Pentax 500 FTZ help needed

Hi guys, I apologize if it was discussed here previously but I need your advice. I've just got AF 500 FTZ flash, works nicely in manual mode on K-5. But when I want to use it as a slave, I'm getting in a trouble. The thing is that although it flashes, triggered by k-5's built in flash, somehow the shutter lags approx half second or so. In the result I consistently end up with photo of darkness. Any idea why this is happening? Is there some setting in k-5 I overlooked?
Thanks for reading...
Martin

Could be the K5 pre-flash is the problem, which it uses for P-TTL. This will trigger the 500 ahead of the main K5 flash.

Don't have a K5, but I believe you can switch it off.

Hi John, this sounds likely....I will check the manual if there's anything I can do about P-TTL when built in flash is set to trigger the slave. Ta for help.

Strangely enough, I was playing a bit with AF500FTZ and setting the flash to lead curtain solved the problem. I'm confused why.

Anyway Flash is now flashing properly....

Yes, the pre-flash is the problem. Have a look in the K-5 menus, after reading the appropriate section of the manual.

It is in there, somewhere.

Please let me know if you find a solution

I now use a flash trigger, but used to use a small flash on the
camera to trip the slave, bounced to avoid red-eye etc.

You cannot turn off the preflash on the pop-up.

However, if you use the slaved gun at less than 1/2 power, (depending on the gun), it will have enough power for both preflash and main flash
The problems come when the preflash causes the slave to discharge most of its power (or when the slave has filtering that prevents it from 'seeing' both).

There are also some slave cubes that have switchable preflash suppression

Matt

We use an IR trigger and the camera set to manual. Perfect for studio flash.

Matt, John
thanks...maybe I should look for IR trigger then. But would it be working allright with older flash like 500 FTZ?

I use the CactusV4 radio triggers - they'll trigger pretty much anything (manual of course). Note: Be aware that not all radio triggers work well with Pentax (my friend has some cheap eBay ones for his Canon that just won't trigger on the K5 unless it's 1/30s or slower!!)

Radio triggers are useful for very long distances, or situations that are not line-of-sight, so you can do special effects shots with a small flash gun (like the AF160) - like putting it inside a drawer or cupboard

Matt

Thanks Matt, I will have a look at that Cactus V4

RF-602's seem OK at 1/100th sync-speed... they show
a blackline at 1/180th.

Infrared is OK at 1/180th.

I think I'm right in saying that if you use M series lenses or older, the P-TTL function does not work and therefore I don't think the onboard flash produces a pre-flash.

I think that's true... but it's not that helpful as it kicks out full power, IIRC
Matt

I can't imagine that it would be very difficult for Pentax, or any and all other camera makers, to have a flash setting specifically for triggering slave flashes.

Their dilemma would be deciding on how much flash power to use as any flash output from the onboard flash would contribute to the illumination of the scene.

IR/radio wireless would seem to be the best option all round really, which is the route I took . . . eventually.

the simplest solution as mentioned is to use the flash on manual at 1/2 power or less with fresh batteries...
the best solution is to use the flash unit with a radio slave on manual.
the other solutions include the off camera cable release or a second flash unit on camera.

I use all the above.