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AF-360 & manual wireless control

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I'm not sure which version of the wireless triggers you are using. The original version did not work with the AF360 unless it was modified. The updated V2s triggers do work.

I am assuming that you are a Strobist reader. If so, you may find the following Flickr thread useful.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157600061741658/?search=af360fgz

There is was also a thread posted about modding the original triggers to work with the AF360 but I can't find it at the moment. This does contain some useful info though.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157601261665011/

Hope this helps.
 
Just to let you know, there are instructions on how to check the trigger voltage with a multimeter about half way down this article ... http://shutter-fug.blogspot.com/2007/06/e-bay-receiver-hack.html

Power on the strobe, let it charge to full capacity and measure the DC current across it. If the strobe is unknown, then give your multimeter a high range (250v DC or over) to prevent your damaging the meter.

--
'No Comment.' It's my quote; so popular that many use it.
http://www.msknight.com/places/oddshots/1.htm
 
camperguy01 said:
This stumps me a little. According to the the strobist site, one of
the flashes they highly reccommend is the Vivitar 285HV. The most
the Vivitar can be dropped down to is 1/16. Wouldn't the 360 be an
improvement over the strobist reccommended Vivitar?
Click to expand...
Yes, the default 285hv comes with an auto thyristor, just like the 283's do. Basically, it is a thyristor in a hole and as you turn the dial, it changes the density of the material in front of it ... that varies the amount of light the strobe sees when it fires and affects the amount of power it uses. The 283 strobe I have has to be replaced with a vari power adaptor in which you dial in directly the amount of power that you want. http://www.amazon.com/Vivitar-VP1-Vari-Power-Adapter-Flash/dp/B00007JDR2 - there is actually a picture of it here http://www.shopping.com/xPC-Vivitar-VIVITAR-VP1-Vari-Power-Adapter-for-283 and you should just be able to pinch the thyristor dial and pull it out of the flash ... then the vari power module slips in.

I'm not sure if they work on the 285's but the vari power module on the front certainly looks like the same system as used on the 283's. Contact Vivitar if you're in any doubt.
camperguy01 said:
But with the type of transmitter/receiver set up the OP is using, the
flashes triggering system is bypassed, isn't it? The flash is just
simply being triggered directly from the hot-shoe of the receiver -
isn't it?
Click to expand...
Apologies for not being clear in what I was writing about. I was commenting on the Pentax wireless system. Although, with a manual lens fitted, the hot shoe is fired, the wireless system doesn't fire. I believe that it is because the camera has no way to calculate any TTL information, so it doesn't transmit anything, not even the command to fire.

With an automatic, or A lens, it is possible to use the wireless system to trigger a 360 which is set to manual ... the best I can guess is that the flash ignores the TTL information and just listens to the instruction to fire.

--
'No Comment.' It's my quote; so popular that many use it.
http://www.msknight.com/places/oddshots/1.htm
 
susan_c said:
I'm not sure which version of the wireless triggers you are using.
The original version did not work with the AF360 unless it was
modified. The updated V2s triggers do work.

I am assuming that you are a Strobist reader. If so, you may find
the following Flickr thread useful.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157600061741658/?search=af360fgz

There is was also a thread posted about modding the original triggers
to work with the AF360 but I can't find it at the moment. This does
contain some useful info though.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157601261665011/

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Hhm I read the articles and if Im correct, the slave trigger should be modified to get it working with a AF-360?

Will the slave trigger work with a Nikon SB-25 strobe without modification? Because I bought one of those online (still have not received yet) and if the trigger works with the Nikon, Ill be fine. Ill just use the AF360 as slave and the Nikon as commander.

And... 1/32 power, is that still too much? Oh well... I'll see... I could always use my Sto-Fen omnibounce to reduce power a bit more don't you think?

--
http://www.xs4all.nl/~lukens
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/marklukens
 
MarkEL said:
Hhm I read the articles and if Im correct, the slave trigger should
be modified to get it working with a AF-360?

Will the slave trigger work with a Nikon SB-25 strobe without
modification? Because I bought one of those online (still have not
received yet) and if the trigger works with the Nikon, Ill be fine.
Ill just use the AF360 as slave and the Nikon as commander.

And... 1/32 power, is that still too much? Oh well... I'll see... I
could always use my Sto-Fen omnibounce to reduce power a bit more
don't you think?

--
http://www.xs4all.nl/~lukens
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/marklukens
Click to expand...
If it's the original version of the trigger set it will not work with the AF360 without modification. I haven't done this myself so can't really comment on whether it works or not. As far as I know the orginal sets work with the SB-25. This is similar to my set up using the original triggers. I normally use one or two Sunpak 383s and trigger the AF360 optically from them. Only problem is that it's not really usable in bright light for obvious reasons. All depends on how you envisage using your flashes.

FWIW, I've never once thought that I needed to go to less than 1/32 using the AF360.
 
MarkEL said:
susan_c said:
I'm not sure which version of the wireless triggers you are using.
The original version did not work with the AF360 unless it was
modified. The updated V2s triggers do work.

I am assuming that you are a Strobist reader. If so, you may find
the following Flickr thread useful.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157600061741658/?search=af360fgz

There is was also a thread posted about modding the original triggers
to work with the AF360 but I can't find it at the moment. This does
contain some useful info though.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157601261665011/

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Hhm I read the articles and if Im correct, the slave trigger should
be modified to get it working with a AF-360?

Will the slave trigger work with a Nikon SB-25 strobe without
modification? Because I bought one of those online (still have not
received yet) and if the trigger works with the Nikon, Ill be fine.
Ill just use the AF360 as slave and the Nikon as commander.

And... 1/32 power, is that still too much? Oh well... I'll see... I
could always use my Sto-Fen omnibounce to reduce power a bit more
don't you think?

--
http://www.xs4all.nl/~lukens
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/marklukens
Click to expand...
I already own a 360 and plan on at least giving it a try before I go running out to buy more strobes. One of Strobist.com reccommendations is to use the Vivitar which only reduces to 1/16. If 1/16 was really that restrictive, I doubt they would be reccommending it - but who knows. If the 1/32 of the 360 is still too much, or if it isn't working for some other reason, maybe I'll entertain looking at other possibilities, but for now I'm going to attempt to use what I already own.....
 
MarkEL said:
Harri R'is'nen said:
Why you bought this gadget? Does it offer something that internal
wireless system doesnt offer?

For me it seems that this gadget just triggers the flash and don't
relay any data between body and flashes, but maybe I am not right?

If there is not any data transferred, the only way you can use it is
that you turn the flash to M-mode and adjust the amount of light you
need by aperture and partial power adjustment of each flash. This
wireless mode is just for teh existing internal Pentax wireless
system and you should not use it with this kind of equipments. Just
turn the flash on.... If I remember correctly you should use the X
mode (red X) in camera or the hot shoe doesn't function at all with
non dedicated flashes. And with that gadget in use Pentax flashes
obviously act like an non dedicated ones...

But actually I do not quite understand why you need this gadget at
all... is it the range? Canons do not have internal wireless flash
but Pentaxes and Nikons has....

--
Harri
Click to expand...
Like I said in my opening post. I don't want use P-TTL. I want to
learn to do it fully manually....
Click to expand...
Hmmm.... but you can use Pentax wireless in full manual mode, you don't need any gadgets fro that....

--
Harri
 
On the issue of power, there are a few ways of using them that eat things up. Using a brolly lost me a couple of stops in power. I've since switched to using soft boxes which only lose half a stop, and my working spaces are cramped, so I need to dial down.

Power at the main strobe is usually quite high, but it is when I come to the fill that I need to drop below 1/32. Horses for courses. See what you shoot :-)

--
'No Comment.' It's my quote; so popular that many use it.
http://www.msknight.com/places/oddshots/1.htm
 
Harri R'is'nen said:
MarkEL said:
Harri R'is'nen said:
Why you bought this gadget? Does it offer something that internal
wireless system doesnt offer?

For me it seems that this gadget just triggers the flash and don't
relay any data between body and flashes, but maybe I am not right?

If there is not any data transferred, the only way you can use it is
that you turn the flash to M-mode and adjust the amount of light you
need by aperture and partial power adjustment of each flash. This
wireless mode is just for teh existing internal Pentax wireless
system and you should not use it with this kind of equipments. Just
turn the flash on.... If I remember correctly you should use the X
mode (red X) in camera or the hot shoe doesn't function at all with
non dedicated flashes. And with that gadget in use Pentax flashes
obviously act like an non dedicated ones...

But actually I do not quite understand why you need this gadget at
all... is it the range? Canons do not have internal wireless flash
but Pentaxes and Nikons has....

--
Harri
Click to expand...
Like I said in my opening post. I don't want use P-TTL. I want to
learn to do it fully manually....
Click to expand...
Hmmm.... but you can use Pentax wireless in full manual mode, you
don't need any gadgets fro that....

--
Harri
Click to expand...
The AF360 has a built in optical slave that can be used to trigger it in auto and manual mode. P-TTL is a little more complicated but as the OP metioned only wanted to use manual mode, that's a whole different topic.

Firstly, switch the unit on. Sorry if that's obvious.
Slide the setting switch on the right side of the unit to the up position.
Press and hold the LIGHT button until SLAVE1 is displayed.
Press the S (Select) button and this should switch it to SLAVE2.
Set the power switch to the W (Wireless) position.
Move the slider underneath the power switch to the S position.
Pop up the onboard flash.
Set the camera to manual mode.

You should be good to go from there.

Check out the Wireless Channel Setting and Wireless Slave Mode Setting in your flash manual if my instructions suck.
 
susan_c said:
Harri R'is'nen said:
MarkEL said:
Harri R'is'nen said:
Why you bought this gadget? Does it offer something that internal
wireless system doesnt offer?

For me it seems that this gadget just triggers the flash and don't
relay any data between body and flashes, but maybe I am not right?

If there is not any data transferred, the only way you can use it is
that you turn the flash to M-mode and adjust the amount of light you
need by aperture and partial power adjustment of each flash. This
wireless mode is just for teh existing internal Pentax wireless
system and you should not use it with this kind of equipments. Just
turn the flash on.... If I remember correctly you should use the X
mode (red X) in camera or the hot shoe doesn't function at all with
non dedicated flashes. And with that gadget in use Pentax flashes
obviously act like an non dedicated ones...

But actually I do not quite understand why you need this gadget at
all... is it the range? Canons do not have internal wireless flash
but Pentaxes and Nikons has....

--
Harri
Click to expand...
Like I said in my opening post. I don't want use P-TTL. I want to
learn to do it fully manually....
Click to expand...
Hmmm.... but you can use Pentax wireless in full manual mode, you
don't need any gadgets fro that....

--
Harri
Click to expand...
The AF360 has a built in optical slave that can be used to trigger it
in auto and manual mode. P-TTL is a little more complicated but as
the OP metioned only wanted to use manual mode, that's a whole
different topic.

Firstly, switch the unit on. Sorry if that's obvious.
Slide the setting switch on the right side of the unit to the up
position.
Press and hold the LIGHT button until SLAVE1 is displayed.
Press the S (Select) button and this should switch it to SLAVE2.
Set the power switch to the W (Wireless) position.
Move the slider underneath the power switch to the S position.
Pop up the onboard flash.
Set the camera to manual mode.

You should be good to go from there.

Check out the Wireless Channel Setting and Wireless Slave Mode
Setting in your flash manual if my instructions suck.
Click to expand...
Im familiar with this, as I tried this a couple of times when I still had an *istDl. However, I don't want to use the onboard flash, thats why I bought the slave trigger. Moreover I want to be able to use a second (cheap third party) flash and with the slave trigger I don't necessarily need a (expensive) flash with wireless build in...

--
http://www.xs4all.nl/~lukens
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/marklukens
 
MarkEL said:
Im familiar with this, as I tried this a couple of times when I still
had an *istDl. However, I don't want to use the onboard flash, thats
why I bought the slave trigger. Moreover I want to be able to use a
second (cheap third party) flash and with the slave trigger I don't
necessarily need a (expensive) flash with wireless build in...

--
http://www.xs4all.nl/~lukens
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/marklukens
Click to expand...
I appreciate that you don't want to use onboard flash. However, I thought the information may be useful to other users.
 
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