Using a 35mm Flash on a MF camera?

[Bandicoot]

I have a couple of Pentax dedicated flash guns that work with 35mm, the 645, and the 67II. The only thing that you change when you shift from one format to another is what position the flash head zooms to for a given focal length. In other words, where the flash head zooms to a 'medium' angle of coverage when used with a 50mm lens on a 35mm body, it would be at a middling wide position when used with a 50mm lens on 645 and very wide with a 50mm lens on 6x7, or looked at the other way round, it would zoom to the same medium position for 50mm, 75mm and 100mm respectively on the three different bodies.

With a non-dedicated gun you are in exactly the same position: as far as the flash in concerned nothing has changed from one format to another except the angle of coverage that a given focal length represents. And a non-dedicated gun probably isn't labelled in terms of focal lengths anyway but rather terms like 'wide', 'normal' and 'tele'...



Peter

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'm still not convinced of that, and I have a couple of flash-body pairs that do TTL auto flash.

I get more consistent results with pre-calibrated fixed output flash rigs. Choose a magnification, set aperture and, with the 283/VP-1s, power level, aim, and shoot. Nothing simpler.

This all comes down to the old discussion about whether metering incident or reflected is better. In this case, mindless incident seems to give better results than mindless reflected.

That might be. As I say, I've managed without TTL auto flash for years, but many bird photographers who do work with long lenses and fresnel flash extenders like that feature (preferring power over automation I use a primitive Norman flash unit with a tele reflector and determine fill exposure manually using a table I've taped to the reflector and the distance scale on the lens's focusing knob).

[Doug Webb]

I have Nikon flash units that I have used on my Pentax 67, but since the older models, i.e. the "non II" Pentax models don't have a ttl flash feature I have never used my Nikon units ttl with my Pentax 67. One issue that could present a problem is that if you try to use the Nikon units ttl with the Pentax 67 II, there could be a misconnunication in the circuitry that could cause damage to either the flash or body, or possibly both. I am no specialist in electroinics but I have been told that using non-dedicated units can result in damage if used ttl on a body they weren't intended for, or at least that's what was hypothesized to have caused the damage. Whether that means that the Nikon flashes actually would cause damage with a Pentax 67II, I can't answer, and it may not be a sales tactic that the manuals recommend using dedicated units. However, I know from my experience that using them manually or in auto flash mode everything has worked well for me with the Nikon flashes and Pentax 67. Good luck.
Doug Webb

[mawz]

I have Nikon flash units that I have used on my Pentax 67, but since the older models, i.e. the "non II" Pentax models don't have a ttl flash feature I have never used my Nikon units ttl with my Pentax 67. One issue that could present a problem is that if you try to use the Nikon units ttl with the Pentax 67 II, there could be a misconnunication in the circuitry that could cause damage to either the flash or body, or possibly both. I am no specialist in electroinics but I have been told that using non-dedicated units can result in damage if used ttl on a body they weren't intended for, or at least that's what was hypothesized to have caused the damage. Whether that means that the Nikon flashes actually would cause damage with a Pentax 67II, I can't answer, and it may not be a sales tactic that the manuals recommend using dedicated units. However, I know from my experience that using them manually or in auto flash mode everything has worked well for me with the Nikon flashes and Pentax 67. Good luck.
Doug Webb

You'll never be able to use a Nikon flash in TTL with a Pentax camera, TTL circuitry is brand specific at a minimum. And non-dedicated flashes cannot do TTL by definition (Since the dedicated circuitry is what does the TTL control in the first place).

To do TTL flash with a 67II would require a Pentax TTL flash. Luckily the Pentax units are common across the 35mm/645/67 line as long as you know whether you need Analog or Digital TTL (Some units only do one type. Both the current Pentax TTL flashes do both types as well as the P-TTL metering used by the Pentax DSLR's and a couple film bodies like the MZ-S).

My experience is that Nikon flashes work fine in Auto or Manual modes on Pentax SLR's. I've used them with an LX, MZ-5n, *istD and K100D in the past, all TTL capable bodies.

[DaveOttawa]

I don't think anyone has mentioned this but a difference with the Pentax MF SLR is the rather slow sync speed, 1/30S I suspect, thsi will limit the scope for daylight fill use of flash. Otherwise as everyone says an auto or fully manual flash wil work. E.g. I use a Nikon SB22 with a Mamiya 6 RF camera.