[kenyee]

FYI, for you guys that really want the crutch of wireless TTL in a trigger, these will probably work on Pentax too:
Flickr: Discussing Aokatec Update: Works with Olympus TTL! in Strobist.com

They basically use the same technique as the original Radiopopper PX triggers...convert optical pulse (really magnetic pulse) to RF back to optical. Should be system agnostic though you'll probably lose a bit of sync speed from the conversion.

I'll stick w/ my Radiopopper JrX Studios...

[p38arover]

Don't you hate it when people take down the images they used to illustrate an article?

[adwb]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-flashes-lighting-technique/195068-...ntax-sony.html

See post #. 10

[p38arover]

Thanks adwb!

[adwb]

I'm going to sell mine I never use them due to the fact that I only shoot manual off camera flash and use pttl only in hss mode only at weddings.

Btw they DO NOT fit the pop up flash on K30 and similar newer bodies unless they have come up with a new mount since I last looked.

[jake14mw]

I'm going to sell mine I never use them due to the fact that I only shoot manual off camera flash and use pttl only in hss mode only at weddings.

Btw they DO NOT fit the pop up flash on K30 and similar newer bodies unless they have come up with a new mount since I last looked.

Looks interesting.

I currently use manual off camera flash via a Cactus v5 trigger for outdoor portraiture which works fairly well, but it is a lot of trial and error. I mostly use it as fill flash with a small modifier, either a Lumiquest LTP softbox, or shooting through a round diffuser.

I'm wondering if using this set-up would result in less trial and error, and be more reliable for changing scenes? I do have a Pentax 360 flash, but don't use it much. Never had great results with bounce P-TTL. I'm thinking the 360 might not have enough power for outdoor use with a modifier too though. Any thoughts? Of course this is assuming that it fits the K-5 pop-up flash.

[adwb]

it fits k 5 and all previous models with no problem, the K30 and models after [ excluding k5s and k5II ] have different pop flash design, its lifts higher.

manual off camera is trial and error unless you use a meter, and then subject to flash must not alter significantly.

360 with any modifier will loose power as will all flashes but should still be usable as a fill flash.

yes more reliable as you will now be shooting pttl but with the flash off camera and unlike built in slave system in the body and flash will not be effected by bright light and you have no pop up contribution either.

[jake14mw]

Maybe I should look into metering again. I have a cheap meter that I never really understood how to use, it would give you the aperature to use, which is the main thing I want to set first, so it wasn't helpful, but I'm sure that was due to not understanding how meters really work.

Is the main reason why you use manual for off-camera flash because you have developed a good system to get it right quickly, or is it due to a trigger/ttl system like the the Aokatec/pttl not doing what you want? Thanks for the info.

[adwb]

ok first remember that for manual flash the shutter speed controls the amount of ambient light allowed in to the exposure and the apature the amount of flash. Now I know that hard to understand so try this

put you camera on manual; set iso to 100; set shutter speed to 1/60; set your aperture to f5.6

now switch you flash on to manual, set it on full power and attach all you trigger kit and put the flash about 9ft from the subject and take a image you should be in the ball park with exposure,

if you adjust your APERTURE ONLY you will see the flash component of the image alter but not the non flashed parts of the image.

Why did that happen? because you altered the amount of flash made light that you allowed into the sensor.

Once you are happy with the flash component now change ONLY THE SHUTTER to 1/180 or 1/160 which ever you can BUT NOT FASTER then 1/180 you will see the non flashed parts go dark but not the flashed parts.

why did that happen? because you made the shutter faster and decreased the amount of ambient light getting in.

so on your meter if you set a shutter speed and the iso the meter only measures the flash but tells you for that shutter and iso what will give you a good exposure. If you set all three as per the meter on your camera and you will get a well exposed image.

remember it's the flash to subject that matters, as long as that is constant you can go where you like.with the camera.

Now for pttl using the Aokatec at a wedding i don't want to guess or mess with a meter so since i like using off camera flash I can get pttl consistently with out worrying about distances or bright light wrecking the infared signal that works the Pentax slave system.

Hope that helps have a look at Collection: Engagement Shoots with the exception of the classic folder these are all off camera 1 flash, metered once at the beginning of a set and that's it, once the light is placed at the same distance nothing else changes no mater where we move to

[kenyee]

Maybe I should look into metering again. I have a cheap meter that I never really understood how to use, it would give you the aperature to use, which is the main thing I want to set first, so it wasn't helpful, but I'm sure that was due to not understanding how meters really work.

Not sure why you're doing this....you should be doing it the other way. Choose your aperture. Use the meter to make sure your flashes are set to the right power to put out enough light for that aperture/ISO setting..

Something like the Radiopopper JrX Studios lets you set this quickly via a few test pops while standing at the same spot.

At a wedding or moving event, this is a bit harder, but you can do something else..take photos, check to see if the remote rim light is too bright, tweak it quickly to get it into the right range (you don't have to be fully accurate)...

[wizofoz]

On the basis of this and other similar posts, I bought a RX TX pair with a 2nd rx for my Metz 58 af-1 and Pentax af540 fgz strobes. but i'm buggered if I can get them to work reliably the Metz (if at all)

I have the output dongle from the rx over the light sensor, (on the left front of the body,adjacent to the red translucent panel) on the metz The Tx is mounted over the pop up flash on its bracket. Switches on all the Aokatec units are set to auto. My shiny new K-3 is set to wireless controller mode.

When I depress the shutter, the control pulse from the on board flash fires, the Tx indicates it has recieved the information by briefly flashing its led green, the RX's both indicate they have recieved the control pulse from the Tx by flashing their LED's red.

Both Rx's and both cables work flawlessly with the Pentax, but I cannot get it work on the Metz.

I have read other posts where someone had the poppers work with the metz. What am I doing wrong?

[adwb]

The only help I can offer is that I found the placement of the recover sensor is quite critical, on a metz 48 it is on the side and not the large red panel in the front,

Remember they idea originally for the remote cordless flash wax indoor use so the trigger flash was seen often by being reflected of a wall or ceiling, so the sensor is not always where you think it is on the flash unit.

[wizofoz]

The only help I can offer is that I found the placement of the recover sensor is quite critical, on a metz 48 it is on the side and not the large red panel in the front,

Remember they idea originally for the remote cordless flash wax indoor use so the trigger flash was seen often by being reflected of a wall or ceiling, so the sensor is not always where you think it is on the flash unit.

Thanks for responding.

I tried everywhere I can think of to put the dongle. I thought, like you, that the light sensor was to the left of the red panel, but on reading the manual (97) it says that is the light sensor for the A function. Further reading (p113) reveals that the small light sensor on the shoulder of the body, above the DC connection, is the 'remote mode sensor'. Where oh where is the P-TTL sensor if not these places? I'm stumped.

[adwb]

its the remote mode sensor, and the aotek reciver has a tiny window that must be in the middle to work, its fiddley the first time but once you have it sorted it works.

[adwb]

Set up the camera and flash to remote mode and set the channel and so and test it all works as Pentax intended once that sorted then mask off each window one at a time till the dash does not respond , then you gave the input sensor, then fit that aeotck and test.