[87Duckfan]

Hi all,

I have a Sigma EF-500DG Super Flash. I would like to use it wireless with the K70. Anyone have any suggestions for how to do this?

TIA!!

[SharkyCA]

Hi all,

I have a Sigma EF-500DG Super Flash. I would like to use it wireless with the K70. Anyone have any suggestions for how to do this?

TIA!!

Maybe this will help!

Sigma EF-500 DG Super Flashgun reviews - Pentax Camera Accessory Review Database

[stevebrot]

Hi all,

I have a Sigma EF-500DG Super Flash. I would like to use it wireless with the K70. Anyone have any suggestions for how to do this?

TIA!!

Are you wanting to do optical remote manual triggering, optical remote P-TTL, or radio wireless triggering with/without P-TTL? The first, you should be able to easily accomplish using the K-70's onboard flash. The second will require purchase of a second flash capable of optical remote P-TTL. The third will require purchase of an appropriate radio wireless transmitter as well as a radio wireless receiver to trigger the flash.

Doing any of the above will be difficult without the EF-500DG Super user manual.


Steve

[87Duckfan]

Are you wanting to do optical remote manual triggering, optical remote P-TTL, or radio wireless triggering with/without P-TTL? The first, you should be able to easily accomplish using the K-70's onboard flash. The second will require purchase of a second flash capable of optical remote P-TTL. The third will require purchase of an appropriate radio wireless transmitter as well as a radio wireless receiver to trigger the flash.

Doing any of the above will be difficult without the EF-500DG Super user manual.


Steve

Well, here's what I would like to do. Not sure what the best method is. I want to create a backup/digital file for a bunch of old photographs in a photo album. My plan was just to lay the album on the floor, and have the Sigma flash (with a bounce card) fire to create some even light. Not looking for anything professional. Just good results that can be kept in storage in case anything happens to the original photos.

I'm considering purchasing a light kit, but wanted to try the flash setup first to see what kind of results I get before spending money.

[stevebrot]

Well, here's what I would like to do. Not sure what the best method is. I want to create a backup/digital file for a bunch of old photographs in a photo album. My plan was just to lay the album on the floor, and have the Sigma flash (with a bounce card) fire to create some even light. Not looking for anything professional. Just good results that can be kept in storage in case anything happens to the original photos.

I'm considering purchasing a light kit, but wanted to try the flash setup first to see what kind of results I get before spending money.

This helps a lot.

Before going further, I found a download source for the flash manual at the ManualsLib Website. Although they have three files listed as EF-500 DG Super PA, only the third file (89 pages) is for the Pentax version of the flash. The link for viewing and download of that document is below:

ManualsLib | Sigma EF-500 DG Super PA

The green download link at the top of the page will provide the PDF directly. Based on the manual, your flash appears to be very similar in features and operation to my EF-610 DG Super. As a result, I might be a reasonable resource to answer questions and that might be a good thing. OTOH, I have found the user interface on my flash and the instructions for use difficult at times. Once mastered, you can expect a very high level of compatibility with Pentax AF cameras (film and digital) and Pentax compatible flash. In short:

• The EF-500 DG Super is functionally equivalent to the Pentax AF540FGZ (v1)
• It will support all features listed for your K-70 (see K-70 manual p125, p126) and will perform very nicely as a more powerful on-flash alternative to the built-in flash on the K-70.
• It will also support optical remote P-TTL master/controller/slave when combined with other compatible units. See the flash manual for instructions on how that is done.
• The built-in flash on your camera does not support optical remote P-TTL and cannot control a remote P-TTL flash. It is also not able to reliably serve as a simple optical trigger for your EF-500 DG Super or even some Pentax-brand flashes. The reasons and work-around are a bit complicated.
• Simple optical trigger means that the remote flash fires when it "sees" the on-camera flash fire. The intensity of the remote flash is set manually on the remote flash. Instructions on how to do this on the EF-500 are found in the flash manual in the section under "Slave Flash".
• Radio wireless with your EF-500 DG Super is done with the flash in Manual mode with the remote flash intensity and zoom settings configured manually on the flash. The remote flash is triggered using a transmitter on the camera hot shoe and through the hot shoe on a remote receiver/trigger. Radio wireless for manual flash need not be complex and may be combined with simple optical triggering.

So much for the matter of flash. I will comment about setup for doing album copy in a separate post.


Steve

[Des]

Well, here's what I would like to do. Not sure what the best method is. I want to create a backup/digital file for a bunch of old photographs in a photo album. My plan was just to lay the album on the floor, and have the Sigma flash (with a bounce card) fire to create some even light. Not looking for anything professional. Just good results that can be kept in storage in case anything happens to the original photos.I'm considering purchasing a light kit, but wanted to try the flash setup first to see what kind of results I get before spending money.

TBH, I wonder whether a scanner would be the better way to do this. Even just the sort of scanner in a multifunction printer should have plenty of resolution. Like this:

These were poor quality prints - never going to be works of art - but scanned to a TIF I could crop to individual photos and do some basic adjustments easily enough.


I think this was quicker and easier than trying to photograph them.

[Password1234]

I believe DES is right, you avoid a lot of trouble with the scan, like light reflections and surface flatness. It's a long process for sure, last time I used a scanner it took some time for each frame.