[D4rknezz]

Hi all,

I've got an old pentax 50mm 1.2 without A setting. I love it, but no matter what I do it won't fire my flash. I even have an old AF 160? that I mounted on, but it wont fire it.
Is there something I can do to make it work? Maybe I just dont know what setting i should have it on.

I am shooting with a K1.

[mcgregni]

Hello, you should use Manual camera mode (M) making sure you don't exceed the max sync speed (1/200th).

Both Manual flash mode and Auto Thyristor mode (usually known as A mode) are suitable for use with manual focus lenses. What you have available depends on your flash.

[Not a Number]

Odd, the flash should fire as long as the shutter activates. Do either of the flashes trigger with another lens?

The flash should trigger in all modes. A non-A lens will only stop down in M, B or X mode. The AF 160 is a TTL flash and will shoot in manual mode (full power) or in Auto mode (two settings) using the built-in sensor.

Non-A lenses will only stop down in M, B or X mode. In all other modes non-A lenses will shoot wide open. This doesn't apply to screw mount or adapted lens as you should be able to stop them down using the aperture ring.

P-TTL is not supported with non-A lenses either. The flash will fire at full power unless set manually or the flash has an auto sensor mode.

Setting the camera to X mode will set the the shutter speed to the flash sync speed of 1/180 sec. You can set a lower shutter speed with the eDial but you can't go over 1/180 sec.

Have you set the camera to enable use of aperture ring?

[mcgregni]

The Max flash sync figure is 1/200th with the K1. The most common cause for the unwary of no flash trigger signal is going beyond the max sync speed. On the K1 the 'Auto-Flash' mode might prevent the flash firing if there's enough ambient light, but this only applies to Green Square mode I think.

[D4rknezz]

Thanks for the help guys.
Looks like my AF160 is broken.

I remembered trying my AF540 before, and i thought it didn't work, but now i realized it was just shooting full power all the time, for some reason.
I popped in a different flash on A mode on the camera, and it worked perfectly.

Thanks for the help!