Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

On 29/01/08, mike wilson, discombobulated, unleashed: >AF280T. It has a screw-ring system to "lock" it to the camera. Except >it isn't really locked, just held by friction. As the friction is >created by a screw thread, there has to be a serious amount of >unscrewing to really loosen the flash.

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

> > From: Cotty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 2008/01/29 Tue AM 12:13:20 GMT > To: "pentax list" > Subject: Re: Success! (Was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.) > > On 28/01/08, William Robb, discombobulated, unleashed: > > >The pin th

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

On 1/28/08, Cotty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 28/01/08, William Robb, discombobulated, unleashed: > > >The pin that locks the thing onto the camera is the part that should be made > >shearable, if they want to prevent damage. The part that Paul was having > >trouble with can only be made of pla

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

nt: Monday, January 28, 2008 5:28 AM Subject: Success! (Was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.) > Success! > I was able to remove the screws with a long thin Phillips screwdriver > from my box. They weren't very tight. Once inside it was obvious that > the external plastic p

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

On 28/01/08, William Robb, discombobulated, unleashed: >The pin that locks the thing onto the camera is the part that should be made >shearable, if they want to prevent damage. The part that Paul was having >trouble with can only be made of plastic for cost cutting reasons, and to >give their r

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

On 28/01/08, Paul Stenquist, discombobulated, unleashed: >The flash will still have to go to Pentax for repair >(or alternatively I could order the part). But I think it's still >under warranty. So this would be a good time to post this...

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

- Original Message - From: "Bob Sullivan" Subject: Re: Success! (Was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.) > ...or is it made of plastic so it breaks before doing more serious damage? > The pin that locks the thing onto the camera is the part that should be

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

-- Original message -- From: "William Robb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > - Original Message - > From: "Brendan MacRae" > Subject: Re: Success! (Was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.) > > > > &g

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

...or is it made of plastic so it breaks before doing more serious damage? On Jan 28, 2008 2:05 PM, William Robb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > - Original Message - > From: "Brendan MacRae" > Subject: Re: Success! (Was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash insepar

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

...or is it made of plastic so it breaks before doing more serious damage? On Jan 28, 2008 2:05 PM, William Robb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > - Original Message - > From: "Brendan MacRae" > Subject: Re: Success! (Was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash insepar

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

- Original Message - From: "Brendan MacRae" Subject: Re: Success! (Was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.) > > I think we've determined a major Achilles Heel of the > 540 flash. Pentax engineers take note :-[ > > I wonder how much more it woul

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Good news, Paul. I've noticed that only one of the locking pin mechanisms on my two flashes is working. Based on your story, I should take apart the one that's in-op and check for broken pieces before using it again. I'll see about ordering the replacement part(s). If I get the part number(s), I'

Re: Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Terrific Paul, glad you got it open and off. Now I wonder how Pentax justifies this on a $450 flash unit? Regards, Bob S. On Jan 28, 2008 5:28 AM, Paul Stenquist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Success! > I was able to remove the screws with a long thin Phillips screwdriver > from my box. They were

Success! (Was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Success! I was able to remove the screws with a long thin Phillips screwdriver from my box. They weren't very tight. Once inside it was obvious that the external plastic pin had broken off the plastic strut to which it was attached. The strut is retained on the metal locking pin by two nuts

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

David Savage escribió: > Check this post from DPReview: > > > > And this page to better illustrate what's supposed to happen: > > > I have an AF360FGZ flash

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Hi Paul I had the same problem with my K10D and AF540. I too thought I would need a right-angle screwdriver but found that a regular driver with an unusually long shaft was sufficient to get the right angle to remove the screws while on the body. The mechanism had broken that links the friction

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Try something real thin, like a feeler gauge, but try thin plastic first like the plastic from a gift card or similar. Slip it under to try to unlock the pin. On 1/27/08, Paul Stenquist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yes, it's true. I mounted the 540 flash on the K10D this afternoon in > an effort

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Paul, The 4 screws that hold the male shoe onto the bottom of the flash are sized Phillips #0. If you can find a 1/4 inch ratchet wrench, a 6 inch extension rod, and a #0 Phillips head socket, you can get the bottom off and release the pin. Sears used to carry that stuff... Regards, Bob S. On Ja

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks David. I think my best bet is to unscrew the base. However, I'm going to need an L-shaped screwdriver. If I can't find one, perhaps I can torch a standard unit and bend it. But I'm sure I can retract the pin if I can unscrew the base of the flash. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 10:00 PM, Dav

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

On Jan 27, 2008, at 19:47, Joseph Tainter wrote: > Paul, I don't have time to go through all the posts on this, so > perhaps > you already know what follows. > > This is a well-known fault, and discussions of it can be found at > dpreview. Dpreview's search function is nearly useless when it wor

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

There's a small bump on the top edge of the fixing collar that comes in contact with this "release" pin. When you move the collar all the way to the released position it litterally pushes this pin all the way up, which moves in concert with the locking pin below releasing it. Take another look. Re

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks Bob. I don't think I've broken it. I think it's jammed up inside the flash. That seems to be the root of this problem. Others have reported the same. I will have to remove the four screws. But first I have to make or find an L-shaped screwdriver. The camera body precludes using a nor

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

gt; Keep working it back and forth Paul. > The shoe's fit is tight, but you don't have the inside pin engaged if > the outside one is up. > > Regards, Bob S. > > > On Jan 27, 2008 8:30 PM, William Robb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> - Original

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Paul, I don't have time to go through all the posts on this, so perhaps you already know what follows. This is a well-known fault, and discussions of it can be found at dpreview. Dpreview's search function is nearly useless when it works, and often it doesn't. But there is a way to use Google t

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks Bill. It's not there. Looks like I ship it to Pentax. Have to do a shoot next week first. I'll just do it with the flash in place. Then off it goes to Colorado. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 9:30 PM, William Robb wrote: > > - Original Message - > From: "Paul

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks Bob. Seems like I'm screwed. Package to Pentax. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 9:39 PM, Bob Sullivan wrote: > OK, from the back of the camera... > Pin pattern is > > pv >v > vv > > My error, the pin is in the front left seen from behind. > Obviously, the cowling on the K10D front prec

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Paul, Looking at the DPreview picture, have you broken the outside/black pin? If so, you're SOL. You'll have to pull the 4 screws that hold the shoe onto the flash. Regards, Bob S. On Jan 27, 2008 9:00 PM, David Savage <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Check this post from DPReview: > >

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

om outside/above the shoe. Keep working it back and forth Paul. The shoe's fit is tight, but you don't have the inside pin engaged if the outside one is up. Regards, Bob S. On Jan 27, 2008 8:30 PM, William Robb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > - Original Message ----- >

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Check this post from DPReview: And this page to better illustrate what's supposed to happen: HTH Cheers, Dave On Jan 28, 2008 6:20 AM, Paul Stenquist <[EM

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Paul, You would have to go in from the back and push past the back left pin, ie. Front | | | p v| | v | | v v | | | Back Bob On Jan 27, 2008 8:22 PM, Paul Stenquist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks Bob. > Can you tell if th

Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Unfortunately, the issue is the extremely poor design of the basic ISO shoe, not the additions to it. Adaptors are possible (and in fact Minolta used to make them for its cameras) but a new shoe design would need to be a clean sheet design (Or just license Sony's shoe, IIRC it's actually a publishe

Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Well I like the idea that my flashes will work with manual focus film cameras and autofocus digital cameras, at least to some extent. Now designing an flash shoe that has superior mounting characteristics and is backward compatible would work for me. Mark Erickson wrote: > Well, > > There you

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

- Original Message - From: "Paul Stenquist" Subject: Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable. > Thanks Bob. > Can you tell if there's any way to even touch the pin when the flash > is on the camera? I can't see it. You could try a feeler guage,

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

OK, from the back of the camera... Pin pattern is pv v vv My error, the pin is in the front left seen from behind. Obviously, the cowling on the K10D front precludes access to that part of the shoe. The good news is that the hole is oversized. The pin OD is probably 75% of the hole O

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

- Original Message - From: "Paul Stenquist" Subject: Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable. > Don't see it. With the flash in the locked position, I see only black > plastic above the locking collar at the front of the flash. Ditto > below it as well. Ba

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks Bob. Can you tell if there's any way to even touch the pin when the flash is on the camera? I can't see it. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 9:13 PM, Bob Sullivan wrote: > Paul, > > I took a close look at the flash. > The pin arrangement looks like a 5 spot on a dice cube. > v v > v > v p

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Paul, I took a close look at the flash. The pin arrangement looks like a 5 spot on a dice cube. v v v v p The locking pin is the front right spot on the mounted flash foot. The pin is entirely spring loaded, ie. rolled into the locked position, the pin sticks out but can be pushed flat and

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Don't see it. With the flash in the locked position, I see only black plastic above the locking collar at the front of the flash. Ditto below it as well. Banging on the housing and working the lever have had no effect. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 5:27 PM, Brendan MacRae wrote: > Paul, > > I jus

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Tried banging and hanging the camera upside down. No luck. To remove the four screws, I need a special 90 degree screwdriver. I suppose I could heat one up with a torch and bend it, but I'm going to see if i can find a ready made first. Don't need this now. I should have waited a bit before

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks! I'll try it. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 5:27 PM, Brendan MacRae wrote: > Paul, > > I just noticed something, ignore my last post! > > There's a pin rides on the top of the lock if you look > at the front of the flash. That is part of the > mechanism for the locking pin. With the flash in th

Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

On Jan 28, 2008 8:37 AM, Mark Erickson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Well, > > There you go. Every company has customized their flash interfaces so that, > in practice, there is no such thing as a "universal" flash mount, anyway. > Why not move to something better? Is anyone here so invested in th

Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flashinseparable.)

- Original Message - From: "Mark Erickson" Subject: Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: AGH! K10 D and 540 flashinseparable.) > Well, > > There you go. Every company has customized their flash interfaces so > that, > in practice, there is no such thi

Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Hmm, my Nikon Speedlights work just fine on my Pentax's, or my Mamiyas. The only thing 'customized' about various hotshoes is the dedicated contacts and lock pin location. Which isn't all that dedicated. But I would like to see a modern shoe design on more than a Sony. -Adam On 1/27/08, Mark Eric

Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Well, There you go. Every company has customized their flash interfaces so that, in practice, there is no such thing as a "universal" flash mount, anyway. Why not move to something better? Is anyone here so invested in their "classic" flashes that they'll be crushed if they can't use a flash des

Re: Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

The problem is the lock pin is stuck, which is the engineering hack that Pentax and Nikon both have used to solve the problem that the ISO hotshoe simply isn't capable of holding a flash safely. The solution is to abandon the archaic and poorly designed ISO flash shoe (which was never intended to h

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Paul, I just noticed something, ignore my last post! There's a pin rides on the top of the lock if you look at the front of the flash. That is part of the mechanism for the locking pin. With the flash in the locked position, use a small flat bladed screwdriver to lift this pin up and that should

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks to all who replied. I'll give it a try. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 4:49 PM, Brendan MacRae wrote: > Yeah, it's the fifth pin not disengaging. I would > first make sure that the flash is pushed all the way > into the shoe to center the pin (hopefully it isn't > bent by now). Next, try holding

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Thanks Scott. I'll try that. Paul On Jan 27, 2008, at 4:33 PM, Scott Loveless wrote: > Paul Stenquist wrote: >> Yes, it's true. I mounted the 540 flash on the K10D this afternoon in >> an effort to shoot some birdies, and now it won't come off. I tried a >> little bit of WD40 ( a light lubricant),

Bad Pentax Engineering (was Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.)

Attention Pentax Engineers: If you're reading this, you should be ASHAMED for letting a product with this failure mode go out the door. ASHAMED. Designing any kind of locking mechanism that can break in a "locked" position is just plain bad engineering. --Mark Paul Stenquist pnstenquist at comc

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Yeah, it's the fifth pin not disengaging. I would first make sure that the flash is pushed all the way into the shoe to center the pin (hopefully it isn't bent by now). Next, try holding the camera/flash upside down and rapping it by the shoe lightly in the (with the flash in the unlocked position)

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

Paul Stenquist wrote: > Yes, it's true. I mounted the 540 flash on the K10D this afternoon in > an effort to shoot some birdies, and now it won't come off. I tried a > little bit of WD40 ( a light lubricant), lots of tugging and pulling. > I'm guessing that a screw has come loose on the hot s

Re: ARRRRGH! K10 D and 540 flash inseparable.

dpreview has lots of these stories in the forums. The locking pin is stuck and some plastic part has snapped inside the flash. From what I understand it's possible to remove 4 screws on the flash and remove the broken plastic part. Better search the dpreview forums how to do this. On Jan 27, 2008

Re: Arrrrgh!

Alan wrote: For a lens with extensive damage like this, I wonder if repair is really possible. They might need to replace all barrels to get the thing back to new condition. :-( REPLY: They did replace all barrels! They were also told by the service boss here in Norway (the lens was repaired

Re: Arrrrgh!

Hi Paal, > "It turns out that front lens tube on my just repaired FA645 33-55 zoom is not straight but points slightly to the left..." > Rats, sorry to hear that. That's a lot money to have spent not to get the lens fixed right. Maybe you can take a picture of the problem, just to feel better..