Lost track of who asked: > >I will look around and see what other flash types there are and compare. I > >know this is probably a loaded question for a camera group...but here > >goes...Are there certain types of flash that work better above others with > >regards to Pentax cameras? <ducks and covers!>.
I have a Pentax 500FTZ but I also, frequently, successfully, use a pair of elderly Sunpak Auto 30D flashes (with Pentax dedicated module) on my PZ-1 and ZX-5n. The reason I keep the Sunpaks around, and often the reason they are selected over the Pentax flash to go somewhere, is that they also work in dedicated TTL mode on my LX, as they did on the Super Program I used to have (the Pentax one isn't compatible with manual-focus bodies) and with a swift change of module to a Standard (non-dedicated) module I can also use the Sunpaks in all-manual mode on various other cameras I have that don't possess any sort of dedicated function -- all the way from the Rolleiflex to the FinePix digital. Advantage of the Pentax AF500FTZ (hope I got the alphabet soup right) is that it'll do rear-curtain sync and contrast-control flash with my two Pentax AF bodies. Oh, and it adjusts for the zoom setting on the lens. I believe the Sunpak model in question is also named the 422D (it's one of those US/non-US naming things) and I think it's out of production but findable on the used market. My Sunpaks also appear indestructible. My inlaws gave them to me about 10 years ago (one of those "if you can use them, great; if you can't then sell at a flea market or toss 'em or something" deals). All I needed to do was get new modules, on account of the inlaws for some reason had been using Nikons. One of them rattles because I've dropped it on a concrete floor. I think I did this twice. It still works.
