I'm sure it will work but as the AF160 is not much more powerful than your onboard flash, which is P-TTL, I'm not sure why you would want to use it as a hammerhead, other than to help eliminate red-eye.

What you have bought is a Hot Shoe Grip and AF400T bracket . . . for a ridiculously low price. Well done.

With the cables pictured you can fit any 3 pin (or fewer) Pentax flash to it.

See this thread for an easy modification to facilitate the use of newer guns, up to, and including, the AF540FGZ.

This image shows the hot shoe of a AF540FGZ. When compared to an older analogue interface flash, you'll notice the additional electrical contact at top left. These newer flashes also have a locking pin which you can see at top right. The remaining pins are in the same configuration as older flashes like the AF280T.




This image shows the modification to a hot shoe grip that is necessary to be able to mount newer flashes to the grip using a 5P Extension Cord and a 5P Hot Shoe Adapter. Without this mod. the additional pin is grounded by the anodized aluminium base of the hot shoe and causes the flash to malfunction.




To accomplish this, I first drilled a pilot hole in the correct place in the aluminium plate. Then I used a modelling grinder to widen and deepen the hole to a point where the additional pin of the flash made no contact with anything once it was pushed fully home. The blue tint is marker pen, my attempt at cleaning the job up a bit.

Mattmatic's instructions for achieving this can be found here. I didn't find it necessary to disassemble the grip, just don't drill too deeply.

I stated in a previous post that if you want P-TTL to work, the AF540FGZ is the only option. That's not strictly true because you could use the grip with an Off-Camera Adapter and mount an AF360FGZ, and presumably, any other P-TTL capable flash.

I hope that clarifies the issue.

I'll take some pics later and post them here.

adamjt7's post shows the lens to be a SMC Pentax-F 50mm 1:1.7 which would indicate it's an AF lens. The post also shows that the lens has been repaired.

Your hot shoe grip can be fairly easily modified to facilitate the use of flashes having the 5P socket on them.

If you go this route and want P-TTL you have one option, the Pentax AF540FGZ.

Flashes having a digital interface (AF400FTZ, AF240FT, AF500FTZ, AF360/540FGZ and others) have an extra pin on their hot shoe.

To modify your Hotshoe Grip, drill and/or grind a hole in its hotshoe mount to allow this extra pin to be totally isolated from the remaining part of the metalwork. Get yourself a 5P extension cord with 5P Hotshoe adapter and a flash equipped with a 5P socket and you have a TTL/Manual/Auto Hammerhead flash. Use a AF540FGZ and you have a P-TTL Hammerhead.

I've done it, Matt's done it, and it works fine. The hotshoe can still be used as originally intended too so nothing to lose really.

NOTE: If your subject is within 4 metres you don't need the cable and adapter because you can use wireless flash. Cable is better because all the zoom functions etc. work as if the flash was camera mounted.

Yes, it is a bit oaky, I agree. A couple of names that should be readily available in UK are Faustino VII and Campo Vieja. Both reasonably priced, mass produced wines.

Totana today . . . is quite cold (compared to normal, not Quebec) at 13 degrees C.

Tip for Roscoe: When you quote a post, just add your own comments after the quote. There's no need to post twice.

Macro at 35mm is way too close for living subjects I feel. 50mm is also too close, I prefer 100mm at least.

35/50mm is OK for static subjects.

If you turn off the option to use AF on half press of the shutter button you then have what Matt calls "AF on demand". AF is invoked by pressing the aptly named button on the back of the camera. In this setup the shutter will fire, even if focus is not confirmed in much the same way as if the switch on the front were set to MF.