There's always hope
I have suggested this - before the wireless option came in the K10D. Whether they'll see it as an advantage now I don't know
Matt

Chris,
Not quite

The Pentax guns support wireless P-TTL, High Speed Sync (with the *ist-D or two guns, but not the K10D popup alas). Wireless P-TTL works a treat.

But, yes, for studio work in fully manual mode, the preflash is a pain.

Matt

It depends what you are doing...

For small portrait/still life work then you can use any flash really. I would always suggest using fully manual mode (both camera and flash) as it's by far the most predictable.

However, that said, here's my list of plus points (apply to both AF360FGZ and AF540FGZ unless otherwise stated):

* High speed sync. (Synchronisation beyond 1/180s) Excellent for fill in flash outdoors.

* Wireless control. With the K10D and *ist-D you can trigger the guns from the popup flash unit on the camera. Brilliant and amazingly useful (which is why "no swivel" on the AF360 is not such a let down when you have this!)

* Tether option for AF540. With the appropriate (fairly expensive) cable and adapter you can mount the AF540 on a bracket and have full control. The AF540 has a Pentax 5P connector in the side.

* Built in catch light panel (even better when used in high speed sync mode outdoors for fill in)

* Auto zoom (when on camera or tethered)

Apart from that, the flash guns are very nicely built and have a good range of features.

I've had various guns in the past, but now have the AF540 and AF360 and can heartily recommend them

Matt

Third party normally say "Pentax K" or "PK" and "Pentax Autofocus" = "PAF".

Some have said good things about the Sigma EX lenses - but they are not that cheap, especially the f2.8 glass.

To be honest, if you want "fast" telephoto glass then you'll have to remortgage e.g. a 300mm f2.8 won't come cheap

On the other hand, with the ISO being easily usable up to around ISO800, and depending on your subject, something like the Pentax SMC-FA 80-320 will be an excellent lens - expect to pay around £85 second hand.

If I were you, I would start with something like that to master your techniques and then decide what lenses you should seriously invest in - because that could easily end up being a few thousand quid

EDIT: Do note, that fast glass does not necessarily equal top notch photos

Matt

Well, that does it... I'm getting a Canon 5D and L series lenses.



LOL!
Yeah, right
Matt

Back from holiday Trying to catch up with the couple of thousand messages that have filled up Thunderbird

What's the full specs on the machine George? Things like: version of Windows, CPU type, amount of memory, which antivirus, any other plug-ins etc (and have you loaded the Microsoft RAW thumbnail viewer or anything else like that?).

Additionally, a screen capture and/or JPG with the stripes may help, along with the original PEF - email them to me and I'll see what I can discover

Matt

Looks nasty
So far I've only ever seen this when a card fails. Seem to remember Lexar once shipped some card testing software... but there might be something on the web

Hope you pin it down George!

Matt

Thanks Pete
I reckon it partly comes down to nearly 30 years of photographic experience

But, on the HDR side - I mentioned the technique on the comments of that image, and have also repeated it here:

1. Take shots 2EV apart. Don't adjust the aperture - just the shutter speed. In fact, I used the K10D's auto bracket feature and used Av mode.

2. Use a decent tripod if you want it not to be blurred.

3. Processed each frame in Silkypix into JPG. I worked out the settings on the mid-exposure shot, then copied and pasted exactly the same settings to the others

4. Pulled into Artizen to merge into HDR

5. Although I could have tone mapped in Artizen, I chose to export from Artizen and do the tone mapping in Photoshop.

Once again, it comes down to self-control and knowing what you want to achieve.... and experience too

Don't get frustrated - you're learning

Matt

Pete,
This is one of mine: http://www.ephotozine.com/u16488/gallery/493662

And here are some of Keith Henson's:
http://www.ephotozine.com/u14570/gallery/498144 (slightly hard tone-mapping)
http://www.ephotozine.com/u14570/gallery/482660 (probably one of the best, IMHO)
http://www.ephotozine.com/u14570/gallery/475918

It's really the St Helen's Square that should show you what I mean by "holding back" on the tone mapping.

And, as I said, Artizen is one of the only HDR pieces of software that allows you to choose the TMO (Tone Mapping Operator). Choosing the right operator is a big part of the skill... and some images just don't tone map well with any of them

Matt

But when using HDR it often indicates too aggressive tone mapping
The main art to HDR tone mapping is moderation. When you start using it you want to include everything in the image with complete shadow and brightest highlights. You need to pull back until you can't tell it's HDR (unless you know what you're looking for).

Pete - this attempt is much better than the first, but you still need to pull back more.

I could rustle up some examples that show what I mean...

Matt