Ah... I see my confusion now. I had assumed that if a flash was capable of P-TTL, then it would also do TTL. But...So the manual is incorrect (p 177)? That table says on an 'A' lens, P-TTL is No, and TTL is Yes with the footnote that it discharges fully. That's self-inconsistent, no?
Yes, the manual is incorrect. A lenses work exactly the same as F/FA lenses.
... since the internal flash will apparently NOT do TTL, it *does* fire fully with an 'A' lens. Seems like an artificial limitation. TTL should do exactly that... TTL with whatever it sees.The DS' built-in flash will ONLY operate in P-TTL or full power manual mode.
You use a dedicated external flash unit that supports P-TTL, TTL, and other modes, to get traditional TTL flash metering. The built-in flash is not used when you're using an external flash unit.
I'm new to this whole TTL/P-TTL flash thing. My old 35mm P-30T had an auto nondedicated that I barely figured out how to use. I've used it with the -DS when I need a little more flash poop. Since most of my lenses are MF (half 'A', half not), it's apparently no more manual than the internal flash.
So, (finally)... if I understand everything correctly, if one gets an *external* flash that does TTL, it will function in TTL with an 'A' lens. How about an even more manual lens? You'd have to choose an aperture that's reasonable, but does the camera lock you out from doing it?
-Cory
************************************************************************* * Cory Papenfuss * * Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student * * Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University * *************************************************************************
