[Geo_Stuart]

Hello All, I'm new to this forum and in fact Pentax. I work in mining and I'm expecting to have some peculiar questions over the coming years relating to underground photography. Glad I stumbled on this forum with all the friendly and experienced users!

Best wishes all,

Stuart

[Unregistered User 8]

Hi Stuart, welcome from Australia.

[MarkJerling]

Welcome from New Zealand Stuart!

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome aboard, enjoy all that the forum has to offer

[Michail_P]

Greetings from Greece , Stuart. Welcome to the forum!

[CristiC]

Hi Stuart, welcome from Transilvania.

I'm looking forward to hear from your experiences with lighting in caves and mines. The forum search function reveals that just a few pentaxians have ventured to darker places with their gear, but we all could benefit from information exchange about lighting technique. Pentax gear is well regarded for its toughness in wet/cold environments. Getting it down there and back again (in one piece) does present some challenges, irrespective of camera brand.

[wadge22]

Welcome to the forums!
Deep underground, what a cool place to take your camera. I have been on tours in Mammoth Cave, and I have cousins who have worked in the Cargill salt mine, so what goes on underground has always fascinated me. I will be interested to read about your endeavors, and perhaps even see some shots!

[C_Jones]

Welcome to Pentax Forums.

Some (quite a few) Pentax cameras and lenses are weather resistant (they contain seals), which may help to avoid exposure to elements during normal use.

[Geo_Stuart]

Thank you all for the very warm welcome. What a United Nations forum this is!

I hope it is ok to reply to a few people in this thread.

@ CristiC, wadge22 & C_Jones: the toughness of Pentax gear is what led me to the choice of the K-70; a durable entry level device is perfect for what I need. Incidentally, CristiC, I am familiar with the mines in Romania, especially those in the Apuseni mountains, near the towns of Deva and Brad. I was lucky enough to study there for a couple of weeks. Thank you for the link to the stunning cave photography - I am not familiar with Romania's caves at all. I will have to go back one day. I would be delighted to share photos when they start coming out ok - my problem will definitely be lighting. However, even perfect photos from me will look relatively dull - but might be interesting for anyone curious about my industry.

Thanks again!

[CristiC]

Regarding flashes and lights: Pentax has weather-sealed flash models like the 360 FGZ II and the 540 FGZ II, I think that most pentaxians reach to the Godox (aka Flashpoint) brand, because of their radio triggers and multitude of powerful flash models.

However, when used in caves and mines, one has to think of camera in bulb mode or in manual mode, plus manual selection of power levels at the flash and not so much about the automatic power levels given by TTL (or, in our case, P-TTL). It is always nice to have radio triggers, because you may want to place the flash unit off-camera and out-of-sight. There is a possibility to trigger Pentax flashes optically (wireless optical trigger) but that doesn't work sometimes, you need line-of-sight.

Another thought relates to the power capacity, dedicated lithium batteries vs traditional AA batteries. Then, about lights used by cavers / cave-divers. Underwater photographers trigger their sealed flashes through optical cables. Let us know about your specific use-case and I'm sure there are lots of forum members happy to provide more information.

[C_Jones]

I use Godox flashes on my Pentax cameras. I have the V1 for Pentax (2), AD200 (2), and AD600 (1). I also have the Godox XPro-P transmitter for those lights I mentioned. The lights and transmitter are excellent. The V1 for Pentax will also act as a transmitter if needed, and is the model that will mount on the camera hot shoe or can be used off camera. All of the lights I mentioned can be used off camera if needed (along with transmitter or V1 on camera).