Umbrellas are great
I have a little series going on ePhotozine, e.g.
http://www.ephotozine.com/u16488/gallery/613649
This was done with a Hama £29 umbrella that includes a nice plastic hot-shoe bracket so you can mount directly onto a tripod... plus a large reflector.
(Bought mine from Castle Cameras, look for "Hama Studio brolly white with mounting bracket"

I've often used two wireless guns with umbrellas (again all in manual) and it works a treat.

General guideline for umbrellas is to place it no further away than the diameter of the umbrella (which is very close - just out of shot, NOT six foot away!)

Matt

Tim - yeah, I wish
I'm (very very) fast at typing - but it's just getting the stretch of time when I haven't got 5 million other things happening and several tens of thousand lines of C++ code to debug
Matt

I get the hint
One day... one day... it's forming in the brain slowly
Matt

One important thing I neglected to mention...

On the AF360FGZ you must also do the following:
* Set the "M C S" switch to "S" = Slave
* Put the power switch to the middle position

The Ready/Test LED should blink about once every second. This means it's waiting for the signal.

Maybe I'll do an illustrated guide....
(Along with the Silkypix guide LOL!)
Matt

Gwyn,
You must missing something somewhere... I have it working just fine with my wife's *ist-Ds.
As I said, it even works with a Canon
Matt

(This is from memory...)

You hold down the LIGHT button on the AF360.
Then press the "S" button until "2" shows. That is the dumb slave mode.

You can use either "M" or "A" mode on the flash gun. However, if you have a static set up, I would suggest using the "M" mode, and setting a power level of 1/2 or lower (i.e. 1/4, 1/8 etc).

Now, on the camera, you just use the pop-up flash. If you've used the "M" mode on the flash, then I'd also suggest using the "M" mode on the camera.

* Set the shutter speed to 1/125
* Guess the aperture, say f/8
* Take a test shot.
- If it's too bright, close the aperture more (higher f-number), and/or move the flash further away
- If it's too dark, either open up the aperture (lower f-number), and/or move the flash nearer
* When you've got a correct flash exposure, then you can choose to lower the shutter speed (assuming you use a tripod). This will enable you to balance the flash with the ambient lighting

The general rule is to make sure the AF360 doesn't dump all it's light on the preflash. When making a test shot you can test in this way:
* Put the AF360 on the desk in front of you, pointing to one side
* Take a shot with the K100D
* If you see the pool of light on the shot, then the flash is triggering
* If you see no light from the AF360, check with your eyes and see if it is triggering from the preflash.

Hope that helps!
Matt

EDIT: This shot was taken with the K10D + AF540 with an umbrella and reflector with the method I describe above. Although the K10D supports full wireless, it could easily have been done in dumb mode. In fact... I tested it with a friend's Canon 20D and he was blown away

Welcome aboard
Matt

Fraser,
Yes, panning is required (which takes some practice!)
You'll also need a slooooow shutter speed (probably somewhere between 1/30s). The slower the shutter speed, the harder it is to pan, and the more blur you get.

If you set the camera to "Tv" mode (shutter priority) and select a slow speed that'll get you started (but you'll be limited as to how slow you can go, depending on the ISO rating of the CCD and the ambient light).

Here's a technique (on the sister site, ePhotozine):
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Camera-panning

Hope that helps!
Matt

Mac,
Pentax make the 5P connectors and 5P curly cable that will link the hotshoe to the flash.
In fact, the AF540-FGZ includes the 5P connector in the side so you only need the adaptor for the camera

(There's a thread on here where I, and I think Mannesty, have hacked the old Pentax 4P flash bracket for use with the AF540. Works an absolutely treat. And what's more it supports high-speed sync which is ideal for fill-in flash )

Matt

EDIT: Here are some pictures of the adaptor and cable you need for the AF540:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pentax-Hotshoe-Adaptor-attaches-hotshoe/dp/B00005AB9Y
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pentax-5P-Extension-Cord-1m/dp/B00009UTDF/ref=pd_sim_ce_1/202-2354967-4908604

There's a corresponding adaptor that the flash sits on too (if it's not the AF500 FTZ or AF540 FGZ)...

The full set is here: http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/flashes/index.html
(under "Flash Mounting Adapters"

True I've moved it
Matt