How do you useAF-360Fgz wireless with K10D?

I updated my firmware and should be able to use this flash wireless now, but I can't figure out what settings to use.

IN camera 1 =built in flash fires as master
2= built in flash as controller

Tried both settings and flash in wireless mode(switch to middle), Tried setting as master, controller, and slave with CH 1,2, and 3. I can't seem to find a combination that works.... very frustrating....

Did you sync the body with the flash?

After you set the flash to a channel and wireless you need to pop it on the camera to sync them.

Then you need to press the shutter button halfway down to sync them.

Take a look at the manual here - page 38.

http://www.pentaxslr.com/files/scms_docs//AF360FGZ_REV2_120903.pdf

Don't forget from the Fn menu you need to set the flash mode to wireless (the icon on the far right that didn't exist before you upgraded the firmware).

The options in the Custom menu allow you to set whether the built-in flash contributes to the picture or not; "Master" means it fires as well as the remote flash, "Commander" means only the remote flash fires during the exposure (although the built in still fires prior to the exposure in order to communicate the settings to the remote flash).

See if that works now.

It seems that I had some missing information.


Thank you. I am going to try that later today and see if I can get it to work!

I was convinced of this, too, until Mannesty put me right.

Check out this thread.

That's interesting! I'll have to take a shot in the mirror later to see for myself (not that I don't believe you, it's just one of those things I'd like to see with my own eyes).

It does seem odd that the control flashes coincide with the actual exposure but I suppose there must be a good reason for that...

Not only odd, but quite perverse, if you think about the reason for having the controller/master distinction in the first place.

I imagine the good reason is that it was simply too difficult/expensive/would have taken too long to do it properly, and for most purposes the reduced power at which the builtin fires during the exposure isn't enough to make a big difference.

Life's a compromise, sadly.

I did the test this morning and of course you're absolutely right - I'd never have guessed that for myself!

Huh?
How would the flash know when to actually fire if the control flash didn't coincide?!
Be aware that the interval between the preflash and the main flash is different (a) on different models of DSLR, (b) if you enable red eye reduction.

If it's in controller mode then the flash is tiny and contributes hardly anything to the exposure. (It has to have some power, otherwise the wireless distance would be useless!)
If it's in master mode then it really does contribute.

Matt

I assumed that the name pre-flash was suggesting that it took place prior to the main flash - I was wrong!

In my mind I imagined that the last of the pre-flashes would communicate something along the lines of, "I'm going to open the shutter in x-milliseconds so do your stuff then". The remote would then wait that designated length of time and fire in sync with the shutter, but obviously these systems aren't as smart as I was giving them credit for. Oh well, I suppose there's no real material effect on the picture so I won't be losing sleep over it.

I don't think this part of it is wrong - the final pre-flash is before the main flash (it must be, I guess, since presumably it's what triggers the main flash), but they both take place while the shutter is open.

Me too.

As I said on the other thread, considering the complexity and precision of what happens during leading and trailing curtain sync, I don't think it's all that unreasonable to have thought they'd be able to solve the timing problems.

The "P" is for preflash exposure, not communication The preflash is used so the metering sensor can be used while the mirror is down. The non-preflash TTL used a separate metering mechanism that picked up the reflected light off the film - when used with CCD it kind of got a bit complicated as you're no longer dealing with matte film. The idea of P-TTL was to use the main metering components to suss out the exposure before you lift the mirror for the main shot.

There was a website somewhere that described the protocol between controller and slave. And it wasn't simple!

Personally, I think the wireless communication is just fine It's only the measurement of the exposure during the preflash phase that could be improved.

Matt

This is certainly a bigger issue, agreed.

Why isn't spot metering an option with the K10D and P-TTL?

Also make sure that the flash is set to the correct wireless mode. Mode 1 = Wireless control from the camera, triggered by the onboard flash, or another wireless capable flash mounted on the camera. Mode 2 = dumb slave flash, which will only work correctly with another non-PTTL/wireless capable flash mounted on the camera's hot shoe. I think you hold the backlight button pressed for a couple of seconds to change it.

If the dumb slave mode is selected, the 'wireless' flash will fire when the cameras pre-flash fires and will be recharging when the main flash trigger signal is sent.

BTW: Wireless in this instance means just that, wire-less = 'not connected by wires'. The actual communication is done using flashes of light from the master/controller flash. Pentax cameras and flashes do not use radio for communication.

Well- I got it working. Now I am playing with it to see how my pictures are going to come out, and what might work best as to where to place it or bounce it...