he, he, Sorry.. should have caught this the first time... The Metz doesn't know about PTTL does it?

Are you sure the Metz isn't firing? If you're looking through the view finder you may not notice that the Metz is firing on the PRE-FLASH. Only if there is enough power left would it be able to flash again on the final flash signal from the pop-up. So the camera may simply be taking the photo after the Metz has fired. (Although my statements above still hold true to some extent).

There is no way to turn off the pre-flash (Or is there something new in the k20d?)


Matt seems to have had some better/consistent luck at firing dumb slaves off the pop-up flash, but I've had to resort to buying a cheap dumb (non-PTTL) flash to stick in the hot shoe as the trigger flash.

Depending on how far away and how bright the ambient lighting is, that may be expected for the Pentax flashes as well.

The statement "plays no part in illuminating the scene" isn't totally true. A final signal flash from the pop-up is still required to tell the remotes to fire their intended power. This is small and usually doesn't compare to the other flashes. But if you're up close or facing a reflective surface, you will notice the pop-up signal flash.

Also, since this flash is so dim, it may not be noticed by a flash facing into a large empty space or where the signal flash may not otherwise bounce back bright enough to be notice by the remote flashes.

If this is a common problem, and the heads on the remote flash heads don't swivel, you may be forced to go wired or with some other form of wireless triggers.

Odd behavior to be caused by an anti-virus program. I could see constant slow access, but slow start up seems weird.

Which was it Norton or McAfee? (hate both with a passion for their total disregard for system resources and stability) If another, I'd be interested in putting it on my "stay away" list.

Anyway congrats on finding the cause. Now, how to fix??

Well, being dyslexic just adds to the fun: Its Easy... the front thumb wheel is for shutter speed, the back button is for aperture, or is it the other way around? No that was right, but only for the AV its the other way around for TV modes, and maybe the SaV mode... No wait, that's TaV mode. SaV (salve) is what I put on the sores on my fingers from spinning the wrong thumb wheels all day long. Argh!!!

I think it took me a good while to get used to which was which. The K10D allowing you to configure the wheels helped a lot!!

Anyway, as mentioned, look up how to allow the Aperture ring to be set to other than "A", and you'll likely be happier person.

If you are not using the lens with aperture ring set to "A" that would be expected. The cameras, by default, are set to work only of the aperture ring is in auto.
You either need to do that, or configure the camera to work with aperture ring set to other than "A". This is done through the menus of course but luckily is a one time change.

Hopefully just the filter, as they should be "replaceable". (I believe places will replace them with IR filters for IR photos. So repair should also be possible). Although likely less than replacing the camera or the whole sensor assembly, I would guess the repair is not going to be "cheap".

Radiopoppers sound really nice. Although i haven't followed them closely. Do they work with any PTTL style communication or do you need special version for each manufacturer? I thought they just passed on the pre flashes so I might have to see how those are doing. I am just not that happy with PTTL to begin with and I end up with using manual anyway.

I'll have to check out the link. Although I believe the problem is with too long of a delay rather than too short. The shutter is already closing by the time the skyport triggers the flash.
I get the same results whether the skyport is connected to the 360, the 540, an old dumb flash or to the Elnchrom DLites. And, of course I get full x-sync speed with wired flash, PTTL, or via dumb flash sync methods.

My first choice was Alien bees, but I trusted my local camera shop and went with Elinchrom. Other than them being sold with bad capacitors rendering them useless in under 50 shots, the DLites are quite nice. If that was the only problem I'd be happy. But every day I now wish I would have gone with the Bees and never touche an Elinchrom/Bogen product.
No idea how well the AB remotes work, but they cannot be any worse than Skyports.

I have none available to test but I'd be very interested in hearing how Pocket Wizards work out. I'll tell ya, I'd spend the extra money if they had the advertised range and worked at the camera's sync speed (as slow as it is).

Heck, I'd spend the extra money if they failed miserable, but the support personnel were simply able to understand trivial questions and respond in a reasonable time frame!!

Honestly, I am happy with the Skyports for 75% of what I want to do, but for that, I could have stayed with $30 eBay remotes.

Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing what you find with your K10D.

Had to search the email archives... found the Artist Login area
But as you say, you need to be "invited" to get a login code.

Not dumb.. there is supposed to be an artist section but I cannot find that. There appears to be no link to get there.

I have a few images accepted but stopped using the site because its interface was horribly slow. It seems better now, but now I cant seem to find a way to get in.