[ramseybuckeye]

I may need to use a flash for some indoor shooting in a few weeks, but I don't have much budget for this. I've had my K20D for a couple of years and have not really needed a flash, so no experience. I'm going to shoot a small wedding for free, so no real pressure. I won't get a chance to visit the venu early so I really don't know what the lighting will be. I may not be able to even use a flash there, I want to be prepared just in case. I think I will be OK with my lenses (in signature) and will also have my daughter's k-x available, which can obviously help in low light.

One of the cheap flashes is the Adorama Auto Bounce Flash Another is the Flashpoint Shoe Mount Strobe RL1200 Anyone have any experience with these?

If I have to I may spring for the Metz mecablitz 36AF-5 Digital Flash, that is over the top of my budget, but maybe it's worth it. As stated above, I don't expect to use it much, but there's no reason to by junk either.

Any advice?

[liukaitc]

if u r fine with mannual, then just buy yn-560 on ebay or amazon.about 70 bucks..it has power match high-end flash which would cost more than 300 bucks..

[boriscleto]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-flashes-lighting-technique/104364-...questions.html

The small wedding your shooting for free is already going to cost you between $60 & $120 for the flashes you mention plus some of your time to get used to using it. You will buy other stuff just for this. An acquaintance in a local camera club recently agreed to shoot a wedding for a friend for $500. By the time he traveled, rented backup gear, etc, he had lost money he couldn't afford. Most times it will cost you and you will put pressure on yourself to deliver good stuff. Its a fine thing to do for friends but it will never be free and there will be pressure.

The K20D is a fine camera and I keep one for a backup. Anything over ISO 1600 is a problem even with Noise Post Processing. The flash will help you introduce fill so things don't look dull. The easiest technique is to use is manual exposure and P-TTL (Pentax 540) set minus 1.5 to 2 stops. Daytime in a church, drag the shutter to register ambient light while the flash fills. You can do that with manual. if you have time . Works well at the altar.

The key thing is think through making two exposures 1 for ambient & 1 for flash. Variables for flash are power, distance, aperture & ISO, shutter doesn't matter except you can't go faster than 1/180 with Pentax (unless you are using high speed sync with a P-TTL capable flash - another reason to invest in a 540.)

If you are going to spend $120, consider buying a used Pentax540 for about $300. I have 1 new & 1 used and its very nice having the choice of P-TTL or Manual. I did 600+ exposures of kids with Santa last Saturday using a Pentax 540 thru an umbrella at 1/8 or 1/4 on one set of batteries with a cheap trigger. It worked because I had fairly constant light and time to dial in the exposure. Two days before, in a large, dimly lit hotel ballroom, moving around at a benefit, manual exposure for EV5 and P-TTL -2 stops straight up worked great.

Good luck.

[SOldBear]

Read this post.

[ramseybuckeye]

Thanks for all the ideas

[GibbyTheMole]

KEH has a ton of great used flashes very cheap. Like in the 18-45 dollar range.

[jonhock]

Hi there Tom!
I have a pair of AF280T's that I've had very good results using them with my K10D. They have an exposure sensor right inside of them
which, for me, has always given me great exposures (in the green and orange auto modes). They also have
tilt and swivel just like the "big boys". There are several on ebay right now that range from 50 to 68 dollars as "buy it now" prices and also one that needs a starting bid of 25 bucks that has no bids yet. If I were writing a review about the 280s, I would give them, at the very least, "8"s (no P-TTL, and limited flash "area"
BUT , I recently (about 2 weeks ago) plunked down $146.50 (+ 6 bucks for shipping) for a Metz 48 AF-1 and I can
wholeheartedly recommend this one if you plan on using flash more than you have been. If I say that the 280's are great, then the metz is just
plain Crazy Great. As far as range goes the 280's don't really reach that far but within about 20 feet they're good. I shot one of my
granddaugter's Basket ball games a couple days ago with the Metz and it lit up half of the gym! Lillian actually asked me to quit shooting it because it was a distraction 'cause she could tell everytime I took a photo. Which was okay on a counta I had my smc A 1.4/50 with me and used it for the rest of the game. The AF48 works good up close also, especially good when using the the tilt/swivel features.
I've seen a lot of your photos and they are most definitely great shots! I'd hate to see you disappointed using any of the "over there, yeah that place" offerings. I'm not saying that you actually, definitely would be disappointed because I have no experience with them. As a matter of fact, you pretty much know about my experience with digital SLR's. In the past I've had an AF240FT, an AF330FTZ, and an AF400FTZ that are great also(not to mention my old, late 70's Focal brand or the Promaster from the same era) but Ifound them lacking when I switched from film to digital. oops, almost forgot,the 280 has a little brother called the AF200T which has the "auto" modes and can be manually adjusted to give from 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and full. I use one of them ball head flash & umbrella holders to give it tilt and swivel.
If there is a church close by they might let you check out the lighting, although the lighting where you are going may be a little or a lot different.
All of this is IMHO of course!

[ramseybuckeye]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I ordered a used AF280 from KEH, from what I've read it should do what I need. To complicate things, B&H just added some incentives on some of the Metz products.

[smf]

I have very limited experience using flash with the K100D I've long used.

I own an AF 280T, which I plan to use when photographing an auto show indoors, using a monopod for photos when the flash isn't in use.

I don't expect to be able to use bounce flash because of the venue's size.

I'd welcome recommendations on technique and also perhaps on auxiliary equipment such as a diffuser. Please include brand(s) and model(s), or please guide me to instructions for do-it-yourself construction, if you would be so kind.

Thanks very much.

[rockmaster1964]

I use the sto-fen OM-EX for my af280t

[DaveHolmes]

I use the sto-fen OM-EX for my af280t

Something like this is a good idea to be packing along with whatever flash is in your bag... Diffusing the light is a very good idea... If you are in a situation where bouncing the light is not an option something like a stofen or Lightshere can deffo make your pictures look nicer...

[SOldBear]

I'd welcome recommendations on technique and also perhaps on auxiliary equipment such as a diffuser. Please include brand(s) and model(s), or please guide me to instructions for do-it-yourself construction, if you would be so kind.

Read:

Home made diffusers

On Omni-Bounce

On Diffusers