For outdoors I purchased the cheap option. Yongnuo YN560IV (built in receivers) with TX560 controller. (remote control of guns,1/3 stop accuracy) Again they work fine with a bit of set up time.. Still no HSS or fancy curtain syncs. But frankly im not really at that level.

Not 100% on the RQ250. but isn't that going to be a very expensive version of the Godox AD200 ?

Lol.... "That doesn't sound entirely convincing . " it really was..!!

I've a lot of time for your exploits as its an area I enjoy very much. (Though im not exactly expert at it..) And read with great interest. Good to try and sort out some of the ups and downs together..

From my experience you have to make compromises in which ever system you try and adopt. More so with Pentax..lol So you just go with the one that suits best..

In your case the moving subject matter is ideal for a TTL flash system. And your correct to base it on the Keylight and then use stop adjustments for the ancillary lights.. Its now also a great time to use flash guns as you can now fit more studio like modifiers to them thanks to the Chinese bringing out various brackets... So get rid of that bloody shoot through umbrella...lol Sorry couldnt resist..! Light shaping is in my mind just as if not more important than the emitter or system.

I use a manual system of 5 Bowens studio lights. Because when I purchased them there were no TTL options of any brand available for Pentax. Never regretted the purchase. Though they don't provide HSS, and outdoor use is near impossible due to the weight. So another type of system is still needed. Remain to be convinced that Flash guns are powerful enough outdoors.

Pentax have a fabulous gun in their versions of the AF540FGZ or 360. But until now nothing to fire it with off camera. Even the K3II and K1 don't have pop up flash triggers. So starting out with Pentax is a complete non starter.

I havn't been totally wary of the cactus system. I would prefer a trigger that only supported the Pentax variant. PTTL not TTL. But being from Lancashire I guess I just thought at £80 per trigger, its too expensive. My manual studio light trigger cost £6 and work perfectly. Though you do have to walk over to the light now and again to turn the power up and down.

I have been admiring the Phottix system for a while. They even list SRS as a supplier. Though checking their website they only show Canon or Nikon variants for sale.

TTL is a great feature if you need an instant shot. (Newspaper reporter) For off camera I still think its a very expensive alternative that needs just as much setting up. For the same reward.

Yongnuo and Godox have conquered the amateur market. We just havn't seen it because they choose to ignore the size of market or the difficulties in adopting P-TTL

Look good. But ill leave it to the macro girls n boys to judge properly..

Plenty of life in the K3 yet in my view....

So happy it all worked out for you Nigel.

Hi there...Welcome to the forum...

saved the best till last but all great results. Looks a very enjoyable day out...

Again nice images Nigel.. In fact I actually prefer these to the first set... I've no idea how bright the sunlight was. But looking at your settings i'm assuming you would have killed most of the ambient light. You also must have had your keylight pretty close as you have a very shallow DoF for f8. Which explains the more flash light look. What white balance did you select ? Flash is usually colour balanced to match approx midday daylight. So depending on what time of day you took these. Your daylight colour temperature may have needed to be reset. Or we then could get into the realms of CTO and CTB gels on the flash heads to balance the difference in light temperatures.. But im also assuming a man of your calibre already knows this....!

ok going to show my ignorance. But what is Lens ID - 8 64 ?

So glad you said "Hello" I'm so envious of your forthcoming trip... If not carrying the camera gear so much....lol