[RonHendriks1966]

johnmflores - nice bike, here is one of mine:

since you cannot say anything positive about the pentax flash system, or the people who use it well in spite of your complaints: you are going to have a visit to my otherwise empty blocked list jonny1986.

I was not prepared for this bike race so I only got a bike hidden behind someone.

[Digitalis]

Another interesting thing about the new AF540FGZ specs is the 1/1- 1/256 power setting range. I hope we get a custom function allowing for 1/3rd stop power increments, like Nikon do on their flashes.


To all those who complain about the 1/180th synch speeds - never underestimate the utility of a polariser:



Honda 650R, Pentax FA31mm f/1.8 with wireless AF540FGZ.

[Neo_]

Would be nice to have a thread of examples of stuff done with speedlights and explanation of the setup used.

[Kunzite]

Yes, and also with LED ligths please. Thank you in advance, and thanks for the photo bombing.

[climbertrev]

Can we just wait to see what these flashes can achieve on a potential new camera or current firmware upgraded ones before we descend into the bowels of slanging and slagging

As a committed Pentax user I love this forum
But working through this thread has been a "right royal pain in the derriere"

[johnmflores]

+100

I love your bike man

Thx. It's a press bike but it is nice!

johnmflores - nice bike, here is one of mine:

Love the Triumph triples. Torque curves as wide as the Sahara Desert..

[thibs]

As a committed Pentax user I love this forum
But working through this thread has been a "right royal pain in the derriere"

ROTFL luv that expression... will steal it for future use

[Zygonyx]

Can we just wait to see what these flashes can achieve on a potential new camera or current firmware upgraded ones before we descend into the bowels of slanging and slagging

As a committed Pentax user I love this forum
But working through this thread has been a "right royal pain in the derriere"

+1
Many thanks for those who try to give some understanding in the matter.
It is a good news that Pentax decided to finally issue these two updated flashes.
Independently of AW properties, we await to see what exact improvements will be fulfilled, primarily as far as video lamp assist and hopefully better braketing potential are concerned.

[HawaiianOnline]

Can we just wait to see what these flashes can achieve on a potential new camera or current firmware upgraded ones before we descend into the bowels of slanging and slagging

As a committed Pentax user I love this forum
But working through this thread has been a "right royal pain in the derriere"

Indeed. There's just no way to factually comment on their performance until production units are in the hands of actual users and not just reviewers.

[Tanzer]

Okay, now that the thread seems to have settled a bit ...

... at least to an extent that we know of right now, before all new cameras are released. Please note that it may as well be that flash specs are presented like these to suit current Pentax cameras, (legal reasons, they cannot advertise something not currently obtainable or controllable, especially if flashes become available and new cameras delayed for whatever reason). So it is not revealed in any way what flashes can do with future camera models.

I had the same thoughts Uluru, and hope (wish) this is correct.

It would be neat if Ricoh announces a new camera that has built-in RF transmitter, the same time that it is revealed that these flashes have a built-in P-TTL RF receiver all along. And at the same time, a hotshoe-mounted P-TTL RF transmitter is announced that mounts on existing Pentax cameras.

If Pentax can support communication with the O-GPS1 unit, I'd imagine it should be easy to develop an RF transceiver to proxy a wired hotshoe connection. The only reason I can think of that this would not work, is if the RF signal processing introduces too much latency or otherwise screws up the timing. Even still, timing could be addressed with a slightly modified P-TTL protocol. We already have regular P-TTL and wireless optical P-TTL, which are 2 different protocols, so why not a third.

That would give Ricoh even more control over legacy bodies, via firmware updates. For example, maybe the K-x will work the LED light, but to use the RF trigger accessory, you need to upgrade to a K-5 or later. This is just an example of course.

[Kunzite]

A 360&540-FGZII FAQ was posted on the RIC's site (Japanese):
AF540FGZ II/AF360FGZ II|???????FAQ|????&???? | RICOH IMAGING

They're warning about focus shift if the LED AF-assist is used, with cameras older than the K-r; besides this the new flashes should work with any Pentax DSLR. For the supported models, the focus shift issue is corrected by the new firmware versions.
No AC power nor power pack can be used, but the recharging time is only 3 seconds, with the 540FGZII (and 1.5 seconds with the less powerful 360FGZII).

[Mr Spocko]

http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/9715/Pentax-AF360-FGZ-II-AW-Flash.html

Sorry but that's just a joke they are asking high end flash prices for a mid level flash.
That's £150 over a 58AF-2 and sorry but it's not worth that much.

[Kunzite]

Around here you will get the 540 FGZII for those money (the listed price being a little bit more than Nikon's 910, and less than Canon's 600 non-RT flash).
A beer's about £0.8 pounds (~£1-1.5 in pubs), and it's good, too.

[Aristophanes]

Around here you will get the 540 FGZII for those money (the listed price being a little bit more than Nikon's 910, and less than Canon's 600 non-RT flash).
A beer's about £0.8 pounds (~£1-1.5 in pubs), and it's good, too.

Pour it on the flash. See if it still works. Order another beer.

[Kunzite]

It would be a waste, and the flash will become smelly and sticky.