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06-24-2010, 07:37 AM   #1
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Help! Sunpak auto 266 D on a K10D??

I just purchased a set of pentax gear from a fellow forum member "Paulmiller20" (great guy by the way).

One of the items is a Sunpak auto 266 D Flash unit.

I was wondering if people had any experience with this flash on the k10d.

I know the voltage issue may fry my camera if its higher than 20v and alot of the older flashes are 200+ volts! But i've also read in some places that this flash is 8-9 volts. Just wanted to know if anyone has verified this.

06-24-2010, 08:46 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by GatorPentax Quote
I just purchased a set of pentax gear from a fellow forum member "Paulmiller20" (great guy by the way).

One of the items is a Sunpak auto 266 D Flash unit.

I was wondering if people had any experience with this flash on the k10d.

I know the voltage issue may fry my camera if its higher than 20v and alot of the older flashes are 200+ volts! But i've also read in some places that this flash is 8-9 volts. Just wanted to know if anyone has verified this.
It's always good to test with a voltmeter, anyway, but if multiple decent sources say 8-9 volts, that's likely what you've got. I don't recall how long those units were in production or anything like that, but I suspect you're safe.

Really, I'd take the occasion to get hold of a voltmeter and test though. It's likely to be good news. But you'll want to be sure.

Also, you might ask Paulmiller if he's ever used the flash on a DSLR or tested the trigger voltage himself. He may know already.
06-24-2010, 10:08 AM   #3
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Thanks for the feedback. I'm pretty sure its safe but I agree with you where its better to be safe than sorry. I'll see if a local camera store can check out the voltage for me.

Thanks again
06-24-2010, 11:38 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by GatorPentax Quote
I'll see if a local camera store can check out the voltage for me.
Why not buying a digital multimeter and checking it yourself? A multimeter is a good tool to have around anyway. You don't need a fancy one. This one is only a few $ and works fine for most purposes.

The Sunpak 266D looks like a decent unit. Manual is here.

06-24-2010, 01:32 PM   #5
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Nice, thanks for the manual. Yeah I probably should get a volt meter and just do it myself, im sure radioshack has something.

Another question I've thought about:
Assuming this flash unit works on my k10d, and I know i have to set everything manually since its not pttl compatible. Will I have to adjust for the 1.5x focal length for a digital sensor?
06-24-2010, 02:29 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by GatorPentax Quote
Nice, thanks for the manual. Yeah I probably should get a volt meter and just do it myself, im sure radioshack has something.

Another question I've thought about:
Assuming this flash unit works on my k10d, and I know i have to set everything manually since its not pttl compatible. Will I have to adjust for the 1.5x focal length for a digital sensor?
Nah. If there's a zoom head on there, it'll be talking about field of view, (coverage) in 35mm terms, so you can take crop factor into account when you choose where to put it, but the intensity of the light won't change for exposure purposes. Same as if it was on a film camera, except for that you will be able to extend the zoom head more often, in other words.
06-24-2010, 02:48 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by GatorPentax Quote
Assuming this flash unit works on my k10d, and I know i have to set everything manually since its not pttl compatible. Will I have to adjust for the 1.5x focal length for a digital sensor?
Do this:

Set the camera to shutter speed X (or 1/180 sec or any lower speed). Set the flash to auto mode (I think it has 2 auto settings, just pick one for now). Set the flash and the camera to ISO 400. The indicator on the flash will point to an aperture setting (e.g. 5.6); set the aperture of the lens to that setting.

Try several test shots and check the histogram.

If things look OK, try other auto setting(s) and other ISO values. Note that the ISO settings and the aperture settings on the flash and on the camera have to match.

Maybe that's all you need to know to use the flash.

Please report back.

07-01-2010, 06:25 AM   #8
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I wanted to update everyone that the sunpak 266 d works 100% on the k10d without frying the circuitry. Thanks everyone for your help.
07-01-2010, 07:53 AM   #9
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Cool. Soldbear's got a good point, by the way. One thing about old-fashioned auto-flashes, too, is that it doesn't hurt to see what you get at closer ranges, and get to know how it may actually perform, especially at closer ranges: sometimes they just give too much for the promised aperture when you get in too close. Once you get to know a unit's behavior, though, it's nice.

Especially as a usually-black-and-white-shooter, I tend to like to stop down at least a little from what flash wants to give,, anyway, (and keep the proportion of flash in a photo to a minimum, at that: usually this means a lower power setting and as long a shutter speed as I can get away with, ) so I'm generally pretty aware of this.

If you know what that little electric eye will try to give you, you can make good use of your aperture ring or dial on the fly.
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