Moderator note: corrected the link (you need the http-colon-slash-slash at the beginning!)

I would second the DA*50-135. Best lens I have.
My reduced set is DA12-24, DA*16-50, and DA*50-135. Relatively tiny set but delivers the goods for me

(In that range I have/had 18-55, 18-55WR, DA16-45, DA17-70, and DA*16-50)

A very, very close second is the DA17-70. It's a superb lens, though not WR. I upgraded from that to the DA*16-50, but I'm hankering after the slightly longer reach for a walkabout lens. The DA*16-50 does have a certain "something". Under some circumstances it is a purple-fringing monster, but that all disappears when shooting RAW and using Lightroom lens correction profiles. Mine was calibrated and serviced by JPSS and was improved massively for that. Though, the SDM has occasional issues (think it's actually a sticky clutch rather than SDM - it frees off after use), and I can just about forgive it for that given the image output

Another benefit of the DA17-70 + DA*50-135 combo was they shared 67mm filters
The DA*16-50 is a massive 77mm, that's shared by the DA12-24.

The DA16-85 looks an interesting beast, but would've been more tempting if the aperture was a tad wider. But, having said that, I haven't owned one (yet!).

Just wish I had the health & energy & money (!) to warrant another DA17-70 and/or DA16-85

Matt

Don't pick a fight with the sun

Think this through...
If you intend to underexpose the harsh sunlight, then the rest of the background scene will be underexposed too. You might as well shoot at another time! (e.g. twilight or golden hour). Then you'll find that flash could be genuinely useful (though read on...)

If you are having troubles with harsh sunlight on the model, then you'll have to find a flash with at least the same intensity as the sun Rather than using flash, use a large diffuser panel above the model, and/or a reflector to fill in. Or, find a shaded area under trees, shade etc (a reflector will work wonders too)

If you insist on using flash, then you're going to need an HSS compatible flash (e.g. AF540) and a long all-pins-wired extension cable. (Wireless triggering with two Pentax flashes isn't great in strong sunlight - but then the flash doesn't really have much to add compared to the sun!)

If you don't have reflector panels to hand, experiment with white sheets of polystyrene packaging (e.g. the stuff they put around white good appliances). Diffusion panels can be done with old white sheets etc. Just improvise until you get used to balancing the light.

Worth mentioning too that moving further away from the model and using moderate telephoto will lower the depth of field for a given aperture.

Matt

AFAIK there aren't any

High speed flash requires the flashgun to issue rapid bursts of light as the shutter curtain moves across the frame. The only way to do HSS mode wirelessly is with two AF360/AF540 combination flashguns. Mount one on the camera and use it as a master or controller (master = contributes to the lighting, controller = signalling only).

Can I ask what you're trying to accomplish?
(This may not be you, but many who ask for higher flash sync speeds ask in error )

Matt

Actually, that's an interesting patent... shows that Olympus must've licensed the patent for their cameras using exactly that technology.

As a side point, I'm coming to the conclusion that the MX-1 is largely Olympus - the tilt screen mechanism is identical, and the optics appear the same. It may explain why there's been no firmware update for the MX-1.

It would be nice if that back-ported any new technology into the K3, K5ii/s etc
Matt

Some images:

Before 'hacking'



Notice that R1 is tucked underneath the capacitor at the back left

Close up of R1 + 1kΩ







Triggering Metz 50MZ5 to the left of camera




WARNING
Doing this will invalidate the warranty on the SYK-5 and you may damage yours if you try! I accept ZERO responsibility for your actions (but a 'thank you' would be nice if you are successful )

Just some information for y'all:

Thought I'd give the SYK-5 remote cube a go with the MX-1. Nicely priced around £10 on eBay, but took a while to arrive (from abroad). Apart from the instructions being in Chinese Simplified (thank goodness for the web!), it's quite a nice little device.

However, I've had a few issues - some of which I've resolved.

1. On my ageing AF360-FGZ it would trigger on the "flash" mode (i.e. regular cube mode), but would do nothing reliably on the "red-eye" delayed mode.

2. The MX-1 wouldn't work with it for regular flash, but seemed to for red-eye mode.

So, yesterday and today I pulled apart the SYK-5 and did some electronic analysis

Turns out that they've used a 4013 dual D-type flip flop, which really needs at least 3V to work. The AF360 was supply a trigger voltage of just below 3.2V (effectively starving the circuit on the SYK-5). Hey ho... switch over to the monster Metz 50MZ5 (5V trigger voltage).

Now the K10D triggers properly, with the SYK-5 correctly ignoring the pre flash of P-TTL and firing off on the main flash.

But the MX-1 was a little trickier. So, out came the DSO (Digital Storage Oscilloscope). Turns out the MX-1 has a minute gap of 22ms between pre-flash and flash - and the Seagull can only be adjusted down to 70ms. Some reverse engineering showed that the variable resistor (1MΩ is in series with a 100kΩ resistor (R1), feeding into a 1µF capacitor. It's fiddly work, but certainly possible for those used to working with 0603 SMD (surface mount devices).

Shoving - for want of a better engineering term - a 1kΩ resistor across R1 now means the SYK-5 triggers perfectly off the MX-1

Now all I need is a boost convertor to handle very low trigger voltages off the AF360

Matt

Excellent! Well done.
(Wish I could've seen their faces too )
Matt

Depends what you want to end up with

Try this:
* Add new adjustment layer - "Levels"
* Click Auto for the levels
* Change the layer blend mode from "Normal" to "Luminosity" (this will keep the colours you have)
* Now click back on the adjustment layer - Levels - and I found a tweak of the mid point (to the left) produces a nice result. (around 1.65 - preserves the mist look but gives some more bite)

Thus:



Matt

The custom function on the K10D is called "Release when Chrging" - on custom page 5/6. The default is "1" = Off (Disables shutter release while the built in flash is charging)

Perhaps the flash charge circuit isn't working, and the camera is waiting for it to charge before allowing operation (i.e. never). Unfortunately it's not economically viable to repair

Additionally, the AF330FTZ is not P-TTL compatible (it only has the older film-body TTL flash mode). You'll only be able to use it in fully manual mode (and it only has full power + 16th power settings). It lacks even the "A" mode flash setting, so it's not that useful with the dSLR bodies

Matt