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Archive 2011 · Need a flash and trigger question...

  
 
bigkidneys
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Need a flash and trigger question...


I currently have a Pentax K5 and Fuji X100 that I want to start using with an off camera flash setup and possibly onboard. This may be a stupid question but are there any flashes made that could possibly be used for both cameras onboard? I was thinking on getting a yongnuo flash and trigger set to use mainly outdoors for portraits of my teens but confused and wondering if I can get a yongnuo 565 flash for say a canon or Nikon to use but just not mount it in my hotshoe on my cameras? I see they make some for Pentax but not fuji? Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.

Jason



Dec 22, 2011 at 02:36 PM
BrianO
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Need a flash and trigger question...


If you can use them in manual mode, just about any flash will work in the hot shoes of both cameras, as well as off camera with inexpensive, trigger-only radios.

If you want advanced automatic flash, then it's another matter, because each manufacturer has its own code system, hot shoe pin arrangement, etc., and so flashes become brand-dependent. (About the only exception is Nikon and some Fujis using the same system, because Fuji used to use Nikon-based bodies.)

I don't know how you use them, of course, but if it were me, I'd use the X100 mostly for street photography-style shooting and candids, and the K5 for more-planned shooting and for action work. So I'd get a Pentax-compatible flash to take advantage of the K5's TTL Autoflash features, and use manual flash with the X100 on those times when available light and/or the built-in flash weren't enough.

(Actually, I would have a dedicated camera-brand flash for each, but I think you know what I mean.)



Dec 23, 2011 at 02:11 AM
bigkidneys
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Need a flash and trigger question...


Thanks Brian. I originally had the Pentax 540 flash the first time I had a K5 but never used it and sold it. May get another but was looking at the cheaper yongnuo flashes. I doubt I will use it much so didn't want to invest too much into a light setup.


Dec 23, 2011 at 02:47 AM
BrianO
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Need a flash and trigger question...


bigkidneys wrote:
...I doubt I will use it much so didn't want to invest too much into a light setup.


Unless you work with flash quite a bit, manual flash can be tricky because you need to keep track of changing distances and f-stops, and calculate power settings on the fly.

One option that would give automatic flash on both cameras would be to get a flash with a built-in auto sensor, instead of relying on flash-to-camera communication. You set the flash to whatever aperture you're using, and it then adjusts the flash power based on the reflected light. It's not quite the same as through-the-lens flash automation, but it works quite well, and some photographers prefer it to TTL.

I'm not up on all the modern flash units that can do this, but the good old Vivitar 285HV can, and they can be had brand new for about $90. After the brand was aquired by a new company there was a period where there were some quality-control issues, but I think those have been mostly straightened out, since I don't read as many reports about faulty units as I did for a while.

Here's a link to B&H's site, and that would be a good place to get one since they have such good customer service and support for the products they sell:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/61441-REG/Vivitar_233965_285HV_Flash.html

Now that I have both a Canon 580EX and a Canon 430EX II I don't use my Vivitar 285HV as much as I used to, but I still pull it out when I need a third light, and it works just as well as it always has.




Dec 23, 2011 at 03:23 AM
Sami Ruusunen
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Need a flash and trigger question...


I recommend LumoPro 160 manual flash, lot of power in affordable package. Very easy to use and they have very good optical slave so you don't have to use radio triggers.

I've been using cactus V4 radio triggers for a year now, they've been working flawlessly though some users have reported some problems.



Dec 23, 2011 at 03:44 AM





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