[Photogoof]

I'm not the best at flash. Fill flash works fairly well, but I tend to get either sharp shadows or only partially exposed shots.

I have a great flash, thanks to a friend. He owns a second-hand store, and one day I walked in and saw a flash unit sitting on the table. I admired it, and he gave it to me.

This is a Metz Mecablitz 36CT3.

"You like it? Here, take it."

It needed a very minor repair (and I was blown away again, this time by the almost non-existent repair fee). It works great; eats batteries, but does what it should.

So. Flash tips?

[victormeldrew]

So. Flash tips?

Read the strobist blog.

[BigMackCam]

Spend $20 more than you did on the flash, and buy a copy of Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Flash Photography: How to Shoot Great Photographs Using Electronic Flash".

I know you were probably looking for some element of instruction and advice in the thread, but whilst the basics aren't difficult, there's quite a lot to learn. You won't get a proper tutorial in the space of one thread, and you're better off learning in a structured way. This book will teach you how to use a manual flash properly, and in full. The author keeps repeating important concepts throughout the book, so by the time you reach the end, those concepts are second nature. You can pick up the same information from YouTube tutorials and the like, but I liked this book a lot. It's a tiny investment for the level of tuition you receive.

[microlight]

Where’s Nigel?!

[BrianR]

Something to be aware of is the trigger voltage of these older flashes may be too high for a dslr. You might want to test the voltage of the flash before attaching it to your camera. This page reports 20.9V for your model:

Photo Strobe Trigger Voltages

6 to 12V is usually given as the standard safe voltage for modern cameras depending on the model. I've yet to see a definitive answer on what's safe for a Pentax DSLR, some believe it's much higher, so who knows.

The easiest way to be sure is to use wireless triggers capable of handling higher voltages on the receiver end. This has the phenomenal advantage of opening you up to the wonderful world of off-camera flash use, which is worth it whether you're worried about the triggering voltage or not.

Have fun with your new flash

[Photogoof]

Whoa; 20.9V.

As it happens, my K10D died last year, so no need to worry about that problem. I'm back to shooting film now. How well does the K-1 work with such a flash? Does anyone know?

[BigMackCam]

Whoa; 20.9V.

As it happens, my K10D died last year, so no need to worry about that problem. I'm back to shooting film now. How well does the K-1 work with such a flash? Does anyone know?

All modern cameras expect the lower trigger voltage (at least, technically they do). Caveat emptor, as they say

[mcgregni]

Where’s Nigel?!

I'm here, but really this is way beyond what I feel qualified to advise on..... It's going to be a combination of resources and personal effort and the others here have got the ball rolling nicely!

I'm one who has always learned from books, but we're increasingly coming across members who don't read books on photography or text based material like my Flash Guides ..... More and more people look to YouTube videos as a primary source now.

I would like to do some demonstrations and explanations of some techniques and record them, but I don't have the time or technical knowledge of video to do it properly.

[RKKS08]

I do own the Mecablitz 36CT3 (bought it new when it was introduced in about 1983, for a long time it was my strongest flash.
The trigger voltage in my spreadsheet (and I just measured again) is about 3.2 V. It was already designed for usage with cameras controlled by electronics, like the Super A. I used it a lot with my K200D in auto mode, before I bought used Metz power zoom flashes, and recently a 48 AF-1 for pTTL..

LZ 36 (metric) sounds not like much, but this number is calculated for the old standard (FF, 100 ASA, 50mm), so this is quite strong. With today's standard, it would be about LZ 48-50 metric.
Compared with today's flashes, it does not offer many bells and whistles, just manual, auto thyristor, (old) TTL, and tilt/svivel.

EDIT:
I just found out, that during the 1980s Metz reduced the trigger voltage of several of their flashes, without changing the name of the flash. So I would suggest to measure it yourself.

[clackers]

I'm not the best at flash. Fill flash works fairly well, but I tend to get either sharp shadows or only partially exposed shots.

With fill flash, Photogoof, your main light source is something else, like a window or the sun, and you're only lifting the shadows so that real skin tones can be seen instead of black. You would also look to create a catchlight in the subject's eyes.

Begin the power at say 1/8 and increase until you're happy with the result.

[UncleVanya]

You can also add a safe sync device or pass through type wireless trigger that includes this feature (not all do)

[Photogoof]

With fill flash, Photogoof, your main light source is something else, like a window or the sun, and you're only lifting the shadows so that real skin tones can be seen instead of black. You would also look to create a catchlight in the subject's eyes.

Begin the power at say 1/8 and increase until you're happy with the result.

There's a little confusion here. I meant to say that fill flash works fairly well for me. It's when I use the flash as my primary light source that I tend to have problems.

[clackers]

There's a little confusion here. I meant to say that fill flash works fairly well for me. It's when I use the flash as my primary light source that I tend to have problems.

There shouldn't be a problem if you control the power output the way you like it, Photogoof, and if you have the light source 'appear' to be large - that means using a diffuser so that it's bigger than the bare bulb, and that it's very close - even just out of frame.

The first example has a key octabox camera right and a softbox fill to the left.

The second is an on-camera ring flash with a touch of fill from a gridded softbox camera left.

[Photogoof]

I don't have a studio setup, or even a ring flash. I shoot primarily outdoors. I'm wondering what the best approach is for using my flash on-camera indoors, especially for large areas, with or without high ceilings.

[clackers]

I don't have a studio setup, or even a ring flash. I shoot primarily outdoors. I'm wondering what the best approach is for using my flash on-camera indoors, especially for large areas, with or without high ceilings.

Different people will have different opinions, Photogoof, such as Terry Richardson.

My own belief is that the built in flash is best used outdoors in daytime as fill and catchlight only, forget about almost all other user cases. The K-1 doesn't even have one.

A real flash in the hotshoe can be used indoors either bounced or with a Fong/Flashbender/Magmod etc style diffuser if ceilings are high or dark like in a nightclub.

Btw, a 'studio' is wherever you want it to be.

The second shot is outdoors, in daytime. Under a bridge, against the wall.

It is a ring diffuser over a flash on camera just like yours, so you can do it too.

The point is to make the light bigger.

Bouncing a flash means using the light from a whole wall instead of a piece of plastic just a few centimetres in size.