[nfraser]

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I am currently looking for a flash gun for my k-30. I am new to flash photography and i am not really sure what to look for, I have a budget of about £175, any suggestion/advice would be gratefully acepted

[Adam]

I am currently looking for a flash gun for my k-30. I am new to flash photography and i am not really sure what to look for, I have a budget of about £175, any suggestion/advice would be gratefully acepted

I'd recommend something like the metz 50. It gives you tilt & swivel capabilities without being too expensive!

[nfraser]

That looks about perfect, what about something like the sigma EF 160 DG ST?

[SteveB]

The Sigma EF-610 series aren't definitely known to work as far as I know. They may, they may not. The problem is that the K-30 came out after the EF-610 and Sigma reverse engineer so if Pentax changed anything from previous cameras Sigma wouldn't know about it. My EF-500 didn't work at all, but they said they could update it so I sent it in, I had a nice letter saying they had received it but I have yet to get it back from them.

[bcorson]

I'd recommend something like the metz 50. It gives you tilt & swivel capabilities without being too expensive!

Not sure about price difference in England but I just ordered a Metz 52. It is compatible with the K-30 right now. According to their latest compatibility chart dated Nov 2012 the Metz 50 is being tested on the K-30 which to me means not sure if upgraded firmware is required.

Bob

[JCk30]

I am saving to buy my K-30 I was also looking at flashes I came across this flash while reading this article The Definitive Guide - Pentax P-TTL Flash Comparison
It is made by tumax www.icorpandtumax.com

• Wireless Power Zoom Series
  • DPT586AFZ / DPT588AFZ

and sold under the cactus name by gadget infinity.

Cactus AF50 E-TTL II Camera Flash / Speedlite for Canon - Gadget Infinity

Cactus AF50 P-TTL Camera Flash / Speedlite for Pentax Q K-r K-7 K-5 K

I emailed them and this is the response I received from the company.


Thanks for your interest in our product.

Our DPT586AFZ-P flash is compatible with Pentax's K-30 DSLR camera. Its firmware can be updated through a socket on the flash, but at this moment you cannot perform this procedure at home. Please take the flash to one of the local distributors or send it back to us for firmware update.

You can buy this flash through us directly. If you are interested in doing so, our sales and marketing staff will contact you accordingly.

With Best Regards,
ICORP / TUMAX

[GlennG]

I have Sigma 610 Super and the functions that are supposed to work (not all are supposed to, according to some literature) on my K100dS seem to work well. Seems like a powerful, well built unit. Bought it used here for about $200 USD. I have little to compare it to, and don't know how it will perform on a later body.

[SteveB]

I have Sigma 610 Super and the functions that are supposed to work (not all are supposed to, according to some literature) on my K100dS seem to work well. Seems like a powerful, well built unit. Bought it used here for about $200 USD. I have little to compare it to, and don't know how it will perform on a later body.

My EF-500 DG Super worked fine on a K100D, and still does, but won't even fire in P-TTL on my K-30 but does fire in manual mode. So unless someone has actually tried the EF-610 on a K-30, it's a risk.

[doerrs]

I emailed Sigma US before buying the 610 super for my K-30. I was concerned, because it is not shown on their web site as compatible. They claimed it was. I ordered it and while it fires in P TTL, pictures don't seem exposed well and it has by no means the reach it should have with its guide number (less than 20 feet, if you want decent lighting). I will now have to email them about a firm ware update

[Coeurdechene]

What do you intend to do with it? if it's just a flash to have on camera when it's dark, something automated? then the metz are very good for their price range. If you intend to get into lighting, then go for the cheaper and or older ones (be sure to pick safe voltage ones...like all the older nikon models). The thing is that for that money you can probably get two manual flashes with slave functions like the Nikon's sb-28, wich is a versatile and fun start into strobist kind of approach to flash photography.
My advice would be to figure out how much time are you willing to spend learning, wich usage is the one intended and then decide how to spend your money.

Take a look to strobist.blogspot.com and to the strobist group at flickr...if that is your goal then you are better off spending that money in two capable manual flashguns than in one with p-ttl (wich by the way sucks, and together with the max sync of 1/160 is the only true disadvantage of Pentax).
If it's only to use in auto, play around a while with the on camera flash and see if you will use the flashgun enought to justify it's cost.

[SteveB]

My needs..........Not that we get much sunshine here to practice taking shots in, but on the one day in the last month I could try it I found the pop-up flash useless for filling in shadows e.g. a shot of someone under a tree with some of the subject shaded, some brightly lit. The problem was huge over exposure due to the forced 1/180sec speed limit, iso100 wasn't low enough at desired aperture. So, HSS would have been handy, which means P-TTL on an external flash.

[Mr Spocko]

Metz are pretty good and update their firmware.

[doerrs]

I sent SIGMA some photos with exposure leaving a lot to be desired. They claim camera should work if you do the following:

"Set the flash menu on the camera to fill flash not redeye reduction. Set your ISO on the camera to 100, not 800. By increasing the ISO you are cutting the duration(power) of the flash greatly. If the camera is set to auto flash it will give a false reading on ambient light. Do a reset on the flash itself by pulling the batteries and then put them back in and mount the flash and lets try that first. You should see a world of difference in the results."

I will try that tomorrow and see whether it works (note not sure there is a fill flash setting on the K-30).

[doerrs]

Here is the (very quick response from Metz on their 50-AF1:

"Basically the mentioned flash unit mecablitz 50 AF-1 digital for Pentax also can be used together with the Pentax K-30. However, in this case the flash unit has to be loaded with the current firmware version 3.0. But please note that this firmware doesn’t enable the HSS-flash-mode at the moment. However, we plan a new firmware for the flash unit mecablitz 50 AF-1 digital for Pentax by which the problem will be resolved. Unfortunately I can't give you a deadline for this new firmware at the moment but I will inform you as soon as this firmware is available."

The proposed settings for the Sigma 610 Super shown in my last thread don't seem to work (pictures still underexposed). I will advise once they respond to the pictures I just sent them.

[JCk30]

Has anyone been able to test or has ordered the new Metz 52 af-1. according to metz it is compatible to the K-30

12_09_The first hotshoe flash unit with touchscreen display: Metz