[Designosophy]

The left edge of photos taken with my 10-20 seems to be getting softer. It used to be that stopping down to f/11 yielded good corners, but now the upper left corner is always smudged. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, have you sent it in to Sigma for repair?

[Adinfinitum]

K30, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX @ 18mm, 1/50 sec, f/22, ISO800 with Metz flash @ 1/8.

[dcBear78]

K30, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX @ 18mm, 1/50 sec, f/22, ISO800 with Metz flash @ 1/8.

Really interesting pic!

What Metz flash you using and how do you find it? Wanting a flash but not sure whether to spend the money on PTTL flash or a cheaper manual one.

[Sinister]

K30, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX @ 18mm, 1/50 sec, f/22, ISO800 with Metz flash @ 1/8.

I like this one a lot *thumbsup*

[nanhi]

Really interesting pic!

What Metz flash you using and how do you find it? Wanting a flash but not sure whether to spend the money on PTTL flash or a cheaper manual one.

Hello Fellow Pentaxian, please do note PTTL Flash is not well implemented in Pentax DSLRs. So after a lot of research on these Forums and Pentax
Blog spots, I have started using the old Auto Thyristor Flash Gun on my K20D and K-5 with a success rate of 94%. Simply awesome & CHEAP.
Please do ensure the flash trigger voltage on the gun feet is no more than 8 volts - easily checked with a $ 10 multimeter.
Here is my $ 40 combo:-
a) Quantaray Flash Module QDA-P $10 off evil bay. Attaches to the Flash Guns listed below.
NOTE: i) Do NOT buy the QDA-PAF module. You can also buy the equivalent ProMaster Module.
ii) The ProMaster Module 5050DXR $ 50 will give PTTL capability with the flash guns listed below.
iii) The ProMaster Flash 5550DX is exactly the same as the Quantaray 6550U
b) Quantaray QB-6550U Flash Gun $ 30 from evil bay. Guide # 80 at ISO 100
c) You can also use the more powerful Quantaray QTB-9550U = Promaster 5750DX, or the Quantaray QTB-7500A
How to use the Auto Thyristor Flash:-
Make sure the flash and the camera is OFF when mounting the flash. Now On the camera and set the shutter speed in Tv mode, fast if you want only the flash to provide the light, or slow if you want to balance ambient with the flash. From the ISO slider on the flash, determine where you want ISO 100 to start, at f2.8, f4, or f5.6 for your lens. The f-numbers on the flash are surrounded by Blue, Yellow and Green colors. This corresponds to the blue, yellow, and green dots on the QDA-P module. If you want the camera-flash combo to use f5.6, set the switch on the corresponding Green dot on the module. Move the switch to Auto on the module. Now switch on the flash. You simply go click click and the thyristor controls the flash output automatically. You may need to adjust the EV on the camera only.
Now here is the exciting part with this cheap combo. If you change the ISO on the camera to 200, the flash will command the camera to move the aperture to f8. Perfectly exposed shots.
All this looks a bit confusing now, but once you try it on the camera you will be awed. Move out all you $ 200-300-400-500 Flash Guns.

[Adinfinitum]

Really interesting pic!

What Metz flash you using and how do you find it? Wanting a flash but not sure whether to spend the money on PTTL flash or a cheaper manual one.

Thanks dcBear. I bought a mecablitz 52 AF-1. I find it works great on board and as a "smart" slave and does just fine with PTTL. The pic above was taken with the Metz on board set to PTTL with the K30 on AV. I was no more than 20cm from the nearest flower and at 18mm fov with the built in diffuser down the flash handled it pretty well I think.

I also have a Yongnuo 560 which I use when I want a two light setup. If I were to have just one though, I'd definitely go for the Metz, but if you need to save some money, get a cheap manual and it will work fine. It won't be wasted if you want a decent PTTL later because you can use the old one as a second slave.

[Adinfinitum]

I like this one a lot *thumbsup*

Thank you very much Sinister

[drivingback]

A lot of beautiful photos in this thread!

I saw Ken's photo a few pages back, I just thought you people might want to see the other side of the Merlion.

[dcBear78]

A lot of beautiful photos in this thread!

I saw Ken's photo a few pages back, I just thought you people might want to see the other side of the Merlion.

Beautiful shot. Singapore looks like such a beautiful place. I never would have thought to go there, but looking at the pictures in this forum, I want to go. The place seems so photogenic.

It is ANZAC holiday today. I took some picture of my local war memorial this evening cause I couldn't make it to the dawn service due to work. Cross Posted from the K-30 thread.

The f3.5 version of this lens is capable of some intense starbursts. I like these more subdued ones. Some shots I took had the big bold starbursts, but I prefer these softer ones in these images.





Some may recognise the Southern Cross constellation in the sky. I thought this was a fitting addition to the shot.

[Adinfinitum]

Nice shots dcb, and a worthy commemoration. love the southern x over the head.

[Sagitta]

Negative Space Ahoy...




Bit of a vintage feel to this one, I liked how it came out.




Clouds, and cars, and a guy on a bike...

[calicojack]

Negative Space Ahoy...

Artsy.

I prefer it with the dark "negative space" of the lower portion of the frame cut in half, eliminating the very bottom. It will make the negative space about 1/3 of the frame instead of about 1/2, but still leaves the "big time" negative space. Maybe I'm finally becoming more of a positive space type of guy.

[rob1234]

Even works for stitches:



K5, 10-20/4-5.6

[calicojack]

Even works for stitches:

Love the Pano effect of stitching it together.

[Sagitta]

My younger boy is at that age when he just wants to be held, and he'll crawl over and tug on your pant leg until you pick him up. As can be seen here, its kind of hard to say no when he does. <3