[Zealex]

Hello,

I have a Pentax K-r and lying around in my dad's old stuff alongside his old Pentax film SLR is a Pentax AF200T flash. From my understanding the flash is quite old, but if it still works, I could make use of it.

My question is if this flash would be compatible with my K-r? I wouldn't mind snapping it on and trying it out but I've heard if the flash is not compatible it could burn out a dslr...so how do I check if it's compatible and would work properly? I'd really hate to damage my K-r..

I've googled the subject and found a topic on another forum stating it's worked with a K-m and K-7 with no problems, but I just wanted to be 100% sure and check in with you guys.

Thanks for reading!

[Adam]

Yes, it's compatible in the sense that it will fire and it won't damage your camera, but it will only work in manual mode. You need to manually set the exposure and flash intensity.

[stevebrot]

Your AF200T is quite safe for your camera and while it does not support P-TTL, it does have its own built-in photo cell and provides flash automation that way. The user manual is your friend. With the film cameras of the day, it did support TTL via the analog protocol for flash automation. While your K-r does not do regular TTL, it may well support a good portion of the analog protocol allowing use of the flash in other than M and X modes. For example, the flash should be able to set the appropriate aperture and x-sync speed for the camera ISO in Tv mode. I did a full breakdown of functionality for the AF200T's big brother, the AF 280T on another thread and have provided the link below.

User Manual: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/pentax_flashes/pentax_flashes.htm

My comment on another thread: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/8-pentax-film-slr-discussion/260999-me-su...ml#post2808572


Steve

[Class A]

It is very likely that you would be able to have more manual control over the AF200T by using the Cactus V6 radio trigger.

The V6 should be able to profile your flash and/or you might be able to use one of the existing profiles (even though there is none for the AF200T, another one may still work satisfactorily). The V6 would then give you more than just three manual power levels and also finer control (e.g., 1/3 stop steps instead of full stop steps).

Currently the V6's profiling algorithm does not appear to be optimal for flashes with only a few manual levels, but you'd definitely get more levels, it is just a question what the accuracy will be like.

All this still gives you just manual control, but you'd be able to take the flash off-camera.

For automatic exposure support, the flash's own "A" mode is the only option (as Steve already described).