360 or 540 FGZ ?
Posted 26/06/2006 - 16:35
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Hi there!
I have both the 360 and 540. The only differences are:
1. Swivel head
2. Larger guide number
3. Option for external battery pack (but it's not been manufactured yet)
With the *ist-DS etc you can set one 360 as a master controller on the camera, and slave to another 360 (or more than one for that matter!). You can't disable the camera flash completely, but you can set its exposure compensation down low so it doesn't figure too much at all.
In fact, while I'm on the subject, you can slave to the AF360 from an *ist-DS... but not in P-TTL mode. The AF360 (and 540) has two slave modes - either dumb or P-TTL. I used the dumb mode to trigger off an old Canon S30 compact digital and used the "A" mode of the 360 with excellent results! (The other thing is that in this mode you can't discharge the whole flash because there are two flashes that the AF360 has to respond to, so your guide number is effectively halved. But it's fab for fill in flash!)
I have been using the *ist-D with both the 360 and 540 in wireless mode - it gives amazing results
Matt
I have both the 360 and 540. The only differences are:
1. Swivel head
2. Larger guide number
3. Option for external battery pack (but it's not been manufactured yet)
With the *ist-DS etc you can set one 360 as a master controller on the camera, and slave to another 360 (or more than one for that matter!). You can't disable the camera flash completely, but you can set its exposure compensation down low so it doesn't figure too much at all.
In fact, while I'm on the subject, you can slave to the AF360 from an *ist-DS... but not in P-TTL mode. The AF360 (and 540) has two slave modes - either dumb or P-TTL. I used the dumb mode to trigger off an old Canon S30 compact digital and used the "A" mode of the 360 with excellent results! (The other thing is that in this mode you can't discharge the whole flash because there are two flashes that the AF360 has to respond to, so your guide number is effectively halved. But it's fab for fill in flash!)
I have been using the *ist-D with both the 360 and 540 in wireless mode - it gives amazing results
Matt
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67 posts
20 years
West Sussex,
England
Looking at the specs of the two Pentax flashguns, the only differences I can see are the guide number and the swivelling head on the 540.
I know that I will want to experiment with as many flash setups as I can, but what I don't know is which situations would demand the 540 and would find the 360 lacking. Could anyone offer any advice/relate any experience on this?
For the price of the 540, you can buy two 360's, and that would seem to open up a whole other set of possibilities.
With the *ist DS, you can't use the built-in flash to control a remote flash.
Does anyone know, if you have one flashgun on-camera and one off, can you use the on-camera gun to control the off-camera gun without it actually flashing during the exposure? I ask this because this would mean I wouldn't have to bother buying cables and hot-shoe adapters for this situation.
Thanks