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01-28-2008, 07:21 AM   #1
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Wireless Flash Options for K10 & 540

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I tried to search I really did perhaps I am too frozen this morning to make sense of it. I want some sort of hotshoe adapter that will allow the wireless triggering of my 540 flash. Most of what I found in the search is "just get one of the cheap IR remotes) or someone mentioned Pocketwizards .
Can someone help me with a little more specific?s An Ebay link or web site link would be great. Money is always a consideration - but I want it to work so a few more sheckles for a good product is not an issue.

Thanks in Advance!

01-28-2008, 07:48 AM   #2
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eBay Store – Gadget Infinity: Search results for trigger.

You have to find adapter matching your flash.

But why not start from pentax wireless system? Its works fine when you dont have others photographers around and offer p-ttl.

Your other option is :
- elichrome skyports
- pocket wizards

and couple other brands of wireless triggers
01-28-2008, 07:54 AM   #3
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Yes Dave. as long as the camera and flash can see each other (IR transmission) you can just use the flash and camera together without spending a dime. I've read a bunch of posts about the Gadget infinity V2 flash triggers and they seem to be pretty good. Some people report a the occasional misfire but overall the reports are good with a low cost.

Will Porter had a very good thread on the subject a while back found here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-camera-accessories/13123-540fgz-wi...operation.html
01-28-2008, 07:56 AM   #4
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Also some more from one of his threads:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-camera-accessories/10385-wireless-...et-wizard.html

01-28-2008, 03:09 PM   #5
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Thanks ramzey ,Peter wil give it a test soon as I can. From reading I think I may all I need wich is always a good thing
01-28-2008, 05:13 PM   #6
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Hey Dave,

I'm curious, what situations are you running into where the built in wireless flash system aren't getting you the results you want?

I just want to make sure you're not spending money that you don't need to.

I was able to get this shot just fine with the built in system. Flash is behind the cake. With no direct line of sight between the flash and the camera.
02-09-2008, 09:43 PM   #7
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I just started using a 540 today and had lots of trouble trying to get it to fire. To me it seems that it has to be a direct line of sight AND has to be facing the camera to at least some degree.

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/2254231560_fee0aaba3b.jpg" width="500" height="338" alt="IMGP5464" />

I was thinking of going for the Pcket wizard but was not sure what else I need to get to make it compatible with my K10 and 540 flash.

02-10-2008, 04:12 PM   #8
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When talking about wireless, you are discussing probably three different ways of firing a 540 remotely with a K10D:

- Using the built-in wireless capability of the camera and flash to fire it using IR light. The advantages is that you retain all automatic functions, as the camera and flash literally 'talk' to each other just before the exposure using a series of light impulses. The disadvantages are that you must be fairly close and reasonably in line-of-sight for this to work. The light impulses can be bounced around a bright room and still work properly - after all, light waves travel virtually instantaneously - but you need to be quite close for this to work reliably.

- Using a simple optical slave adapter on the 540, provided you find one that can be programmed to ignore the pre-flash from the camera. It works off visible light and can work at a slightly farther distance than the built-in wireless, but it will also fire your flash every time anyone in the room fires off theirs. Plus, you lose all programming features and must adjust your flash and camera manually - although that is not that big a deal; we do this for studio strobes all the time.

- Using a radio wireless trigger, with a transmitter on the camera hot shoe and the receiver hooked to the flash. You don't need to worry about any pre-flashes because it takes its signal directly from the center contact of the hotshoe, and unless someone else is on your channel, you don't need to worry about anyone else triggering your flash. This is the most reliable system, and will work literally through walls so you don't need line-of-sight. Good quality triggers such as the Pocketwizards work at extreme ranges such as 1600 feet; less expensive Chinese-made so-called 'eBay' triggers have a MUCH shorter range, and some brands have spotty reliability. Because they only transmit a fire signal, you don't get any programming features, and it essentially turns your flash into a 'dumb' flash, which again is not that big a deal once you get used to setting camera and flash manually.

There are also mid-range triggers now entering the market that don't have the range of the Pocketwizards but are much more reliable than the 'eBay' triggers. The one I am using is the SM Flashwaves, made in Korea, and it has a built-in hot shoe on the receiver so I can mount my 540 directly to the receiver without cords. (I can also mount the receiver on the camera and fire my camera remotely by radio signal from 100s of feet away.)

Once you start exploring manual flash setups, you will find it is much less intimidating than it first seems. Just remember one basic principle when shooting with your camera in manual and flash in manual: shutter speed (which must be 1/180 sec or slower) only controls the amount of ambient light that mixes with the flash; exposure is done almost exclusively through f-stop and by adjusting flash power.
02-10-2008, 11:10 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by caseyb475 Quote
I just started using a 540 today and had lots of trouble trying to get it to fire. To me it seems that it has to be a direct line of sight AND has to be facing the camera to at least some degree.

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2111/2254231560_fee0aaba3b.jpg" width="500" height="338" alt="IMGP5464" />

I was thinking of going for the Pcket wizard but was not sure what else I need to get to make it compatible with my K10 and 540 flash.
I've had the opposite experience.

The picture you showed would be difficult for optical wireless photography though via the built in flash as controller. The surrounding is bright, there is lots of area to fill (your camera flash is very weak after all), and the scene absorbs lot of light. If you wish to have wireless photography in those situations, you'll probably need to have a 2nd 540 aimed at the first 540 (for direct line of site, as you've experienced).
02-11-2008, 07:59 AM   #10
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Nice shot AVANT and thanks Chickenhawk - There are no situations I currently have that I can't accommodate with the built in wireless capability. My initial issue is I bought the 540 off a member here without a manual - so I had to Google to find one. Then the manual in a word is not very well written IMHO - a lot of the pages just refer to another page which refers to another page - I believe all the information is there - just not organized very well.

All I envisioned I wanted was to be able to use the Flash off camera at a resonable distance without worring so much about line of site. I just need to play and pratice with what I have to see if it meets my humble needs.

Thanks for the feedback all.

Last edited by daacon; 02-11-2008 at 08:06 AM.
02-13-2008, 08:51 PM   #11
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We have all bemoaned the lack of information in Pentax flash manuals for years and until someone writes a good book on modern camera-mounted flash, we just have to live with it. You can get the 360 manual, and it is almost the same, plus if you get stuck, you can always come in here and ask.

Because we can't see the pre-flash it is hard to predict the reliability of our setups until we try some shots. Because light travels very quickly and can bounce off multiple surfaces in unpredictable ways, we don't always need line-of-sight.

But once you start moving away or start bouncing flash into umbrellas for a portable 'studio' you will soon consider radio triggers to be the best investment in your bag.

(Next to all the other gadgets we have all bought, and have turned out to be the 'best investment in our bags,' of course. If I had to rank everything in my bag besides camera and lenses, I would suggest the three most useful things I own are: a second identical body, a radio trigger and an Expodisc. None of these 'accessories' is used much, but boy when I need them, they are like a parachute for me; nothing else will do.
02-13-2008, 09:30 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by daacon Quote
Nice shot AVANT and thanks Chickenhawk - There are no situations I currently have that I can't accommodate with the built in wireless capability. My initial issue is I bought the 540 off a member here without a manual - so I had to Google to find one. Then the manual in a word is not very well written IMHO - a lot of the pages just refer to another page which refers to another page - I believe all the information is there - just not organized very well.
For what it's worth, this sounds wonderful compared to the Sigma manual, where all of the information is very clearly not there.
02-16-2008, 04:25 AM   #13
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One more thing: If the firmware in the K10D is old the internal flash will not trigger a wireless. You need to update the firmware to something like 1.3 (check with Pentax).
Mathias
02-16-2008, 09:43 AM   #14
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Just a note, the Cactus triggers do NOT sync up to 1/180 on the K10D, they only go to I think 1/125

They also cause visible interference in photos sometimes.

Better to go with Pocket Wizard or Skyport or perhaps those new Radio Popper units that are set to come out soon.
02-17-2008, 01:41 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kameraten Quote
One more thing: If the firmware in the K10D is old the internal flash will not trigger a wireless. You need to update the firmware to something like 1.3 (check with Pentax).
Mathias
Actually, any firmware past 1.0 will allow for wireless flash to operate. This includes 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3.
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