[Lurch]

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The little project I have in mind is purely an aesthetics one.
Being quite a retro looking camera, I wanted to make a 'Press' style, side mount flash handle/pole thingy (no idea what the proper name is) But having a full sized flash on it would look ridiculous.

[AndrewG NY]

If Pentax is going to make little cameras like the Q and K-01, they really should have a full-featured compact flashgun (2xAA, bounceable, P-TTL + manual) to go with. The AF200FG is too feature-poor and due to use of 4xAA, still not small & light enough. If manual/auto are good enough, there are plentiful little Pentax AF200T units on the used market for not too much money. There's no bounce either but you could work this with a sync cable too.

My greatest criticism of Pentax for the Q and K-01 (flashwise) is that they didn't enable the built-in flashes as P-TTL wireless master/controllers.

And then you have units like what Metz offers -- need to choose between P-TTL (24AF-1) or manual (20 C2) support -- but not both in the same unit.

I've been using AF-360FGZ with P-TTL sync cable to get flash a bit off camera, plus that way I can aim flash wherever I want, since there's no wireless and the flash lacks a swivel.

Panasonic/Olympus have a AF-360FGZ-class flash (Oly FL-36R) with swivel/bounce/zoom/manual with 2xAA. I have one here, it's just a bit lighter & smaller than AF360FGZ, but I'd think this would be welcomed by many Pentax shooters. (I'm not recommending it for use with the Q as it's expensive and doesn't do P-TTL for Pentax (only TTL for Panasonic/Olympus). Recycle rate is probably a bit slower.

[hnikesch]

I have some old 80's Pentax flashes and they do work with the Pentax adapter and with native lenses. Even the on flash auto exposure assuming you set the camera to manual @ 1/160 sec. and the correct aperture and ISO per the flash just like my Kr

Hans

[AndrewG NY]

Should i take a pic of my AF540FGZ on my Q? I think my AF400FTZ is even bigger.

I think you meant to say "my Q dangling from my AF540FGZ".

[p38arover]

I think you meant to say "my Q dangling from my AF540FGZ".

LOL!

I think you may be right!

[steve1307]

[Sandy Hancock]

I also have the Metz 24 AF-1. It's tiny and pretty versatile. I wish it would swivel horizontally as well as bounce though....

[ChrisJ]

The little project I have in mind is purely an aesthetics one.
Being quite a retro looking camera, I wanted to make a 'Press' style, side mount flash handle/pole thingy (no idea what the proper name is) But having a full sized flash on it would look ridiculous.

I think you mean a 'hammer head' flash. You can do this by simply adding a flash side bracket to your Q and adding a TTL lead for sync like this

[IMG] [/IMG]

Now the flash can turn on the fixing screw, if you want to go the whole hog you can fit a ball head like this or similar

Hama Tripod Ball Joint and Tilt Socket Head - 50mm - Ref. 005014 | eBay

Now you have up and down too.

Chris

[steve1307]

I just tried this with the AF540 directly and it was a pain to get the flash on/off, I'd use it with the cable though.

When an external flash is attached directly to the hot shoe of the camera, the camera’s
center of gravity is greatly shifted, <steve1307 - Duh!> making it difficult to take pictures.
When using an external flash, it is recommended to use an extension cord to separate
the camera and flash.

Interestingly the zoom on the flash reads the lens FL on the Q and zooms from 3mm to 15mm (in "digital" its normally 26mm to 58mm zoom).
I used the 8.5mm lens and the flash autozooms to 9mm.

No P-TTL wireless of course but you can set up the AF540 to be a Slave flash that will fire for any optical flash. It works on M or A mode on the AF540.

I forgot to test if it does HSS. doh!

[ivoire]

I wanted something about the size of the Q and opted for the Sunpak PF20XD. Works as a slave also