Pentax dedicated flash on Canon T3.

Lemming51 wrote:

vision1961 wrote:

Henry's rental stock is fully booked out for the time I needed to rent a Canon Speedlite flash to sit on my Canon T3 for a couple of days.

Instead I have been offered the loan of Pentax dedicated flash (for a KX1 camera) which apparently worked well with a Canon T3i a couple of years ago, just wondering if anyone has any insight on compatability or any settings that may need adjusting?

If it's got a non-TTL auto mode, a la old auto-thyrister speedlites, then it'll work in Av and M modes so long as you coordinate ISO and aperture settings.

Otherwise, Pentax TTL/P-TTL is very different from Canon's ETTL and you will not have auto TTL flash exposure. It'll just fire at full power (only the large center triggering pin in the hotshoe is common to most systems).

Thanks for the informed reply, unfortunately I am a pretty much a novice with my T3 and have only used it so far in Full Auto mode. I have been asked however if I would like to be the second shooter at a wedding next weekend and that is why I need the additional flashgun - as I'm told the on-board flash probably won't be sufficient...

Therefore the situation becomes one of novice photographer... (albeit with a good eye for a great image) needing additional flash capability... but having not worked with flash before then issues such as coordinating ISO and apertures are somewhat beyond me!

TTL aside - any tips for what will be predominantly indoor shooting?

confyushis wrote:

vision1961 wrote:

Instead I have been offered the loan of Pentax dedicated flash (for a KX1 camera) which apparently worked well with a Canon T3i a couple of years ago, just wondering if anyone has any insight on compatability or any settings that may need adjusting?

if you know it worked with a canon t3i back then, and the hotshoes on both the t3i and t3 are identical, then the flash should probably work the same on the t3 ... though i don't know what "apparently worked well" means ...

typically, different brand flashes have different pin alignments and different ways of talking to the camera ... if the pins don't line up or the flash doesn't "talk" well to the camera, then it might still function as a manual flash ... in which case you decide the flash power and zoom with the buttons on the flash and the camera just tells the flash when to fire ...

hope this helps ...

Re: "apparently worked well" - this same flash was bought by a friend and has rarely been used so he is happy to loan it and see it getting some use - hence he loaned it to A. N. Other who was using a T3i and they were happy with the results... except I am not in contact with them so can ascertain if they used it in manual or auto modes and the "apparently worked well" report is from the owner.

I have been asked however if I would like to be the second shooter at a wedding next weekend and that is why I need the additional flashgun - as I'm told the on-board flash probably won't be sufficient as it cannot be angled, settings changed etc. and I know it tends to hit the forehead of the subject - leaving them looking like they had a frontal lobotomy!

Therefore the situation becomes one of novice photographer... (albeit with a good eye for a great image) needing additional flash capability... but having not worked with flash before then issues such as deciding the flash power and zoom are somewhat beyond me!

TTL aside - any tips on settings for what will be predominantly indoor shooting?

vision1961 wrote:

Lemming51 wrote:

vision1961 wrote:

Henry's rental stock is fully booked out for the time I needed to rent a Canon Speedlite flash to sit on my Canon T3 for a couple of days.

Instead I have been offered the loan of Pentax dedicated flash (for a KX1 camera) which apparently worked well with a Canon T3i a couple of years ago, just wondering if anyone has any insight on compatability or any settings that may need adjusting?

If it's got a non-TTL auto mode, a la old auto-thyrister speedlites, then it'll work in Av and M modes so long as you coordinate ISO and aperture settings.

Otherwise, Pentax TTL/P-TTL is very different from Canon's ETTL and you will not have auto TTL flash exposure. It'll just fire at full power (only the large center triggering pin in the hotshoe is common to most systems).

I am a pretty much a novice with my T3 and have only used it so far in Full Auto mode. I have been asked however if I would like to be the second shooter at a wedding next weekend

Not trying to sound too harsh, just realistic.  Given your apparent lack of camera skills, you have a lot to learn about flash photography, and little time to learn.

I was going to mention the thyristor flash as well.  But with thyristor you're not going to succeed in full auto mode, you'll need to gauge distance and set f-stops/ISO manually on the flash and on the camera.

If your only option with the Pentax flash is full power mode, or some manual power setting mode (1/4, 1/2, full, etc.), don't even bother.  Flash power falls off quickly with distance, so what looks good at one distance will be under/over-exposed just a few feet away.  You'll just get frustrated trying to guess at the power setting unless you have a staged setting where the distance to your subject is fixed.

Given what we know at this point, I'd say your best bet is to use your pop-up flash as best you can, because at least that will work with your full auto shooting style.

dwalby wrote:

vision1961 wrote:

Lemming51 wrote:

vision1961 wrote:

Henry's rental stock is fully booked out for the time I needed to rent a Canon Speedlite flash to sit on my Canon T3 for a couple of days.

Instead I have been offered the loan of Pentax dedicated flash (for a KX1 camera) which apparently worked well with a Canon T3i a couple of years ago, just wondering if anyone has any insight on compatability or any settings that may need adjusting?

If it's got a non-TTL auto mode, a la old auto-thyrister speedlites, then it'll work in Av and M modes so long as you coordinate ISO and aperture settings.

Otherwise, Pentax TTL/P-TTL is very different from Canon's ETTL and you will not have auto TTL flash exposure. It'll just fire at full power (only the large center triggering pin in the hotshoe is common to most systems).

I am a pretty much a novice with my T3 and have only used it so far in Full Auto mode. I have been asked however if I would like to be the second shooter at a wedding next weekend

Not trying to sound too harsh, just realistic. Given your apparent lack of camera skills, you have a lot to learn about flash photography, and little time to learn.

I was going to mention the thyristor flash as well. But with thyristor you're not going to succeed in full auto mode, you'll need to gauge distance and set f-stops/ISO manually on the flash and on the camera.

If your only option with the Pentax flash is full power mode, or some manual power setting mode (1/4, 1/2, full, etc.), don't even bother. Flash power falls off quickly with distance, so what looks good at one distance will be under/over-exposed just a few feet away. You'll just get frustrated trying to guess at the power setting unless you have a staged setting where the distance to your subject is fixed.

Given what we know at this point, I'd say your best bet is to use your pop-up flash as best you can, because at least that will work with your full auto shooting style.

Not harsh at all, limited as my experience is I know the pop-flash is too harsh so the alternative is a dedicated Canon flashgun (or another that would work well) or somehow to diffuse the harshness of the pop-up. To that end I found this on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O0qOJM0K4g and will make one tonight and trial it on the wife and some other scenarios beforehand! If I can get past the harshness of the pop-up, I'll be happy!

Are you sure you want to do this?

Does everyone involved have reasonable expectations?

Since you do not own a flash, why not buy one? Use it for the rest of your life.

Can you tell us the model number of the Pentax flash. That will affect advice.

And when used carefully, the built-in flash is not a menace.

When you take flash pictures of several people at the same time, arrange the people so they are all equidistant from the camera. Otherwise some will probably be too bright and others too dark.

And if there is a green box setting, DO NOT USE IT.

BAK

Thanks.