Flash guns for K20D

Now that I have a K20D, my old flash equipment is redundant.(AF280T and the hotshoe grip & bracket and connecting cable.

My quandry is what to purchase to replash my flash equipment.

Pentax or Metz?

Who makes a hotshoe grip and bracket to enable a flash gun to be used off camera,wirelessly, and is compatible with PTTL?

Who makes the best flashgun for the K20D?

We had the same decision in the end, Pentax 540 or Metz 58.

We went with the Metz in the end because:-

1. It's all Metz do, they know flash inside out so we presumed better experience = better product.

2. Extra catchlight flash on the front of the gun.

3. Slightly more powerful.

4. About £40 - £50 cheaper.

Others have said that the menu structure / buttons layout is better on the Pentax, but have not used one so cannot give experience of it. The Metz was my first ever flashgun, so have got used to using it, but not having much experience with flash, I wouldn't know how good or bad the Metz layout is!

We now have 2 of them (1 each), and the wireless works great when you know where the sensor is on the flashgun!

Only minus point is that we have sent back and had replaced 2 faulty units with the zoom error fault!

The Pentax guns allow you to use them in "M" and "A" modes as well as P-TTL.
I'm not sure about the Metz - you may get P-TTL and "M".
(I have the AF360 & AF540 Pentax guns, and an old Metz 50MZ5. Both Pentax and Metz are great flashguns! Difficult choice!!)
Matt

Thanks for your views Matthew, but what about off camera useage

Your hot shoe grip can be fairly easily modified to facilitate the use of flashes having the 5P socket on them.

If you go this route and want P-TTL you have one option, the Pentax AF540FGZ.

Flashes having a digital interface (AF400FTZ, AF240FT, AF500FTZ, AF360/540FGZ and others) have an extra pin on their hot shoe.

To modify your Hotshoe Grip, drill and/or grind a hole in its hotshoe mount to allow this extra pin to be totally isolated from the remaining part of the metalwork. Get yourself a 5P extension cord with 5P Hotshoe adapter and a flash equipped with a 5P socket and you have a TTL/Manual/Auto Hammerhead flash. Use a AF540FGZ and you have a P-TTL Hammerhead.

I've done it, Matt's done it, and it works fine. The hotshoe can still be used as originally intended too so nothing to lose really.

NOTE: If your subject is within 4 metres you don't need the cable and adapter because you can use wireless flash. Cable is better because all the zoom functions etc. work as if the flash was camera mounted.

:Hi Peter,
Can you provide more details, as I'm not sure which pin you are refering to.
Do you have a diagram?

I'll take some pics later and post them here.

this is a really great resource for pentax flash buyers:

http://knol.google.com/k/matthew-miller/pentax-p-ttl-hot-shoe-flash-comparison/3...

This image shows the hot shoe of a AF540FGZ. When compared to an older analogue interface flash, you'll notice the additional electrical contact at top left. These newer flashes also have a locking pin which you can see at top right. The remaining pins are in the same configuration as older flashes like the AF280T.




This image shows the modification to a hot shoe grip that is necessary to be able to mount newer flashes to the grip using a 5P Extension Cord and a 5P Hot Shoe Adapter. Without this mod. the additional pin is grounded by the anodized aluminium base of the hot shoe and causes the flash to malfunction.




To accomplish this, I first drilled a pilot hole in the correct place in the aluminium plate. Then I used a modelling grinder to widen and deepen the hole to a point where the additional pin of the flash made no contact with anything once it was pushed fully home. The blue tint is marker pen, my attempt at cleaning the job up a bit.

Mattmatic's instructions for achieving this can be found here. I didn't find it necessary to disassemble the grip, just don't drill too deeply.

I stated in a previous post that if you want P-TTL to work, the AF540FGZ is the only option. That's not strictly true because you could use the grip with an Off-Camera Adapter and mount an AF360FGZ, and presumably, any other P-TTL capable flash.

I hope that clarifies the issue.

The Sigma EF 530 DG Super support wireless operations on the Pentax. It works as well as the Pentax AF 540 FGZ at about half the price. It also comes with a flash stand that can be used on top of a regular tripod.