Originally posted by wombat2go Hi geekette,
I have old ist which can run p-ttl and ttl and all the pentax hotshoe adaptors for off camera etc and many Pentax flash units
i tried both p- and ttl and like neither.
My flash shots on dslr were more difficult than on film and I am not sure why, perhaps our expectations are increased, perhaps the reduced dynamic range of digital cameras and monitors is an issue.
The best way i found is to use a bright lens like a f1:2 28 mm or the 40 mm pancake, a f1:2 50mm or a f1:2.8 100 mm etc.
Set the iso high so the natural light predominates as much as possible, even if it is bad light like a cfl.
Run the flash in Manual and throttle it way down ( like 1/32) either by menu if it is a fancy one, or by obstructing its light.
For the inbuilt flash, my latest is to get a clear plastic luggage tag, block direct flash with black tape, and gently slide the luggage tag over the popped up flash.
Take a few test shots to set the histogram and WB right.
I too have an *istD, and did not mention it only because it was off topic.
I actually like the option of having both TTL and P-TTL in a body. I have many legacy lenses that obviously don't have the A setting, and on my newer bodies I am forced to try and use Auto mode or manual mode. In fact manual is better than Auto because you simply have no #&##$%@ idea what portion of the scene the Auto sensor can see.
I find TTL on the *istD works reliably with any lens, where as P-TTL can be a little flakey especially with a teleconverter and the lack of correct aperture information