Flash guns for K10D

I have a Pentax K10D and have never yet purchased a flashgun for it. I appreciate there are a couple of pentax dedicated flash guns for this and other Pentax DSLR's (the AF360FGZ and AF540FGZ).

However these are both very expensive and not an affordable option for me.

I would therefore like to purchase a dedicated flash gun that works well with the K10D and has as much functionality as possible for around £100 or less. Has anyone out there got any ideas. (There seem to be loads on ebay but most of the well priced ones come from far abroad and I am not so sure about trusting such providers) Thanks.

I recently asked the same q to the forum and got a great response. To wrap it all up, putting all points of view together, the Metz 36 af4 is the best for me. Very affordable and comes with some reasonable features for its price. I am currently searching on the ebay for the best price, and from what I have found, you'll get it for about £60 delivered. If you want to empty your wallet a bit more, the Metz 58 is slightly more advanced and you should be able to find it for around £120-150. Hope this helps mate

At that price, nothing else comes close.

G

Many thanks to all. I shall look into the options suggested.

where can you get the metz 58 for 120-150 I've looked on ebay and the net and i can only find it for around 250-300

James
Will the metz 58 work with the k20d??

Sorry, my mistake, I meant to write the Metz 48, not 58. i apologise.

However here is a good spin on what the Metz offer, which has been looked over in past forums:


German flash maker Metz historically used a system of interchangeable modules to provide compatibility with various camera systems. They still make many models that use that system, including one hot shoe flash which works with P-TTL, but they now have three dedicated P-TTL flashes as well:
metz58af1.jpg

* 36 AF-4 — an entry-level flash with a few more tricks than the Pentax AF200FG and flash power about like the AF360FGZ. The Pentax version of this flash is very new and is just recently easy to find in US stores.

* 48 AF-1 — effectively a small upgrade from Pentax's AF360FGZ, with about 50% more power, a tilt/swivel head, and equivalent advanced functionality (plus a few unique features). Oddly, while the 48 AF-1 can function as an off-camera wireless slave it cannot act as a camera-mounted controller for other slaves.

* 54 MZ-4i — this model requires the SCA 3702 adapter module with firmware M2 or later. With that module, the 54 MZ-4i has features roughly equivalent to the 58 AF-1, but slightly less flash power. It also can't do Pentax's P-TTL wireless, but can act as part of Metz's own wireless auto flash system.

* 58 AF-1 — another completely-dedicated model, with more power and the longest list of features of any Pentax-compatible flash.

I have a Sigma flash gun and they have a good range too. I have the EF-500 flash unit which has been superceeded by the EF-530 units now. I use the EF-500 with no problem on my K10D. I hope this helps.

+1 for Sigma EF-500, super here. Check its been updated for wireless flash capabilities.