[hoovs]

Hello All,

I'd like to buy a flash for my k30. I watched this and thought it would be a great thing to add to my kit.

You Tube

You Tube

However, I am confess I am deeply confused when reading about the various flash terminology. Also is it possible to take the flash off the hot shoe and remotely fire it? What would I need in that scenario?

I'd like to limit my budget to under $100 US because I am saving for a lens purchase. I took a look at the B&H website and I found many non-Pentax flashes for less than $100. I also found this:

Pentax Autofocus AF500FTZ (GUIDE NUMBER 150) (MZ, PZ, SF, ZX SERIES) / BOUNCE, SWIVEL, ZM WITH CASE , SHOE MOUNT FLASH - KEH.com

Can someone give me some direction on where to go? I'm lost and don't want to fry my camera.

Thanks,

Brad

[Na Horuk]

However, I am confess I am deeply confused when reading about the various flash terminology. Also is it possible to take the flash off the hot shoe and remotely fire it? What would I need in that scenario?

Basically, Pentax uses P-TTL, and there are some tutorials already out there on the internet. Other brands use different automations and they are not compatible between brands. But often you can still use a flash from some other company manually (where the only communication between the camera and flash is "when" to fire off, nothing else). But some brands use flashes that are so different they won't work on your camera at all (most notably Sony, I think). Be careful if you want to use an older flash, because a flash can actually damage your camera. New flashes, made specifically for digital cameras should be okay, though.
If you want to set off a flash remotely, you can either use wires or wireless triggers. Wireless triggers are often the most comfortable, and you can get very cheap ones (again, no automation) on amazon or ebay for under 50 bucks. And they can fire off multiple flashes at once, if you have many receivers.
If you want a cheap flash you will probably want a Yongnuo or some other chinese, maybe even no-name flash. But for under 100, I doubt you will get anything worth your while. Maybe something used, or old.. um Vivitar flashes. But be sure to check if their voltage is so low that it won't damage your camera.
You can also rent a flash and triggers, that might be a good option if you have a specific project in mind

Edit: I didn't watch the whole video, but a lot of it doesn't apply to Pentax because, as the presenter said, each brand has its own settings. And with Pentax, you can pretty much forget using flash at shutter speeds above 1/180. While that isn't great, its usually not terribly bad

[wizofoz]

Hi Hoovs. I have this flash and it works fine on my k-7 and k-5. I can't think of any reason why it would not work equally well on a K-30. It will not work wirelessly without a flash trigger, as some later model Pentax flashes will. But you will pay a lot more for this feature, and honestly a pair of cheap radio triggers and some old flash guns will do the trick equally well. (Maybe even better, as you can afford more then one light source) You just need to learn how to use them, and that in itself is not all that difficult to begin with.

Then you will start to discover the whole world of coloured gels, snoots, gobo's, subtractors and all the other wierd and wonderful stuff that off camera flash will give you.

Good luck

Edit. of course this works wirelessly. What was I thinking? This unit works as an optical slave in an off camera situation. I just proved it with a k-7

Sorry for the misinformation.

[Ken T]

Pentax AF500FTZ is not P-TTL compatible.

[JimJohnson]

If you want off-camera AND automated flash, you either have to purchase the Pentax branded cables to transport the P-TTL signal OR invest in a flash capable of wireless P-TTL. I can tell you right now that any flash capable of wireless P-TTL is going to cost a fair amount more than $100 if purchased new. I'm not sure you can even do manual off-camera flash for $100 if purchasing new equipment.

You might want to take a look at this site:
The Definitive Guide - Pentax P-TTL Flash Comparison You will also find a 'sticky' to this site at the top of this sub-forum.

Within you $100 budget, you might find a used manual flash, a hotshoe to PC adapter (PC is a type of photo cable, not a computer) and PC cords in the necessary length .... you'll still have to come up with some means of mounting the flash for off-camera use. That is above and beyond your $100. Be VERY careful with old used flashes. Digital SLR cameras cannot tolerate the high voltage used by some old flash units, and you can fry your K-30.

Speaking personally..... I would play with various light modifiers for your built-in flash right now. Many of them you can make yourself out of common materials for very little money. You will learn something about flash photography and have a better understanding of what you really want out of a future flash purchase - and establish a realistic budget for what meets your real needs.

[hoovs]

Thank you all for your responses. Jim, the definitive guide was very helpful. Rethinking about my needs at this point, would the Pentax AF200FG be a good choice (it's about $30 more than my price point)? Or should I work on getting more out of the lens I've got, while I save for something better?

In my first post, I was curious about wirelessly firing the flash because I was thinking ahead to things I might want to do at some other point. Right now I am not trying to do anything fancy -- just improve my standard flash. I might move on from there to more involved things later.

[Ken T]

In your case, with $100 budget, I would forget about Pentax' P-TTL and go ahead get a Yongnuo YN-560III flash and RF-603 triggers and DIY a homemade bounce card, then play with setting of power of the flash.

[JimJohnson]

My personal opinion is the Pentax AF200FG isn't worth much. I might buy one if my built-in flash died and it cost more to repair than the AF200FG . It has less than one stop more light than the built in flash (boost your ISO or open up a stop instead), no control over output in manual mode, only looks straight ahead off the hotshoe .....

Either take Ken T's advice and learn how to do flash 100% manually - - - or take my advice and stick with the built-in flash until your budget improves. Take a look around. You will find a variety of light modifiers for the built-in flash, many of them DIY projects costing very little. The simplest is probably a bit of white tissue to act as a diffuser. Learning how to modify light with what you've got won't be a wasted exercise.

[Ken T]

With Jim's advice you can make something like this Homemade pop-up flash diffuser - Photo.net Lighting Equipment and Techniques Forum or any of these https://www.google.com/search?q=Homemade+pop-up+flash+diffuser&tbm=isch&tbo=...w=1344&bih=947

[ChooseAName]

I would say that if you were going to get a flash, get one that can swivel and tilt its flash head. The AF200 only points straight forward. You can get much better results directing the light elsewhere.

The Yongnuo YN 560 is a manual flash that does very well off-camera, but you can still use it on camera. "Manual" for a flash means that it will fire at whatever power level it is set to, without any consideration of camera settings. Looks like you can currently get it for about $54 on Amazon. You can use it in optical slave mode, which means that it will trigger whenever it sees any other flash, which in your case would be the K-30 onboard flash. So you could have some form of off-camera flash for $54.

If you want the flash off-camera but don't want to use your onboard flash to trigger, Cowboy Studio wireless triggers. The ones that I got were at times inconsistent in firing but for $23 you get a trigger and receiver.

[top-quark]

Don't skimp on the flash - it'll do more to improve your images than any lens. Budget for a couple of accessories to soften the light too. These needn't be expensive, though - an omnibounce will cost no more that a few dollars. I'm a big fan of the AF360 - decently powerful with full P-TTL capability (unlike the AF200 which can't be bounced, won't work in P-TTL mode wirelessly, won't work as a commander, etc.). You should be able to pick one up secondhand for around $150. I think that the model is due to be refreshed with a swivel head as well as a bounce head but that will inevitably be a lot more expensive. You may want to invest in a book - 'On Camera Flash' by Neil van Niekerk is supposed to be good.

Metz flashes are also P-TTL capable, but don't go for one of the cheap models - they're rebranded Chinese cheapies and they're simply awful. I'm not sure about the current Metz models, but the good ones start at around the number "44". A good Metz flash is unlikely to come in cheaper than the AF360.

The flash model you mentioned is, I believe, a TTL one, and definitely not P-TTL. TTL flash is an old technology that cut the flash off abruptly when sufficient exposure had been reached. It hasn't been supported by any Pentax cameras released within the last ten years.

Because you're on a budget, some people will tell you to use manual flash. I would advise against that. There's a learning wall to overcome and you'll likely end up disappointed and frustrated. Besides which, you can use a P-TTL flash in manual mode but you can't go the other way.

I would also suggest that you get comfortable with using your flash on-camera before you start to explore off-camera techniques.