Originally posted by Gerbermiester I have an AF540fgz mark 1. It has gotten old and begun to die. That being said, it's lasted close to a decade with pretty regular use. It still works as a dummy flash, but P-ttl and thyrister modes are kaput. Also, the locking mechanism for the foot has had the plastic completely worn down to the point that it no longer locks. However, it's been worn out, rather than spontaneously dying like a lot of third party stuff seems to do. I doubt there is a flash on the market for Pentax that would preform better or last longer.
Metz makes great gear but I wouldn't say its better than the Pentax stuff. But, I wouldn't say its any worse either.
My 540 became intermittent. Some times it would fire when sitting on a hotshoe, sometimes the exposure was way too dark or too bright. Then I saw a thread recommending taking the flash foot off, undoing all the quick connectors, then reconnecting. After doing this all the screwy behavior has stopped. You might try this.
I've seen a lot of 360 and 540 1st generation with broken battery doors. It doesn't appear to be over built, but not lousy. Not sure why so many have door problems?
I'm happy with the 1st gen. Just bought 2 more 540.
Thanks,
barondla