[nskan]

I am about to buy a Godox umbrella/softbox to use with my Shanny SN600FGZ flash for portraits.
I m wondering whether it will work with my K5 ii in slave mode using the built in flash to trigger the Shanny unit. Forgive my dumbness, but I am wondering whether the external flash will register the camera flash inside the softbox. Or do I need a trasmitter?
I would also apprecaite any links inside EU for any suggestions. As I have only got the camera and the flash at the moment, I need the umnbrella/softbox, a stand and a mount, and possibly triggers. I can get the umbrella and a 7ft stand for about 70 euro locally.

[clackers]

Yep, a transmitter or cable will be needed, otherwise triggering will be 'hit and miss'.

[seventhdr]

You could trigger the external flash as a slave from the flash on top of your K-5 II camera. To do this you will need to set the internal flash as, I think, Controller, so it just issues the control flashes and does not add anything to the light of the scene which should be provided by your external flash. You will need to ensure that the sensor on the external flash is turned towards the internal flash on your camera so that it can "see" the control flashes from your internal flash.

As clackers noted above a cable or transmitter/receiver is a better way to go and will ensure that the external flash will be triggered almost every time. (Some times it might not work if you're triggering the external flash before it has had time to fully recharge the flash capacitor.

The cable route will require a cable from your hot shoe or from the flash sync connector, located below the button that raises the internal flash, to the external flash. This may require a hot shoe connector, cable and a flash shoe connector. Pentax used to sell these as three separate items. You could get a 1m long coiled cable or a 5 m long straight cable. Other manufacturers may do this as all one unit.

The transmitter/receiver route gets rid of having a cable trailing from your camera to the flash and makes for a safer environment. You'll need a transmitter to mount on your camera's hot shoe and a receiver to mount to your flash's shoe. Set them to the same channel and frequency. You will probably want to use your flash on manual mode so that you are discharging the same amount of light each time it fires for consistent results.

Regards

Chris

[clackers]

You will need to ensure that the sensor on the external flash is turned towards the internal flash on your camera so that it can "see" the control flashes from your internal flash.

Of course, very hard inside a softbox or behind an umbrella, Chris!

[nskan]

Thanks for the replies. Anything I should know when shopping for a receiver/transmitter? I am going to be shooting the flash in manual.

[clackers]

Thanks for the replies. Anything I should know when shopping for a receiver/transmitter? I am going to be shooting the flash in manual.

Yeah, you can just get generics, then.

[swanlefitte]

I have generic triggers from 2007 that worked great for manual. I am sure newer ones should work fine. A thing to consider is the type of batteries it uses. My cheap ones use obscure fairly expensive ones.

I would still use them if I didn't need the batteries. I almost prefer the small size compared to the cactus transceivers I have now. However the better triggers allow control of power from behind the camera. The main advantage here is when doing multiple lighting setup in one shoot or when ambient light is changing fast. Having to constantly get to the back of a flash above your head inside a soft box is a headache.

[Dale H. Cook]

A thing to consider is the type of batteries it uses. My cheap ones use obscure fairly expensive ones.

My Neewer PT-16GY wireless remotes use somewhat uncommon batteries (A23 and CR2), but my local electronics parts jobber always has both types in stock at reasonable prices.

[AggieDad]

You can buy a Neewer set of 1 transmitter & 3 receivers for $35 (Here on Amazon). They use AAA batteries for power.

I have used these with my macro setup since 2017, and they work a treat.

[swanlefitte]

My Neewer PT-16GY wireless remotes use somewhat uncommon batteries (A23 and CR2), but my local electronics parts jobber always has both types in stock at reasonable prices.

It wasn't a problem when I did flash set ups fairly regularly. But buying them for one time and then find they don't work next time because it has been a year sucks. It amounts to paying for single use batteries,and have to go get them just to use my set up one time. I always have some rechargeable aa's sitting around.

[Dale H. Cook]

You can buy a Neewer set of 1 transmitter & 3 receivers for $35 .... They use AAA batteries for power.

Mine (1 TX, 3 RX) are older, but still work a treat.

---------- Post added 07-12-22 at 11:44 AM ----------

It amounts to paying for single use batteries,and have to go get them just to use my set up one time.

For anything electronic which is used infrequently, whether the batteries are common or not, I pull the batteries and store them in a small reclosable plastic bag when they are not in use.

[inkista]

Thanks for the replies. Anything I should know when shopping for a receiver/transmitter? I am going to be shooting the flash in manual.

You can get simple triggers, like Godox FC16 or Yongnuo RF603 II triggers. If there's a Nikon version, you'll probably want that one, since standby signalling can work between Pentax and Nikon triggers.

But. If you use the Shanny in manual on a radio trigger or in a "dumb" optical slave mode, the only communication you will have is to tell the flash to fire in sync. "Manual" doesn't just mean you have to use the flash in M mode (not TTL), but also that you have to adjust the power/zoom, etc. directly on the flash using its own physical controls, while keeping your shutter speed at or below your camera body's sync speed (K-5ii, that would be 1/180s).

If your softbox is mounted on a bracket with the flash behind it, then this shouldn't be an issue. But there are some softboxes where the flash is completely within the softbox, and to make any adjustment, you'd have to rip open the softbox and then close it back up again. A lot less convenient.

If you want to avoid this, you could also consider trading in your Shanny for something like a Godox speedlight (say a TT600 for $65), which has a built-in radio transceiver that allows for remote power, group, and HSS control over the speedlight, and keep the Shanny for on-camera bounce flash.