Not really. I use a simple (ground and +ve terminal only) cord to trigger an old manual Braun flash. No fancy P-TTL, but it's simplicity itself so there's not really much to go wrong. We're only talking about a length of wire and some plastic with a couple of metal contacts - no printed circuit boards or delicate parts.

I also use a Pentax AF360 in wireless mode and vary the set up depending on what I want to achieve. If I want to use both flashes then I trigger the Braun via the cord and set the AF360 to "dumb slave" mode so that the Braun triggers it when it goes off. I can use the cable to trigger the AF360 remotely too, but I obviously lose all the P-TTL functions that way (not such a big deal as digital allows you to keep experimenting until you get the settings "just so" anyway).

I stand by my earlier assertion; you don't "need" this stuff but it can open up more options to you depending on what you want to achieve.

Another interesting read - thanks for the link

Correct. And the Prinzflex 500E was a re-badging of the Zenit E, so more of the same but with the addition of a selenium meter built into a modified top plate.

In fact under the skin all those Zenits were basically running on a chassis which was a direct copy of a Leica III (but which had had a mirror box / pentaprism added), hence the limited number of shutter speeds compared to contemporary rivals.

Prinzflex was a Dixons brand and they re-badged many cameras from many manufacturers, including both Zenit B and E models according to Camerapedia.org.

I've got a broken Prinzflex 500 (Zenit B) sat in my spares box; the plastic nameplate on the front of the prism is literally glued over the top of the existing "Zenit" engraving - not exactly a subtle conversion!

Wireless isn't always 100% reliable as it requires the slave flash to be able to "see" the master flash (so lighting around corners can be tricky if not impossible, depending on the set up). By using wired connections you take any guesswork out by having a solid hardware connection between camera and flash. It also allows you to use older (dumb) flashes off-camera in their manual modes, and it allows you to take off-camera flash pictures without having to raise the pop-up flash (which drains the camera's battery, even if you have it set not to contribute to the scene).

So no, you don't "need" this stuff but it can provide you with more options which for some folk may suit their style of shooting better.

Rollei 35B - a hand-me-down from my Dad. Many other cameras have come and gone since then but I still have the "baby" Rollei and ran film through it as recently as last year.

Happy 2010 everybody - may the light always shine where you point your cameras

Didn't notice it was the FA - my bad!

I still don't think the D-FA50 will get updated though, however good its optical credentials are. It's just too close to the DA35 in terms of focal length and features for Pentax to be making both. Now if only they could be persuaded to divert that part of the factory into making a new 200mm Macro...

Rain, rain, more rain and a hint of yellowy-grey light...

[IMG]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd37/hefty1969/competition%20stuff/IMGP3367.jpg[/IMG]

K10D | FA77 | f/4 | 1/10sec | ISO200
Taken 30 December 2009

One of my top predictions for 2010 - I expect to see such a lens in the shops before Summer is out