[bdery]

BTW, do you mean that you did it twice and got 8 FBFBF the first time and 13 the second? Or do you mean that you kept firing after the first black frame and got 13 more shots in before a second black frame during a single 23-shot burst? The former is what I tested, the later I didn't check.

It's the latter. I shot a 23-shots burst, and got one black frame. Or you could say I shot a 24-shots bursts and got one after 8 and another after 23

[Doundounba]

BTW, as an addendum, I received a Godox XT-16 wireless trigger today. I intend to use it more for studio stuff than for macro, but I just tested it and I wanted to mention here that the XT-16 is perfectly capable of driving the V850ii, the AD-180, or indeed both of them at the same time in two different groups at the K-3's full Continuous High 8.3fps.

[xunwp]

Yes, I have informed Metz this problem on their website. I hope to get a reply, especially a reply with a firmware update to solve this problem.

I got the response from Metz. Sorry for the delay.
They proved that it is a Pentax problem instead of a Metz problem, as the AF540 also slows down the burst rate of K-30 to about 1.5 frame per second. It's a pity.

The response from Metz:
AW: AW: 52af-1 slows down the burst rate on Pentax

Dear Mr Xun,


Thank you very much for your email and for your reply.

We checked now our sample of Pentax K-30 with our flash unit 52 AF-1 and also with our original Pentax AF540FGZ II.

Camera Pentax K-30 runs in manual camera mode M (1/100 sec./ F4.0).

Both flash units Metz 52 AF-1 and also Pentax AF540FGZ are running in manual flash mode M with partial power level P 1/128.

In both cases (with Metz 52 AF-1 and also with original Pentax AF540FGZ II) the camera Pentax K30 slow down the image sequence to approximately 1.5 frame per second.

Faster image sequences are not possible.

So it seems to be a special characteristic of the Pentax K-30 to slow down the image sequence as soon as there is a digital data exchange between camera and flash unit.

As this camera characteristic is not a technical problem of the flash unit 52 Af-1 we fear that we can't change this respectively we can't help you.

We guess the only way for you to prevent the slow down of the image sequence is to insulate the three small additional contacts in your camera's hot shoe.

We regret to have no better information for you and remain

With kind regards


Technical Support
Metz mecatech GmbH

Ohmstraße 55, D-90513 Zirndorf