z-1 flash question...

Hello everyone.
I just recently purchased a Pentax Z-1 on ebay, the camera looks to be in great shape, and will be my first auto focuse camera. (I have mostly used Pentax k-1000 and a KH up until now.) I intend to get the best dedicated flash that I can get for it not too far in the future, but for now I have a nice Quantaray 383 automatic non dedicated flash that has served me well with my manual cameras. while I know that I will be missing out on the TTL metering with this flash, I was still thinking about using it on the z-1 until I can get something better. Can a non dedicated flash such as this be used on the z-1 without damaging it? Any information would be a great help. Thanks!

I've not any personal experience with either device but in general Pentax AF cameras work fine with modern non dedicated flash guns - just set the camera to any shutter speed up to the max flash sync speed (250 on the Z1 I think) and choose your aperture according to the film speed and flash setting and fire away.

I believe there are some issues with (considerably) older electronic flash guns because the voltages are higher and there is apparently a risk of damage to the camera electronics.

Thanks for the reply, I had hoped that would be the case. My Quantaray 383 flash uses 4 "AA" size batteries, the same as most of the more modern flash units that I see around these day. But, it always pays to ask around before using one. Thanks again!

There can be a problem as mentioned with older guns and some SLR cameras due to high trigger voltages however the reports I've seen say that the Pentax cameras are more tolerant than most.

There was a discussion over on dpreview concerning trigger voltages:

here
Hope this helps
Andy