The Af360 FGZ that I ordered several weeks ago from Ritz Camera finally arrived today. I was out till late afternoon and have not yet shot any actual film with it, but here's some first impressions:
First, for visuals go to: http://www.markcassino.com/stuff/ The flash looks like a smaller version of the AF500FTZ. The head tilts, but does not swivel. A small locking button on the side of the head locks it into the horizonal position, and must be depressed to tilt it upwards. The unit has a build in diffuser (to get down to coverage for a 20mm) and a build in bounce card. These both retract into the top of the unit. Zoom range is 24 - 85 (24 - 28 - 35 - 50 - 70 - 80) for 35mm. The LCD display covers all the essentials, and has a nice bar display to visually show the flash coverage distance. This adjusts with HS flash etc. There's a format selection switch which allows the display to be adjusted for 35mm, 645, and 67 cameras. So in 645 mode, for example, the zoom range displays as 45 - 135. The LED is illuminated, on the Mz-S pressing the button to light the camera LED automatically lights the flash LED as well. Maybe I missed this is the announcements about the Mz-S, but the AF360FGZ has a new TTL mode, called P-TTL. Per the manual: "Works only with the Mz-S camera. A pre flash is fired before the main flash so that the multi segment metering sensor can measure the subject's distance, brightness, backlit condition etc. The data obtained is incorporated to set the output of the main flash. This mode obtains more accurate results than the conventional TTL mode." So it seems that the Mz-S now has multi segmented flash metering. In this mode there is a slight pre-flash just a split second before the main flash - looks like a slight flicker. Also, flash compensation is only available in P-TTL mode. In addition, the 360 has standard TTL and non-TTL auto and full manual. I found the non-TTL auto mode on the AF280T to be a great feature, and it's great to have it on this flash. Standard TTL mode is activated when the unit is put on a non Mz-S camera. It does not appear to be available on the Mz-S. High speed synch and wireless features are there as advertised, though the wireless mode works only in conjunction with the Mz-S's build in flash or another AF360 mounted on the hotshoe. Per the manual, the wireless range is 4 meters. The control wheel on the back of the camera is used to set flash compensation, ISO and aperture settings in the non-TTL auto mode, power in the manual mode, and other functions. It's a bit small but can be set easily. The button in the middle activates the wheel and locks in the selected setting. Contrast control mode and trailing curtain synch are there. The AF spot beam has been adjusted to now cover the wider AF area of the MZ-S - and covers considerably more area than the AF beam on the AF500FTZ. Lastly, the 360 has a modeling mode which fires a several second burst of flash to allow you to see how the shadows etc will fall on the subject. All in all it appears to be a very capable unit. - MCC - - - - - - - - - - Mark Cassino Kalamazoo, MI [EMAIL PROTECTED] - - - - - - - - - - Photos: http://www.markcassino.com - - - - - - - - - - - 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 .
