon SB-800 did as well. Both have tripod sockets. For some reason Pentax omitted it from the 360. But you can buy the Nikon stand separately, and there is no reason why it won't work with any hot shoe flash (except Minolta) since it just has a plastic "cold" shoe. I saw the Nikon stand (Model AS-19) listed in the B&H catalog for $8, I think. That would be the best choice, IMHO. If I had known about the Nikon stand, I would have bought that instead of the $25 hot shoe adapter.

**tranq78** · 10-19-2007, 12:26 PM

Originally posted by spyglass

Does anyone know of an economical mount / adpater that will fit on the bottom of a flash for attaching to a tripod? I am just looking for a plactic unit that has a thread fitting for tripod mounting when I use my second flash as a remote. I see that the 540 comes with one (why Pentax cheaped out and never included one with my 360's is beyond me. Is it possible to buy the 540 plastic mount by itself?
I wish that Pentax would have spent a bit more money designing their flash units. The 540 appears to be cheaply built and has jamming promblems. Several camera shops all warned me off the 540 saying that the pile of dead returned ones was starting to block out the sun. The battery door on the 360 is incredibly flimsy and is just waiting to break (and I treat them like my first born). I see my old Vivitar flash sitting on the shelf (the one I used to use on my Pentax K1000 (but am terrified to use on my *ist for fear of too high a trigger circuit voltage and possible damage to the DSLR) and believe that it would with stand a nuclear blast and shake my head.
Any help of the mount issue would be greatly appreciated, as would any comments about the quailty of the Pentax flash units.

Thank you,

Don't bother using the cheap plastic mount that comes with the AF540-FGZ flash. I think it's more for display than actual use since it will probably break easily.

Go to a camera store and ask for a cold shoe flash mount that can screw on to the top of a tripod. They should know what you are talking about. I bought a couple of these, used, from a second hand camera shop for about $20 each. The top is a cold shoe mount and the bottom has a 1/4" screw in for mounting to the tripod. I attach these to a cheap lightweight tripod and it's a great tool for off-camera flash since the tripod is adjustable in height.

If they only have hot shoe flash mounts then you can simply lay down a piece of electrical tape over the contacts and voila! you have created a cold shoe mount.

If you don't have a local camera store then online stores like Vistek or chez Henry's stock it.

HTH

10-16-2007, 12:36 AM	#1
spyglass Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 747	Mount for Pentax 360 flash Does anyone know of an economical mount / adpater that will fit on the bottom of a flash for attaching to a tripod? I am just looking for a plactic unit that has a thread fitting for tripod mounting when I use my second flash as a remote. I see that the 540 comes with one (why Pentax cheaped out and never included one with my 360's is beyond me. Is it possible to buy the 540 plastic mount by itself? I wish that Pentax would have spent a bit more money designing their flash units. The 540 appears to be cheaply built and has jamming promblems. Several camera shops all warned me off the 540 saying that the pile of dead returned ones was starting to block out the sun. The battery door on the 360 is incredibly flimsy and is just waiting to break (and I treat them like my first born). I see my old Vivitar flash sitting on the shelf (the one I used to use on my Pentax K1000 (but am terrified to use on my *ist for fear of too high a trigger circuit voltage and possible damage to the DSLR) and believe that it would with stand a nuclear blast and shake my head. Any help of the mount issue would be greatly appreciated, as would any comments about the quailty of the Pentax flash units. Thank you,

10-17-2007, 09:04 AM	#2
Michael New Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Southend-on-Sea Posts: 1	Re: Mount for Pentax 360 Flash I too have been looking for a tripod mount for my AF 360. Manfrotto produce a universal hotshoe mount which retails in the UK for about £11

10-19-2007, 11:06 AM	#4
GaryML Inactive Account Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 441	Just Buy A Nikon Stand Originally posted by spyglass I have the camera hot shoe adapter which mounts to the hot shoe of the camera and lets you mount a flash on top of it, and also run a cable of to an off camera shoe adapter (ridicuously tiny thing that offers no solution for supporting the flash other than holding it up by hand). I also have one of those, but mine has a tripod socket on the bottom. Just attach it to a tabletop tripod or any cheap tripod or light stand. It works fine, but it did cost about $25. The Pentax AF-540FGZ comes with a little plastic table-top stand and my Nikon SB-800 did as well. Both have tripod sockets. For some reason Pentax omitted it from the 360. But you can buy the Nikon stand separately, and there is no reason why it won't work with any hot shoe flash (except Minolta) since it just has a plastic "cold" shoe. I saw the Nikon stand (Model AS-19) listed in the B&H catalog for $8, I think. That would be the best choice, IMHO. If I had known about the Nikon stand, I would have bought that instead of the $25 hot shoe adapter.

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10-19-2007, 01:13 AM	#3
spyglass Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 747 Original Poster	I have the camera hot shoe adapter which mounts to the hot shoe of the camera and lets you mount a flash on top of it, and also run a cable of to an off camera shoe adapter (ridicuously tiny thing that offers no solution for supporting the flash other than holding it up by hand). I went to the Pentax site and see that they do have a 3rd adpater. It looks like the on camera hot shoe adapter but instead of have conection pins on its bottom it offers a tripod thread for mounting. They want $49 for it at most places I have found. Amazon.com looks like they may and an avenue to get one for $24. Pentax should have kitted the 360 up with the buit in jack like the 540 and sold it with the mounting plate. I basically need 2 of them for the macro setup that I am planing. I am just going to design and build my own. It would not be that difficut at all. I just hoped to save myself the hassel. It could be easily bent out of a thin sheet of aluminum, or I might even l cast 1/2 a dozen of them out of aluminum (not much heavier than plastic, but much stronger). I will take a picture of them and post it here for you to look at. Spyglass

10-19-2007, 12:26 PM	#5
tranq78 Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,005	Originally posted by spyglass Does anyone know of an economical mount / adpater that will fit on the bottom of a flash for attaching to a tripod? I am just looking for a plactic unit that has a thread fitting for tripod mounting when I use my second flash as a remote. I see that the 540 comes with one (why Pentax cheaped out and never included one with my 360's is beyond me. Is it possible to buy the 540 plastic mount by itself? I wish that Pentax would have spent a bit more money designing their flash units. The 540 appears to be cheaply built and has jamming promblems. Several camera shops all warned me off the 540 saying that the pile of dead returned ones was starting to block out the sun. The battery door on the 360 is incredibly flimsy and is just waiting to break (and I treat them like my first born). I see my old Vivitar flash sitting on the shelf (the one I used to use on my Pentax K1000 (but am terrified to use on my ist for fear of too high a trigger circuit voltage and possible damage to the DSLR) and believe that it would with stand a nuclear blast and shake my head. Any help of the mount issue would be greatly appreciated, as would any comments about the quailty of the Pentax flash units. Thank you, Don't bother using the cheap plastic mount that comes with the AF540-FGZ flash. I think it's more for display than actual use since it will probably break easily. Go to a camera store and ask for a cold shoe flash mount that can screw on to the top of a tripod. They should know what you are talking about. I bought a couple of these, used, from a second hand camera shop for about $20 each. The top is a cold shoe mount and the bottom has a 1/4" screw in for mounting to the tripod. I attach these to a cheap lightweight tripod and it's a great tool for off-camera flash since the tripod is adjustable in height. If they only have hot shoe flash mounts then you can simply lay down a piece of electrical tape over the contacts and voila!* you have created a cold shoe mount. If you don't have a local camera store then online stores like Vistek or chez Henry's stock it. HTH