[Dennis200]

Hi All,
I just got a pz1-p and have set the flash exp comp to -1.66. I come from a Nikon TTL background and usually run at about this setting. I'm looking for suggestions as to how anyone with a PZ1-p does fill flash, in what situations and what settings? For example, let's just say you want to lighten shadows in a high contrast scene just slightly etc. Do you just turn the flash on and forget about compensation and fire away or do you use the exposure compensation?

As well as that, I'm interested in any information about slow sync settings and how you use it with this camera as well. I know technically "how" to set things, I'm just curious as to what values seem to work for everyone.

One other thing, I have a bunch of old Takumar lenses that I will use with an adapter on the camera and would the same fill flash settings work properly with these lenses?

And one last thing...since the PZ1 does NOT have flash exposure compensation, how useful have people with this camera found the on board flash?

Thanks for any input...

[chrish]

I have a ZX-L and use my flash on auto mode for fill. I set my SB-28 to auto, and then set it to one or two stops less than what I'm shooting.

E.g., If I was shooting 400asa film at f8 I'd set the speedlight to iso 400, A mode, and f4 then fire away. A mode will work either direct or bouncing off a wall/ceiling.

[Dennis200]

I have a ZX-L and use my flash on auto mode for fill. I set my SB-28 to auto, and then set it to one or two stops less than what I'm shooting.

E.g., If I was shooting 400asa film at f8 I'd set the speedlight to iso 400, A mode, and f4 then fire away. A mode will work either direct or bouncing off a wall/ceiling.

So, I ran a roll of test film thru my PZ1-p using the internal flash and shooting the same scenes with natural light, flash w/no compensation, -1 and -1.66. I ended up prefering the plain old TTL flash with no compensation for MOST of the pics. I'm really pleased with the way Pentax has programmed their flash on this camera. I also shot the same scenes side by side with my Nikon F4 and an SB-800 flash. The Nikon tended more towards a "flashy" look rather than a natural look. Different, not better or worse depending on what you want to achieve. The Nikon shots have a harder light to the subject looking a little bit more glamour like and the Pentax ones have the flash more subdued as related to the scene exposure.

Having said that, the popup on my PZ1-p BROKE after two days of owning the camera. I had to remove the top of the flash, drill out an area and epoxy the spring back in place. The plastic on this camera is very brittle...not sure how long it will last which may explain why you hardly ever see these around.

[Lowell Goudge]

what I do, for fil flash is shoot manually, and set manual exposure from ambient to about 1/2 to 1 stop below what is required for normal exposure by setting a relitively high sync speed (1/125 or higher), then use TTL flash with no exposure compensation. One of the issues with TTL shash that P-TTL was supposed to fix ws the fact that after the flash shuts off, your exposure from ambient keeps on going, so you want to limit how much ambient exposure you get, after the flash thinks it has had enough, otherwise you get over exposed shots.