Indeed.
And, of course, for A mode flash to work properly the distance between the flash "eye" and subject has to be the same as between subject and camera.

So, M mode (as usual) fits the bill very nicely for studio stuff.

Comes down to one of my often quoted "Things should be as simple as possible, but not any simpler"! (See here.)

Matt

Polchraine: Actually, flash memory used in SD cards has finite write cycles. Read cycles are practically infinite (Give or take a few little details)
And even then, the wear leveling technology between the "drive" interface and the flash is extremely good. So, even though the OS may think it's writing to the same sectors - it actually isn't

In practice, flash based hard drives out perform real hard drives, and can out last them as well!! At the moment they're more expensive, but the price is coming down as demand increases

(I could bore you all silly with flash technology stuff - it's my day job )
Matt

Yup! Page 24, under "AF540/AF360: A mode", and page 26 "M mode". There's a small reference to "Triggering dumb slaves" on page 25 too!


It's not just P-TTL George
There's A and M mode in there aplenty! It's entitled "MattMatic's Pentax dSLR Flash Guide" - not P-TTL guide

Definitely agree about the choice of when to use P-TTL and when to use Manual

Matt

(Just quickly read the thread and replies... please excuse me if I repeat anything :blush

To trigger optical slaves you must put the 36PZF into either "A" or "M" modes - it'll emit one flash in those modes

The only way you can do that is by putting the camera into "M" mode. Then you can press the mode button on the flash to get either A or M.

If you're in a studio setup then "M" on flash and "M" on camera is by far the easiest setup

Or... you can use IR or radio triggers (but in those cases, use "M" mode on the camera).
Matt

One thing I noticed - they said that the K7 had lower DR compared to competitors. They said it a few times.

That should read only compared to Canon. Check out the graphs
The Nikon had lower overall DR, and couldn't handle the shadows, but had better highlights.

Still, for DPR that's a positive review for a Pentax

Matt

When I started making some money from photography I checked my home insurance and found it did not cover professional use So, I shopped around and went with Aaduki. They also offered public liability at a reasonable price.
EDIT: Didn't need itemising either (only required for individual items in excess of £1k)

The terms are very good (probably as a result of a £150 excess), but they've been very friendly, informative, and helpful. Thankfully I haven't had to make a claim... so I can't comment on how well things turn out in a catastrophy!

Hope that helps!
Matt

Just an update on the "How does the camera know how much light" question:

As George points out, the light sensor in the body of the flash unit measures the reflected light to judge how much light to release. If you put a diffuser, or bounce the flash, the "eye" of the flash still points towards the subject.

Just make sure that the "eye" isn't obscured. If, for instance, you put a huge oversized diffuser on the flash that covered the xenon tube AND the "eye" then the result will be overexposure for the camera (because the camera sensor and "eye" will be looking at the subject in different ways).

Likewise, if the flash is mounted off-camera, the "eye" still must point towards the subject.

Additionally, if the subject is very close, or very far away, then the angle of view through the flash's "eye" could be very different from the view for the camera - and exposure issues could result.

Matt

Michal,
Slow and Trailing sync are related - they both work with slow shutter speeds. However, Trailing Curtain sync fires the flash at the end of the shutter (so it goes off just before the trailing curtain of the shutter closes). Normal slow sync will open the leading curtain then fire the flash.

It's helpful to think of the design of the shutter unit as a hole with two "blinds". Before you press the button to take the image, both blinds (or curtains) are at the top. When you hit the button, the leading blind drops - opening the sensor (or film) to the image. After the timer expires, the trailing curtain/blind will fall - stopping light from falling on the sensor.

Once the image is taken, both curtains travel to the top of the shutter mechanism to be ready for the next shot.


Being able to do trailing curtain sync is a function of the flash unit itself, not the camera The interaction with a basic flash unit works like this:
* Leading curtain falls
* Flash contacts are shorted
* Timer
* Flash contacts are released
* Trailing curtain falls

Normally the flashgun will fire when the contacts are shorted - leading curtain sync.
With appropriate electronics in the flashgun itself it can be set to fire the light when the flash contacts are released (having been shorted first).

Does that makes sense? (Sorry if it's waffly )
Matt

You could always try ringing Asahi Photo or Harrow Technical and see what they say
EDIT: Whoops! Crossed in the ether with smc
Matt

Have used tablets for more than 15 years
After a bad start, I only use Wacoms - just the cheaper Graphire and Volito.
Even my laptop tablet PC has a Wacom digitizer in the LCD (Tosh M200).
Couldn't work without a tablet!
Matt