Suggested Flashguns for K-x

Stefan. Yes I know as I used to use it with my *istD but I've sold that now. I have used the AF-500FTZ with my K10 on manual and it is no problem to do so with either the AF-500FTZ or the AF-400T as when I did wedding photography I used the AF-400T with my 645 on manual all the time with a Sekonic flashmate L-308 exposure meter. It's just that the AF-500FTZ is now surplus to requirements. You can use the cameras on manual and the 500 and the 400 on auto if you want to or completely on manual so no problems at all. I hadn't put the 500 on the for sale site because I just thought about it when I saw CheekyChappy looking for a flash gun.
SO if anybody fancies a very good AF-500FTZ flashgun they know where to come. CHEERS Vic.

i use the metz 48 af-1 i think its great i use it wireless on a stand with umbrella for portraits. i believe bristol cameras do them for £150 give them a look, not sure if they charge delivery or not.

heres a link to the flash on there site.....its is £150 from there.link

I'm sure SRS (Chris) would match that price , and if you quote your forum name, there's no carriage charge.

link

£154.83 inc del on amazon.

Got my Metz 48 and Stofen omnibounce last week and had a chance to test it in the weekend at a party. Some good results so far - so thanks for the suggestion.

Here's another question. It would appear from the K-x manual that you cannot use the Metz 48 remotely without firing off the in-built flash of the Pentax K-x at the same time. Can anyone tell me if this is correct? If so this would seem to be a bit of a shame as I am trying to avoid that direct flash above the lens situation.

Do you find the Stofen working?
I also bought one but only use it once in so far and didn't like it

No that's not true it relies on the build-in flash to trigger the Metz but you can set the build-in flash in the custom menu so that it does not contribute to the scene.

I am not sure yet. I got mixed results some over-exposed and looking rather pasty. I have not had the chance to look at the photos on a computer screen yet and I am still learning to control the camera and the flash. What do you do without the stofen? Do you bounce your flash without any sort of diffuser attached or do you use something else?

Thanks Stefan, this is good news. I'll have a look at the camera custom controls later in the week when I am back home with my beloved k-x (and family!)

Yes if I can I bounce the flash onto the sealing and that works very well.
When you do that with a stofen it actually creates shadows so that's why I don't use it.

I simply use the camera in manual mode and the flash in P-TTL most of the time, if I've the time to make a setup I would use the flash manual as well.

I said that out of the experience with the K10D, I ain't 100% sure the K-X has it but I think it has. Covering myself here
When doing some close-up shots though you might see some flash light in your photos though but I'm talking about 1 to 1.5 meters away, at 2 meter it isn't a problem.

The K-m has that feature so I would imagine the K-x does too.

It's very good actually because when you set it up the trigger flash doesn't contribute at all to the scene. I know some people say it still contributes to the scene a little, but in my experience not at all.

I tried shooting in that mode in complete darkness without an off camera flash to trigger, and the resultant picture (if you could call it that) had no evidence of flash on it.

I have had a good look at the camera and manual but there does not seem to be a way to cancel the inbuilt flash when used in conjuntion with a wireless flash. If anyone figures out a way to do this on the K-x, can you please let me know. Thanks!

No you can't cancel it but you could set it as controller and then the build-in flash would just flash enough to trigger the other flash so hardly contribute to the photo.


Custom Menu > page 3 > 17. Flash in Wireless Mode

Stefan is spot on. The onboard flash will still go off, but purely to trigger the off camera flash (if it didn't flash at all it wouldn't trigger the off camera flash). It won't contribute to the picture (or will contribute a very small amount).

Thanks chaps. I tried it out standing in a mirror and I was just as blinded by the inbuilt flash as I was by the Metz 18! I'll experiment more. This raises another question. You know the pre-flash you get with PTTL - well using the inbuilt flash as master and metz as slave is the first time I have seen this. When I have the metz in the hotshoe I don't see a pre-flash at all. Any suggestions why?