Mobile Flash System?

Hi all,
I hope that I managed now to secure an Samsung SEF-36PZF Flash - New and Boxed for my GX10. The asking price was first £150 but I may be able to get it for half of that.
Really what else I am looking for but I am unable to find this is a Mobile Flash system that uses a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 Flashes but that runs on battery rather then on mains power.
It may be something I would have to put together myself but I would not know how and what would be needed.
I would like to make use of umbrella type reflectors as well as soft boxes. The flash should be mounted on a tripod and I probably would need some kind of 'trigger' to get them all off at the same time.
It should be ultra-transportable, this is one of the main requirements.
Also if anyone could point out what to avoid and where the pitfalls with a system like this are would be very helpful!
I know that this may not be a cheap system to put together but I may be able to get 'cheap' flashes as I would not need a pTTL or TTL connection because I would use a light meeter to get the right power to the point where it is needed. The distance to be covered by each flash would be in the region between 10 and 15meters.
I can get my hands on a set of 4x Metz 45 CT1's from a local second hand shop for next to nothing and was thinking of using those and build the bits around them:
If anyone has any idea of how to put something like this together and what is needed and could give me a helping hand here that would be great.
As always any comments and critiques will be welcome.
Kind regards
SmutjeUK

Well bad news are fast.
Looks like the seller has got someone that is paying the £150 he asked for so I am out of that one.

Anyone got a Samsung Flash SEF-36PZF or its bigger brother for sale, as I definitely need one of them.:

But the other issue is still very much on the table and I do need some help with that.

Will troll now the 'classifieds' section to see if someone has one of those for sale in here.
Kind regards
SmutjeUK

I didn't want to rain on your parade earlier, but I think you got away lightly there. I wouldn't pay £150 for a Samsung SEF36, even if it was new! The main benefit of new would be the warranty cover, but I would double check first if Samsung even have parts anymore.

I got my (used but looks new) one on this forum for £85.

If you're not going to be using PTTL or auto and this is all going to be off camera then you might as well look at fully manual flashes and save yourself a few quid. The Yongnuo flashes have been getting good reviews, as have the Lumopro flashes. Or failing that Nikon SB24's go for about £40 on ebay, I've got one and it is about 1 stop brighter than my Samsung.

4x Metz 45 CT1 sounds good to me if they have manual controls.
YOu don't need a P-TTL flash at all if you've the triggers.
Try to find flashes with a metal hotshoe, hotshoe are quite easy to break

For triggers Yongnuo RF-602 or Cactus V4 seems to be the current deals.

For stands and umbrella bracket i went for Lumopro.
Quality wise they are the same as Manfrotto but cheaper.
Stand that folds down very small link they also have other stands.
Umbrella Swivel w/ Flash Shoe Adapter link
I'm sure you can also find others but I've these and can say i'm happy with them so far.

Umbrella's... have no idea what the good ones are don't think you can really go wrong.
Shoot through seems to be the effectives since you can place them closer to the subject without sticking the umbrella pole in their ears.

Sfotbox these are the cheapest and probably the best strobist solution.
28" link they also have a 50" link
The beauty of these is that they use the umbrella bracket so no need for another adapter.
Also the you shoot the flash towards the back side, the inside is covered with silver so the lights get reflected in the softbox before it leaves so it illuminates pretty evenly. With some softboxes you have a bright center because the flash fires directly against the white.

I hope this help a bit.

Many thanks for your tips Stephan. The 45 CT1 is an old Hammerhead and there is a tripod thread on the slider which is made from metal anyway so its not going to break easy.
Thanks for the rest of the tips, very helpful.

As for the Samsung Flash, YES I will make full use of the features the Flash is giving me (pTTL and TTL) as I just want this one as a fast 'point and shoot' flash. It basically will live in my backpack and the whole idea is to have a light easy shoot and forget flash that is designed for the GX-10. I was trying to get the SEF 36 for £75 and it looked like that it would be accepted till someone came and offered the full asking price which I found in any way to high. I would have stretched to £100 incl Special Delivery (as it is a new item) but no further than that. There is one more on feeBay that is at the moment up at £31 with 7 days to go and Park Cameras is 'offering' a SEF 36 for 149.99 incl delivery but I find that a bit steep still for an item that is well out of production and I am not even sure is the warranty would still be valid after such a long time when the item was stopped to be shipped by Samsung so they can go and try someone else.
Sooner or later there will be one that is in the £75 bracket. If it would have been the bigger brother (SEF 56 or what it is called) I would pay the £150 but not for the 36, new or not.
For everything else I will use one of the Metz 45 CT1
Many thanks for your input.
Kind regards
SmutjeUK

Don't forget, that the SEF 36 and the Pentax 36FGZ are the same flash, and that Dixons/Currys/PCW are doing the Pentax for £99.97 brand new - http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/pentax-af360fgz-auto-flash-unit-00778739-pdt.html

yup got that one right and there is a link in the new Deals section to it. At the moment I am up front on feeBay but I will not hold my breath for long as it seems they are as rare as gold dust in Dorset/UK.

As soon as the auction is finished I will head over there but just want to see how far it will go and I do have my limit.

Its a bit snoppy I know but it would look nice to have everything from the same make (Main Lens, Body, Grip, so far and Flash???? I think it will be the Pentax. Lets see how it goes).

Maybe even one pops up in the Classifieds (sadly I missed the last one by minutes it seems), first it did not go at all and then when I contacted the seller (I am new and can not PM till the 9th of next month) the Flash was gone in a flash

Best thing you could look at is the Calumet Genesis 300 monoblock heads at £169 which run on mains and battery. The battery pack is £149.

I will have a look for that but I just bought the 4 Hammer Heads Metz 45 CT1 for £20 FOR ALL FOUR and they are all working fine

So I just committed myself to build the system around them but this one will be a good reference for the future when I may want something more sophisticated, but I also am not sure of the ultra portability as I could imagine that the battery is quite heavy and would then have a look in a trolley to take it all with me (as I am limited in lifting because of my Back/Hip injury. At least I can walk and have some tolerance to weight but I have to be careful) but it may be something for the future.
Many thanks for your continuous help in this.
Kind regards
SmutjeUK

I looked in to both triggers, Yongnuo RF-602 and Cactus V4, but both seem to be available for only Canon or Nikon plus I get confused with the connectors. I need the ordinary PC connector with the trigger but at least the YongNuo seems to need 'a second shutter trigger' or I misunderstand the set-up completely.

Also everything seems to be geared to the Nikon or Canon set-up and not to Pentax. Will it still work?

I would prefer the YongNuo as it seems to work up to 100m (300ft) and that would be great for animal photography but I am worried about the restricted camera set-up and nothing I can find tells me that I can use them with my Samsung GX-10 (Pentax K10D).

Could someone shed some light on this???

The triggers are standard triggers that Canon, Nikon and Pentax use and they don't support any form of TTL, it's just the center contact to trigger the flash there isn't anymore on them. And in that aspect Canon, Nikon and Pentax flashes work the same.
You can use a Nikon or Canon flash on your Pentax camera if you want.
First time hearing about a second shutter trigger

They work really simple.
- put the batteries in them
- set the channel the same
- connect them to your flash and camera and that's it.
You might be able to set the camera to trailing/second curtain, that way it will flash on the end of the scene but i don't know if the camera works that way.

btw the Cactus V4 comes with the PC cable that you need, don't know about the Yongnuo

From what I was reading so far the Yongnuo has a PC connector at the receiver. The Cactus would be second hand so I am not sure if the PC connector is with it as the seller is not answering any messages at the moment for whatever reason.
I know I will have at least two of the 45 CT-1 to be remotely triggered as they have a very low model number and is below the save number for digital cameras of 534000 and therefore have the high voltage output.
in the beginning I was tempted of using extension cables with Peanut triggers but I would need a female to female PC connector for that one and I can not find any of them at all.
Many thanks for your continuous help Stefan, I really appreciate it.

That cactus can handle 200 volt on the trigger, hopefully that's enough?

Here is the official site from Yungnuo, as you can read Pentax and Samsung link

It's probably the extra ability to use the trigger as camera remote that makes it a nikon or canon.
If that's the case go for the one that works with Canon 450D, 500D those have the same contacts as Pentax.

This one is the one you want.
link

It's 300 volts actually

Minimum order is 100! I will have to see where I can locate it in the UK with 4 receivers for the best price. Dont know how much the 45 CT-1 is actually drawing but even 200 volts should be enough.

Like I say, the reason why I like the Yungnuo is because of the range it has got. some people have actually tested this one for up to 200meters!

Many thanks Stefan you are, as usual, of great help to me.