Two flashguns at the same time?

I have a job coming up where I will need all the flash power I can get (daughters graduation ceremony) Because it's a "one off" I don't want to spend more money than necessary. On an *istD can I use a Pentax AF400FTZ on the hot shoe and an additional hammerhead (Sunpack 4205G) off the co-ax socket at the same time.
I don't think auto operation is going to come into it. In the De-Montfort hall I think it's going to be lens wide open, flashes at max power and adjust the ASA rating by doing some trial exposures to get a picture.
Stuart Winsor

I'd be inclined to set the ISO at 800, then see if you have enough light to stop down a bit. 800 on the *ist D is surprisingly good, but 1600 is pretty awful.
G

The direct camera output maybe. I regularly use ISO1600 and even ISO3200.
When I used to use JPG, I used NeatImage to clean up the noise (I even provided the *ist-D profiles to NeatImage).
Now I use RAW and Capture One LE, the results are, quite frankly, amazing. I've used other RAW convertors, and these produce good results, but I've always had to run them through NeatImage too. C1LE has some great noise reduction built in (and automatic hotspot removal too).

So, I'd say, shoot RAW. If you don't have a convertor, use RAWShooter Essentials from www.pixmantec.com - if you upgrade to something else, you always have the RAW file to work from.

Additionally, shooting RAW will give you another one or two stops of margin (because it is 12-bits per pixel, not 8-bits) which allows you to correct on the PC, even if the original image is underexposed

Matt

Interesting.

I have had mixed results with various RAW convertors. Although PS Elements 3 is quite good, I hate the interface. Pixmantec's Raw Shooter gives me worse results (using the *ist D) than Pentax's latest software.

I don't want to spend hours editing my pictures, nor millions buying the absurdly over-priced PS CS, so at the moment I am generally shooting JPEG. Since my pictures are seldom printed, this works fine.

However, next time I want to shoot in low light I'll give RAW a try.

G

I quite agree. Very "dumbed down"
I found it very noisy, especially on high ISO. But, with a bit of practise I got pretty pleasing results at low ISO. It took time, though, and a couple of reads through the guide to get the right idea.

Capture One LE, IMHO, is the convertor You can download and try it for 15days. Pretty reasonably priced too, at $99. www.ephotozineshop.com did have a copy in the mail order return section for £49 - a snip. Worth checking out their bargain sections from time to time. Again, C1LE took just a little time to master, but the results are MUCH faster. Last year I took some school panto photos in JPG. Spent hours cleaning them up with NeatImage, getting rid of hot pixels etc. This year, I shot RAW and used C1LE. Had the whole thing in the can in about 30 to 45 minutes. Couldn't believe it - and everyone else was stunned with the result (Some examples are on my ePhotozine portfolio.)

Matt

Thanks for that, Matt. I know I should get into RAW, but the practicalities have been putting me off.

I've just bought my first 2GB memory card. Now I need a USB2 card reader and I'll be ready.

And Capture 1, of course. Thank goodness for Mr Bush destroying the value of the dollar.

G

No problem George Once you've used RAW you'll wonder what on earth you did before!
Matt