what radio transmitters work with pentax HSS?

Gooshin · 04-01-2009, 08:45 AM

in my previous thread, it was explained to me the benefit of going full pentax flash setup to achieve HSS

but what if i dont want to have a flash on my camera and only use off flash?

what are my options in terms of triggers/receivers to maintain full use of p-ttl and hss.

the intranets are not cooperating and i cant find pentax specific material to answer this.

thank you.

alohadave · 04-01-2009, 09:01 AM

As far as I know, there are no radio transmitters that support P-TTL. The new Pocket Wizards have Canon TTL support, an Nikon is on the way, but nothing for Pentax.

Venturi · 04-01-2009, 09:04 AM

I concur with Dave's assessment. None that I am aware of.

Gooshin · 04-01-2009, 09:13 AM

epic fail.

how about hard wiring (pc cable?)

Wheatfield · 04-01-2009, 09:39 AM

I suspect that you'd need a hot shoe type extension cable that maintains full connectivity to all of the contacts.

Venturi · 04-01-2009, 09:51 AM

Originally posted by Gooshin

epic fail.

how about hard wiring (pc cable?)

You can't get HSS or P-TTL using PC sync, it doesn't have the necessary connections. You'll need one of the F5P extension cables (3ft or 9ft), Hotshoe Adapter F or FG. If you're using the AF360 you'll need the Off-Camera Shoe Adapter F as it doesn't have a 5P socket - the AF540 does.
Pentax Webstore listings
Amazon, B&H and Adorama also carry some/most of the items.

There's also a 3rd party version of this setup you can find on ebay but I don't have a link for that.

dkittle · 04-01-2009, 10:13 AM

Gooshin, you can use the onboard flash of a K10D or a K20D to trigger (optically) AF360 and AF540 flashes. Range is REALLY limited outdoors/in bright light.

I bought a cheap ($35) P-TTL cable from Henry's with the idea of cutting it and splicing in wires to run to my flashes, but never carried through with the idea. I found that I prefered metering with my handheld light meter and using the flashes in manual mode to trying to get P-TTL working. And HSS is really only good for fill, it's not really powerful enough to overpower full sunlight by a couple of stops - if that is what you are looking to do.

Radio Poppers (radiopoppers.com) support both Nikon and Canon TTL systems, pocket wizards do Canon now and Nikon soon. I've not heard of any radio trigger that supports P-TTL, unfortunately.

But try wireless with your onboard flash. I did a shoot at a chapel in UofT and used my onboard as a controller only (did not contribute to the exposure) to fire an AF540 used to fill a mom/daughter sitting in a windowsill - the results were pretty good.

Gooshin · 04-01-2009, 10:14 AM

Thanks Jim,

expnesive but i guess it works.

Surprised no one reverse engineered a wireless version, they have people microwaving your shoes from space, i'm sure this wont be far behind...

dkittle · 04-01-2009, 10:15 AM

Oh, my cheap P-TTL cable locked onto my hotshoe and I had to rip it to pieces to pull up the locking pin and get it off of my K20D. The cable never worked completely reliably after that :-(

Gooshin · 04-01-2009, 10:17 AM

Originally posted by dkittle

Gooshin, you can use the onboard flash of a K10D or a K20D to trigger (optically) AF360 and AF540 flashes. Range is REALLY limited outdoors/in bright light.

I bought a cheap ($35) P-TTL cable from Henry's with the idea of cutting it and splicing in wires to run to my flashes, but never carried through with the idea. I found that I prefered metering with my handheld light meter and using the flashes in manual mode to trying to get P-TTL working. And HSS is really only good for fill, it's not really powerful enough to overpower full sunlight by a couple of stops - if that is what you are looking to do.

Radio Poppers (radiopoppers.com) support both Nikon and Canon TTL systems, pocket wizards do Canon now and Nikon soon. I've not heard of any radio trigger that supports P-TTL, unfortunately.

But try wireless with your onboard flash. I did a shoot at a chapel in UofT and used my onboard as a controller only (did not contribute to the exposure) to fire an AF540 used to fill a mom/daughter sitting in a windowsill - the results were pretty good.

hey Don,

i tried activitaing my 540 with the pop up flash in a home setting at night, and did not like the results, although this may be different during the day.

at this point this is my only option since i dont have any of the other things.

i have a shoot coming up where there will be lots of sunlight coming in through a window, so i'm trying of figuring out ways to fill in the shadows while capturing whats outside, all the while using F2.8 or something.

panoguy · 04-01-2009, 10:45 AM

I was actually playing with the optical P-TTL this morning (indoors, kinda dark) and it worked surprisingly well, even bouncing the onboard flash signal off of walls and glass doors. Even flash compensation went from body to tripod-mounted flash! (Bravo, Pentax, for putting this into the 360FGZ!)

Sadly, since my flash is a 360FGZ, I can't rotate the head so the optical sensor faces the camera while the flash fills the opposite end of the room. (I almost grabbed Don's 540, but ordered Cactus V4 triggers and a 50-135 instead...) I've successfully used smooth foil on a business card taped to the front of the flash to "bounce" the optical wireless signal into the flash, but it's hit-and-miss if you move around a lot. Totally looking forward to the Cactus V4s, but no P-TTL...

Gooshin, you might do fine with the 540 and wireless flash mode alone, depending on where you point your flash sensor (in the red plastic bits), and whether your subjects have eyes that blink on "pre-flash" of the P-TTL signal. (I've read that for some people this can result in consistently closed eyes in every shot, but if its already kinda bright in the room...)

Gooshin · 04-01-2009, 10:53 AM

what i'm thinking of doing (which sort of worked)

is using a tinfoil card to direct the pop-up beam to the off-flash as a low-budget solution

panoguy · 04-01-2009, 10:56 AM

Use gaffer's or electrical tape to stick it on and it'll look totally professional!

poco · 04-01-2009, 12:52 PM

Originally posted by Gooshin

what i'm thinking of doing (which sort of worked)

is using a tinfoil card to direct the pop-up beam to the off-flash as a low-budget solution

You won't get HSS with the pop up flash acting as master. It will only do 1/180s.

**DAZ** · 04-01-2009, 12:54 PM

I would have to look it up but if the problem is that you don’t want the flash from the on board camera flash in the photo I think (that’s the part I have to look up) there is a menu setting so the flash is for control only and not part of the flash. I think from when I was playing with this you don’t really see flash on the subject but if you shoot directly into a mirror you may see a glow on the camera from the dying flash.

DAZ

04-01-2009, 08:45 AM	#1
Gooshin Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Toronto, the one in Canada. Posts: 5,610	what radio transmitters work with pentax HSS? in my previous thread, it was explained to me the benefit of going full pentax flash setup to achieve HSS but what if i dont want to have a flash on my camera and only use off flash? what are my options in terms of triggers/receivers to maintain full use of p-ttl and hss. the intranets are not cooperating and i cant find pentax specific material to answer this. thank you.

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04-01-2009, 09:01 AM	#2
alohadave Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Quincy, MA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,024	As far as I know, there are no radio transmitters that support P-TTL. The new Pocket Wizards have Canon TTL support, an Nikon is on the way, but nothing for Pentax.

04-01-2009, 09:04 AM	#3
Venturi Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Tulsa, OK Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,636	I concur with Dave's assessment. None that I am aware of.

04-01-2009, 09:13 AM	#4
Gooshin Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Toronto, the one in Canada. Posts: 5,610 Original Poster	epic fail. how about hard wiring (pc cable?)

04-01-2009, 09:39 AM	#5
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,981	I suspect that you'd need a hot shoe type extension cable that maintains full connectivity to all of the contacts.

04-01-2009, 09:51 AM	#6
Venturi Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Tulsa, OK Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,636	Originally posted by Gooshin epic fail. how about hard wiring (pc cable?) You can't get HSS or P-TTL using PC sync, it doesn't have the necessary connections. You'll need one of the F5P extension cables (3ft or 9ft), Hotshoe Adapter F or FG. If you're using the AF360 you'll need the Off-Camera Shoe Adapter F as it doesn't have a 5P socket - the AF540 does. Pentax Webstore listings Amazon, B&H and Adorama also carry some/most of the items. There's also a 3rd party version of this setup you can find on ebay but I don't have a link for that.

04-01-2009, 10:13 AM	#7
dkittle Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Toronto, Ontario Photos: Gallery Posts: 429	Gooshin, you can use the onboard flash of a K10D or a K20D to trigger (optically) AF360 and AF540 flashes. Range is REALLY limited outdoors/in bright light. I bought a cheap ($35) P-TTL cable from Henry's with the idea of cutting it and splicing in wires to run to my flashes, but never carried through with the idea. I found that I prefered metering with my handheld light meter and using the flashes in manual mode to trying to get P-TTL working. And HSS is really only good for fill, it's not really powerful enough to overpower full sunlight by a couple of stops - if that is what you are looking to do. Radio Poppers (radiopoppers.com) support both Nikon and Canon TTL systems, pocket wizards do Canon now and Nikon soon. I've not heard of any radio trigger that supports P-TTL, unfortunately. But try wireless with your onboard flash. I did a shoot at a chapel in UofT and used my onboard as a controller only (did not contribute to the exposure) to fire an AF540 used to fill a mom/daughter sitting in a windowsill - the results were pretty good.

04-01-2009, 10:14 AM	#8
Gooshin Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Toronto, the one in Canada. Posts: 5,610 Original Poster	Thanks Jim, expnesive but i guess it works. Surprised no one reverse engineered a wireless version, they have people microwaving your shoes from space, i'm sure this wont be far behind...

04-01-2009, 10:15 AM	#9
dkittle Inactive Account Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Toronto, Ontario Photos: Gallery Posts: 429	Oh, my cheap P-TTL cable locked onto my hotshoe and I had to rip it to pieces to pull up the locking pin and get it off of my K20D. The cable never worked completely reliably after that :-(

04-01-2009, 10:17 AM	#10
Gooshin Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Toronto, the one in Canada. Posts: 5,610 Original Poster	Originally posted by dkittle Gooshin, you can use the onboard flash of a K10D or a K20D to trigger (optically) AF360 and AF540 flashes. Range is REALLY limited outdoors/in bright light. I bought a cheap ($35) P-TTL cable from Henry's with the idea of cutting it and splicing in wires to run to my flashes, but never carried through with the idea. I found that I prefered metering with my handheld light meter and using the flashes in manual mode to trying to get P-TTL working. And HSS is really only good for fill, it's not really powerful enough to overpower full sunlight by a couple of stops - if that is what you are looking to do. Radio Poppers (radiopoppers.com) support both Nikon and Canon TTL systems, pocket wizards do Canon now and Nikon soon. I've not heard of any radio trigger that supports P-TTL, unfortunately. But try wireless with your onboard flash. I did a shoot at a chapel in UofT and used my onboard as a controller only (did not contribute to the exposure) to fire an AF540 used to fill a mom/daughter sitting in a windowsill - the results were pretty good. hey Don, i tried activitaing my 540 with the pop up flash in a home setting at night, and did not like the results, although this may be different during the day. at this point this is my only option since i dont have any of the other things. i have a shoot coming up where there will be lots of sunlight coming in through a window, so i'm trying of figuring out ways to fill in the shadows while capturing whats outside, all the while using F2.8 or something.

04-01-2009, 10:45 AM	#11
panoguy Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Washington, D.C. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,327	I was actually playing with the optical P-TTL this morning (indoors, kinda dark) and it worked surprisingly well, even bouncing the onboard flash signal off of walls and glass doors. Even flash compensation went from body to tripod-mounted flash! (Bravo, Pentax, for putting this into the 360FGZ!) Sadly, since my flash is a 360FGZ, I can't rotate the head so the optical sensor faces the camera while the flash fills the opposite end of the room. (I almost grabbed Don's 540, but ordered Cactus V4 triggers and a 50-135 instead...) I've successfully used smooth foil on a business card taped to the front of the flash to "bounce" the optical wireless signal into the flash, but it's hit-and-miss if you move around a lot. Totally looking forward to the Cactus V4s, but no P-TTL... Gooshin, you might do fine with the 540 and wireless flash mode alone, depending on where you point your flash sensor (in the red plastic bits), and whether your subjects have eyes that blink on "pre-flash" of the P-TTL signal. (I've read that for some people this can result in consistently closed eyes in every shot, but if its already kinda bright in the room...)

04-01-2009, 10:53 AM	#12
Gooshin Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Toronto, the one in Canada. Posts: 5,610 Original Poster	what i'm thinking of doing (which sort of worked) is using a tinfoil card to direct the pop-up beam to the off-flash as a low-budget solution

04-01-2009, 10:56 AM	#13
panoguy Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Washington, D.C. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,327	Use gaffer's or electrical tape to stick it on and it'll look totally professional!

04-01-2009, 12:52 PM	#14
poco Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 153	Originally posted by Gooshin what i'm thinking of doing (which sort of worked) is using a tinfoil card to direct the pop-up beam to the off-flash as a low-budget solution You won't get HSS with the pop up flash acting as master. It will only do 1/180s.

04-01-2009, 12:54 PM	#15
DAZ Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Everett, WA USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 744	I would have to look it up but if the problem is that you don’t want the flash from the on board camera flash in the photo I think (that’s the part I have to look up) there is a menu setting so the flash is for control only and not part of the flash. I think from when I was playing with this you don’t really see flash on the subject but if you shoot directly into a mirror you may see a glow on the camera from the dying flash. DAZ