Like some others in this forum, I've taken advantage of the PC World offer on the AF360FGZ, wanting to use off-camera flash and hoping that a Pentax model would work happily with the camera. Now I'm struggling to understand how this flashgun works, particularly in off-camera modes with my K-x - and I've not found the manual very helpful. In particular, I can't get the AF360FGZ to fire wirelessly, though it works fine when attached to the camera. Before I consider sending it back as faulty, can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong?

PC World would seem to be clearing old stock, as the instruction booklet dates from 2003 and has no references to digital cameras. The more recent (2010) version on the Japanese site does include references to digital cameras, including my K-x. There's also a wireless flash video on the US site - though it's quite complex and after a while hearing the poor guy repeat the instruction to set the channel becomes rather trying. (It would be good if Pentax could co-ordinate their web sites better so this information was easier to find.)

Of course there's the very helpful post at the head of this forum - but it doesn't quite address my problem.

Here's what I have done, seemingly following the instructions in both the K-x manual and the AF360FGZ booklet:

Set the channel on both flash and camera (the camera registers the same channel as the flash - I've tried both 1 and 2).

Set flash mode to wireless.

Remove flash and set up nearby, with power switch on wireless setting, wireless mode on flash set to S (slave) and wireless slave mode set to Slave 1. (This last setting is a far from intuitive; I quote from the manual: 'Slide the setting switch up. Press the LCD panel illumination button (LIGHT) for 2 seconds or more. SLAVE1 will be displayed. Pressing the select button (S) switches between 1 and 2.[...] Press the LCD panel illumination button (LIGHT) to finish setting.')

In wireless mode, I can only get the AF360FGZ to fire when set to Slave 2, not slave 1 - but then only A & M modes can be set on 360FGZ, not P-TTL. In fact, this just seems to make the flashgun behave as a dumb slave, which is not what I thought I was paying for.

Here are a couple of supplementary questions:

Can the AF360FGZ be set to operate in contrast control mode wirelessly?

How should I set built-in flash when in contrast-control (or other wireless modes): as master or control? It seems that setting it to control just fires a test flash from the camera, not enough to illuminate the subject. But still doesn't set off the remote AF360FGZ.

Any advice gratefully received - thanks!