Originally posted by Pioneer Thanks Tom. Your description was great. I actually had to look it up myself. But I sometimes find it amusing that in many cases it seems that our newer, "automatic", equipment has really made our life more complex. Admittedly we don't have to do any flash calculations any more (which really weren't too difficult in the 1st place) but if you aren't using some feature, like external flash, everyday, or at least quite frequently, the directions to make it happen actually require a look at a manual that has 300 pages.
You're welcome!
Whenever possible, I use my strobes off-camera and with a softbox or umbrella. It's pretty much that or available light for me. For this reason I almost always use my strobes in manual and just fire off some test shots first to chimp and make sure I'm getting the results I want. I have a flash meter on my PCB Commander but don't use it a lot since viewing the test shots on the back of the camera is usually good enough. I'm much more disciplined about my exposures when using strobes and enjoy it a lot. The rest of my shooting is generally done in Hyper Program, Av, or TAv modes. I'm lazy like that. Anyway, learning how to dial in manual exposure and manual flash is definitely worthwhile. Pentax makes it easy for use to shoot in M mode too with the green button. I see that TAv is catching on, at least with Nikon. That mode makes so much sense!
The manual for the AF540 is notorious for being crappy. I read a lot of less then positive reviews about the AF540 before buying it but went for it anyway. I actually tried the AF360 first and didn't like it all. The build was just awful; it seemed to be half way falling apart fresh out of the box. Not being able to rotate the flash head from side to side was a much bigger drawback than I expected too. The AF540 has the AF360 beat with its build quality, power, swivel head, and ability to use a power pack. I am actually pretty happy with the flash. There are two things that negatively impact my using of it: (1) it doesn't remember the manual power settings when you turn it off and then back on, (2) and the flash head's up/down joint isn't stiff enough to hold up a small 9" softbox well that I like to attach to it. I can do both these things better with my Nikon flash units. They're great to use; I have three of them! I actually think my Nikons might have a smidge more power output too. Plus, the Nikons have standard PC sync ports instead of the proprietary 5 pin connection from Pentax, which makes it much easier to connect radio triggers. I still use the AF540 as my main unit because of the faster recycle times I can get with the power pack.
I'm carrying on here more than I need to now. I just happened to be pulling out all my strobe gear at the time I saw this thread because I'm giving it all a go over before a band shoot I have this Saturday. I didn't have to look at the manual to give those instructions a couple posts back but did have to pick the flash up and go through the paces with it. Anyway, I have eneloops to recharge and need to figure out the smallest way to pack everything so that I'll be ready.
Well, if you couldn't tell, I think flash photography is a lot of fun and believe it can really enhance portraits whenever you have anything less than ideal available light.