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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
09-30-2018, 01:51 AM
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Hi all,
Imagine this, it's New Years day 2017 and you're experiencing just your second day in Havana Cuba, when, inexplicably your K3 just up and dies.
Well, that's exactly what happened to me, and needless to say I was devastated. My trusty K5 had been through hell and back, had the scars to show for it, and was still going strong - only problem was that I had left it back in NZ opting to take just the one body :(
Anyway, I'm looking at the K3 again tonight and as I sometimes do I throw a battery in it to check if a miracle has happened... nope. But then I think what about trying to connect it to the PC using the USB cable, no harm in trying eh! So I put an empty spare SD card in, turn it 'on' (it's dead), and connect it to the PC... and lo and behold the K3 opens up in 'My Computer'. My heart skips a little and I click on the folder which opens. It then disappears having lost it's connection. I unplug the USB and reconnect it, again it opens up, and again after a few seconds it loses it's connection. It does this perhaps another four times before not connecting at all. But it has me interested in trying to breathe some life back into it as it was just over two years old when it died.
On my return from Cuba I took the camera to John at Fototech who pulled it apart but wasn't able to find any fault with it. His suggestion was to send it to Japan for repairs but we thought this would be too expensive and I purchased a K3II (which btw, has periodically had the shutter flutter / jam problem). I read somewhere where someone had a K3 go dead and they tried working the SD card cover on/off switch hard and this bought the camera back to life. Actually this is how tonight started out but the camera remained dead, then I tried the USB connect as above.
So... does anyone have any suggestions please... :)
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-27-2018, 10:43 PM
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Totally agree Brooke. I expect even with TTL working on the Sigma I would be using manual in most situations. I just expected (hoped) the V6II to work, rightly or wrongly, with the EF-610 ;)
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-27-2018, 04:34 PM
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Thank for your continued interest guys, it gives me hope!
Yes, there's no exposure compensation set on the Sigma EF-610 DG Super. If I do dial in some negative EV (max -3.0) on the Sigma plus have the V6II set at -5.0 EV, I can obtain an exposure that is 'averagely' exposed when using TTL; so I was under rating the difference when I said it was 3-4 stops out. If I then also add -2.0 stops EV on the K3 flash metering then I can at last achieve an underexposed image. Of course the problem here is that the K3 flash EV would also be applied to my other flash/es as well wish is less than ideal.
The problem seems to be that the V6II's starting point - the 'Pentax Auto Profile' is for a flash with a much lower guide number; the EF-610 DG Super's is 61 @ 105mm.
Note that using a custom profile only makes a change to the manually set flash output, it makes no difference when using TTL.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-27-2018, 02:30 AM
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I'm getting closer to having this sorted now thanks to the advice and suggestions I've received to date. Thanks Class A, stevebot & mcgregni.
Perhaps my biggest mistake was in setting the 'Flash System' as Sigma and then assigning the Sigma EF-610 DG profile thinking this is what was required. What I should have done, and have now done, is set the 'Flash System' to Pentax and then assign the 'Pentax Auto' profile. However even with this done it took changing the V6II firmware from PEN.A.003 to PEN.A.002 to be able to both sync the flash and alter the power output.
So... now I can change the power output on the Sigma EF-610 DG Super just as I can on the AF-540 FGZ. It will even work with TTL...
BUT the resulting exposures are all about three to four stops overexposed across the different exposure values!?
TTL is obviously working, it's affecting the output in a uniform way across the EV - but the calibration between the K3II and the V6II+Sigma EF-610 DG Super is out. So I believe I now will have to customize a profile via the Cactus Profile Editor to recalibrate the V6II to somehow reduce the difference in EV.
I'll update with the results of this in the next day or two
---------- Post added 09-27-18 at 09:49 PM ----------
Ok, so I tried creating a custom profile in the 'Cactus Profile Editor' for the V6II (RX) but this only seems to reduce the output of the flash when using it in manual mode, and makes no difference the overexposure problem when using TTL.
Is there anything else I can try?
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-25-2018, 02:14 AM
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There is no flash on the camera, just one V6II set to TX, so no optical signal. Plus the Sigma is set to P-TTL
The firmware of the V6II units is Pen.A.003, firmware of the K3II is Ver 1.10
I am now able to get the flash syncing - by that I mean the camera now captures the flash firing, by setting the delay to 108ms and above. Note that the slower I go, 108ms+, the brighter the resulting exposure from the flash, plus irrespective of whether the RX (flash) and TX are set to TTL or to a manual output. I've now managed to get the manual output working, or at least the output fractions on the TX and RX are matching - but the output is always the same.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-24-2018, 10:59 PM
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The V6II has a profile installed for the Sigma EF-610 and is noted in the compatibility chart although it does state - Support up to X-sync shutter speed.
I wish to use TTL metering if at all possible but would be happy with being able to manually control the flash output via the V6II (TX)
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-24-2018, 09:52 PM
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Hi all,
I have just received my three V6II triggers and are super excited to get using them. I have two flashes, a Pentax AF-540 FGZ and a Sigma EF-610 DG Super.
The AF-540 works perfectly but I am having issues with the EF-610. I have selected the Sigma 610 profile in the V6II but although the flash was firing I was not getting any exposure from the flash, i.e. it and the camera were out of sync (or so I believe). I then went into the delay settings of the V6II attached to the Sigma flash (RX) and set the delay to 100ms. Now I have exposure but, no matter what EV I set on the on camera V6II (TX), they are all the same - very overexposed, plus there does not appear to be any difference between the set EV values.
Appreciate your time in reading this and hope you may be able to help....
Cheers,
Pete
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-19-2018, 04:23 PM
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Thank you pschlute, that's exactly what I was missing. Is this the norm on other flash systems as well or is this a Pentax thing?
Thanks Class A, I have three V6II triggers on their way from B&H so I should have that capability. I really thought it would have been something available on the camera though :(
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-19-2018, 03:09 AM
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Hi all, I have a K3 II and a AF 540 FGZ.
I have a couple of problems. One problem is that I can't utilise High Speed Sync when the camera is in Manual mode and the flash is set to Manual / HSS. What happens is that my shutter speed drops to 1/180th as soon as I half press the shutter? If I then leave it for a few seconds the shutter value on the camera screen reverts back to the preset value, half press the shutter again and it goes back to 1/180th again. However if the flash is set to P-TTL then the manual shutter speed does stay at it's preset, faster than 1/180th value.
Then in every other mode other than manual, HSS is working fine - BUT, the flash will not stay in manual mode instead going into P-TTL. So say I have the camera in Tv - I set the shutter to 1/500 and have the flash set to a manual output. As soon as I half press the shutter the flash goes into P-TTL?
I have tried the flash on my K5 and the results are exactly the same. The K3 II has been updated to the latest firmware V1.1
What am I missing!!!???
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-16-2018, 01:29 AM
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I believe I have just realised something that will negate the need for me to purchase the RF60X unit. I had forgotten that I already have a Sigma EF-610 Dg Super (Pentax shoe) languishing in a dark corner. Looking into the cross-brand capabilities of the Cactus V6II I believe that I would be able to utilise this flash simply by hooking it up to a V6II - too easy!
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-15-2018, 02:15 PM
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Thanks for those confirmations inkista, very helpful.
I do have backup gear, body & lenses, but you make a very good point re the RF60X not being able to be used on the camera. Having given this some thought I am now considering purchasing an additional AF-540 or 360 FGZ rather than the RF60X to provide redundancy in this area as well. It will mean purchasing another trigger but the extra redundancy may be worth it.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-13-2018, 02:00 PM
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Thanks for the awesome responses! Now have a couple of questions...
If I wanted to utilise my existing AF-540 FGZ in the system, would I need to have a Catus V6II on both the camera and another attached to the remote AF-540 FGZ as well?
And at this stage I'm not entertaining the use of studio strobes (however it would be good to have this option open for the future), but would want another one or two remotely controllable speedlites in the mix in addition to the AF-540 FGZ. Is this even possible? To use say two RF60X units in conjunction with my AF-540 FGZ. I assume I don't need separate controllers for the RF60Xs as these would be built into the units right?
Cheers
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
09-13-2018, 01:53 AM
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Hi all,
I have a K3-II and now want to get myself a portable lighting setup for portrait and some wedding work.
However I'm getting myself bogged down in the choices and would love some input from those with some experience in this area.
I'm considering Yongnuo as I've read in a forum here that the YN560-TX II flash remote for Nikon also works with Pentax (this is in a thread from 2014). I was looking at pairing this with a couple of YN 560-III speedlites. I would need HSS functionality though and are unsure if this is possible or if there is a better choice from Yongnuo or others that I should consider.
looking forward to the enlightenment...
Cheers,
Pete
P.S. My main flash is a AF-540 FGZ
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-19-2013, 06:42 PM
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The flash EV can be adjusted +1 and -3 stops. The camera also has exposure EV adjustment but this is for the image falling onto the sensor, not for the flash itself prior to firing (both having a cumulative effect on the final exposure). I've been through the menu of both and there doesn't appear to be any other EV settings available.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-17-2013, 04:10 PM
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Cheers Jim,
That exposure looks pretty good, maybe a tad under. In the same situation I'm getting a very overexposed image. With a couple of stops (-) compensation the results are consistant and good.
What I'm worried about is if I need to drop a couple of stops via the flash I'll be stuck as I've already used that much adjustment!
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-16-2013, 12:50 PM
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It's doing it in bounce or direct mode, overexposing unless I compensate / stop down the flash 2 stops.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
05-16-2013, 03:08 AM
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Ross similar thing happened to my *DA 50-135mm when I dropped it grabbing it and some other gear out of the car!
Their 'uneconomical to repair' really meant they simply couldn't guarantee it's quality I believe. I ended up getting a new replacement lens plus got to keep my 'old' one which they had reassembled and works perfectly!
I might add though that it took an age to get the replacement lens via Ian Little. Apparently however Pentax are now available via Paul's without going through Littles :)
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
05-16-2013, 02:51 AM
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Hi all,
I've just purchased a Sigma EF-610DG Super flash and in auto P-TTL on my K-5 it is overexposing by a couple of stops. It's the same on aperture or shutter priority, or manual.
If I compensate by applying -2.0 of exposure compensation within the flash's Auto P-TTL setting the images are then correctly exposed.
Likewise if I have the flash set with no compensation and then apply -1.7 of exposure compensation via the K-5 the images are also correctly exposed.
It would appear that the flash unit isn't reading the exposure value correctly? I'm wondering if it's a faulty unit and I should send it back.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Pete Prue.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
02-09-2013, 02:18 PM
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My first serious attempt at using bokeh as one of the main elements in an image and I was lucky to find a subject which I believe works well for this.
The lens used is an older Pentax SMC A f1.7 50mm which I picked up for NZ$120! Although it doesn't have auto focus the auto exposure works the f1.7 and quality of the lens are fantastic.
The final image is 26 images stitched together to achieve the creamy wide angle / shallow DOF effect.
I hope you like it! :)
Pete Prue
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
12-02-2012, 02:41 AM
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
09-11-2011, 03:42 AM
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I'd be very happy to have the lenses here in a week! The thing is we're talking about nearly $6k in lenses so you would think they would want the business, but apparently not. If I don't see any progress I'm going to see if I can't get the items via infotech through Pauls - don't like my chances though as they'll probably have to stay 'loyal' to IRL.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
09-10-2011, 03:17 PM
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Well hopefully Ricoh will clear out the dead wood (IRL) and get the Pentax brand moving here in NZ. Imagine what their sales might be like if the agency performed!?
I'd like to purchase via infotech but with this being an insurance 'replacement' it has to go through Paul's, who have been great and are frustrated themselves.
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Forum: Travel, Events, and Groups
09-10-2011, 03:05 AM
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Hey guys. I've got a problem in that my 'ordered' lenses that were to arrive on Tuesday never showed. Pauls here in ChCh ordered them through the Pentax Rep down here, and was told they were on the way - but apparently Ian Little Ltd (the agency here) wasn't able to have the order filled and never bothered to tell anyone. So we've waited 3 or 4 weeks (I've lost track of time) for nothing, and here's me off for a week's tramping next week with just the kit lens - not happy. Does anyone know if Ian Little Ltd have the NZ agency or just the SI? Also has anyone purchased Pentax via Australia?
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Forum: Video Recording and Processing
09-10-2011, 02:54 AM
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Thanks for that guys. The vidCoder software gave me the dreaded blue screen of death so I'm using the 'Handbrake' program instead - 222mb is now just 19mb! Still won't play on the TV so I'll have explore some more.
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Forum: Video Recording and Processing
09-02-2011, 08:28 PM
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Hey all,
A couple of problems I have...
First up I want to do a bit of video with my new K-5 but the file sizes at full HD/25fps are ridiculous! A mere 11 minutes of video off a 8gb card!?
Probably a silly question but... can these files be converted / downsized whilst still retaining their original quality?
Also, I can't play the resulting AVI files produced from the K-5 on my TV via the USB. I can play other AVI files, just not those off the camera. It is a HD tv.
Cheers :)
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