AF540FGZ hotshoe breakage

manntax · 10-12-2014, 04:41 PM

Originally posted by boydbowlin

When using the pentax flash i would not be surprised that it is made of plastic so the foot breaks rather than the hot shoe on the camera . 4 weeks ago i had borrowed my friends K5IIS and had a Yougnou flash [ Metal plate ] plus Betta beamer attached to the camera . When i opened my car door after driving on some rough tracks the camera fell out . I broke the fall with my foot but the flash set up was very top heavy with the beamer attached that it tore the hot shoe mount off the camera . You cannot glue that back on and you cannot just buy the hot shoe for the camera . The whole top assembly of the camera [ On board flash , dials , shutter and all electrical components ] had to be replaced . $175.00 repair and all is good now . Had i had the pentax flash on maybe the flash hot shoe plate would have broken because it is plastic and the repair bill would have been $50.00 . Regards Anthony .

Good point.. never thought of that. Maybe an ideal solution would be some sort of 'detachable' hot should from the flash - on clip or something that would let go in enough force applied .. probably doable and would add some extra longevity to this delicate otherwise part.

Arjay Bee · 10-12-2014, 09:21 PM

I'm following this closely Ash as same thing happened to my sigma flash. I fixed with super glue and that served for a while but you put a card board light shaping tube on the unit for macro use and the torque starts to quickly build up. The glue failed. Tried araldite but also failed. Needs a bigger area of glue contact as failure occurs quite swiftly after fix. If it were not having to slide into the hot shoe it would be possible to build up a reinforcing layer of epoxy.
Original break occurred when flash and camera fell through 90 deg uncontrolled going from landscape to portrait orientation on the tripod and the camera mount hit the stopper.
I have been looking at metz with the metal plate but I hadn't considered the consequence of the failure point being transferred to the camera hot shoe.

atupdate · 10-13-2014, 04:02 AM

Originally posted by Ash

On a field job, I had the flash unit mounted on a holder for a wireless set up

Ash: If you were using a light stand to hold your flash, you may want to consider making one of these for future use.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/62-do-yourself/106596-diy-horizontal-flas...ht-stands.html

Tim

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10-12-2014, 04:41 PM	#16
manntax Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Photos: Albums Posts: 1,972	Originally posted by boydbowlin When using the pentax flash i would not be surprised that it is made of plastic so the foot breaks rather than the hot shoe on the camera . 4 weeks ago i had borrowed my friends K5IIS and had a Yougnou flash [ Metal plate ] plus Betta beamer attached to the camera . When i opened my car door after driving on some rough tracks the camera fell out . I broke the fall with my foot but the flash set up was very top heavy with the beamer attached that it tore the hot shoe mount off the camera . You cannot glue that back on and you cannot just buy the hot shoe for the camera . The whole top assembly of the camera [ On board flash , dials , shutter and all electrical components ] had to be replaced . $175.00 repair and all is good now . Had i had the pentax flash on maybe the flash hot shoe plate would have broken because it is plastic and the repair bill would have been $50.00 . Regards Anthony . Good point.. never thought of that. Maybe an ideal solution would be some sort of 'detachable' hot should from the flash - on clip or something that would let go in enough force applied .. probably doable and would add some extra longevity to this delicate otherwise part.

10-12-2014, 09:21 PM	#17
Arjay Bee Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Horn Island, Torres Straits, Q Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,713	I'm following this closely Ash as same thing happened to my sigma flash. I fixed with super glue and that served for a while but you put a card board light shaping tube on the unit for macro use and the torque starts to quickly build up. The glue failed. Tried araldite but also failed. Needs a bigger area of glue contact as failure occurs quite swiftly after fix. If it were not having to slide into the hot shoe it would be possible to build up a reinforcing layer of epoxy. Original break occurred when flash and camera fell through 90 deg uncontrolled going from landscape to portrait orientation on the tripod and the camera mount hit the stopper. I have been looking at metz with the metal plate but I hadn't considered the consequence of the failure point being transferred to the camera hot shoe.

10-13-2014, 04:02 AM	#18
atupdate Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Dayton, OH Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,723	Originally posted by Ash On a field job, I had the flash unit mounted on a holder for a wireless set up Ash: If you were using a light stand to hold your flash, you may want to consider making one of these for future use. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/62-do-yourself/106596-diy-horizontal-flas...ht-stands.html Tim

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