Brent Hutto wrote: > What does it mean if a flash is "dedicated for Pentax" versus a > regular old non-TTL generic flash? I have a Sunpak 383 Super that > works well in manual or automatic mode on my ZX-M. There was in > the past a model 433D that has similar specifications but was > "dedicated". In what way would it work differently on my ZX-M?
Hi Brent, I've got a Sunpak 433D that's dedicated for Pentax. You'll notice two pins on the bottom of the shoe -- the center one is used to actually fire the flash, and the offset one is a contact that the flash uses to tell the camera body that the flash is ready. When you turn on the 433D, the flash will turn on its green "Ready" light and apply a small voltage (~4V, IIRC) to this offset pin when the capacitors are fully charged and the flash is ready to fire. A camera body that has a corresponding offset hotshoe contact -- and thus recognizes this offset pin -- will do two things. First, the body will recognize that a flash is attached when it senses this applied voltage. Second, the body will automatically set the shutter to sync speed when it senses this applied voltage. My MZ-50 has the necessary hotshoe contact to take advantage of this dedicated feature. I think the ZX-M also has this hotshoe contact, but I'm not sure. Hope this helps. Bill Peifer Rochester, NY - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
