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Any reason NOT to get the 360 as a first flash?

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I did a search on these two first and it didn't turn up much, so I'm glad for the info in this thread. I just bought the 360 on Adorama for $180 (and I apply for the $25 rebate).

I'm sure the 540 is a great flash, and if I was going to be doing weddings or shots in clubs I would have gone for it. When somebody mentions a wedding to me though, I don't even want them to know I own a camera. I'm just looking for a flash to replace my pop-up that adds HHS, bounce, rear-curtain sync and such and could be expanded upon later. I think the 360 fits the bill for that. I'm more likely to carry the smaller flash unit too due to the size. I'm not a constant flash user, so I think I'll be happy with this unit.

I also threw the eyecup magnifier on the order, so I'm really laying on the products with mixed opinions. ;-)

--

Judging a photographer on the basis of equipment is like speculating one's physique from a gym pass.
 
colesf said:
The swivel bounce thing is way overrated. Most of the time you may
not have a wall at the right distance or angle anyway. It's a
difficult thing to control or count on. And if you're really serious
about the quality of your flash photos, you use a bracket and can
angle it anyway. I use a lumiquest bouncer and it works beautifully.
Click to expand...
It's not about having a wall -- it's about being able to point it towards the ceiling when rotated 90°.
 
aplucini said:
The first time you want to take a portrait shot of someone and you
want to bounce the flash off the ceiling, you're going to wish you
had a swivel head.
Click to expand...
What I'm going to wish is that Pentax made an affordable bounce/swivel flash like Olympus's FL-36.
 
Matthew Miller said:
What I'm going to wish is that Pentax made an affordable
bounce/swivel flash like Olympus's FL-36.
Click to expand...
I can agree with these sentiments. Perhaps they (or somebody) will have a full featured unit that does this by the time I'm ready for a second flash. I don't see any added value in having swivel off camera.

--

Judging a photographer on the basis of equipment is like speculating one's physique from a gym pass.
 
When doing wireless flash, I've had some cases where I needed to point the flash body at the camera (to facilitate communication between the two) which is usually not the same direction the light needs to go.

I have the 540, but this advantage would be enjoyed by any swivel flash.

Bart
--
http://zumbari.zenfolio.com
 
I agree.

I have the AF540 flash today, and it is a wonderful flash - but I believe I would have been better served with a simple thyristor flash using it in manual mode. Could have used the savings to get some wireless flash triggers instead!
 
Hi GossCTP,

I have both the 360 and 540. I don't have the P-TTL problems experienced by some, except for the well known "flash reflection in the frame causing massive underexposure" situation which can be avoided (I can usually see the flash reflection during the preflash, and I immediately start to set up for a slightly different angle, even before confirming that I'd blown the shot)

Other than the swivel and additional power, there's one more feature that the 540 has over the 360 -- the ability to use the TR battery pack III. This might not be a consideration, but then again it might. . . many more flash exposures before having to deal with batteries, and faster recharge times if you set up the camera to use both the flash internal batteries and the battery pack. The recharge times still aren't super fast, especially when bouncing off a high ceiling and using flash modifiers, but they are definitely faster than using just the flash batteries.

I recently shot my 40th high school class reunion with the K10 and 540 with battery pack and a Demb bouncer/diffuser. Over two days, I took 176 P-TTL flash shots, with 172 shots coming out needing very little PP for exposure. The 4 rejects suffered from flash reflections, and were immediately reshot. I didn't even think about having to check the batteries in the flash, and rarely had to wait for the flash to charge . . . pretty good performance for a bird shooter playing totally outside his normal environment. . .

Scott
 
steephill said:
I have the 360. The 540 hadn't been invented when I got mine but I am
still happy with the 360 for general flash use. I use it with my
*istD and have used it in TTL as well as P-TTL modes. It is about as
big a flash as I would be comfortable with on the hotshoe - the 540
is just a bit too big. Maybe it balances better on the bigger K10D
though.

At half the price of the 540 it gives you a lot more than half the
performance which makes it a bargain!

--
Steve

http://www.pbase.com/steephill
Click to expand...
I have a 360 and combine that with a Sigma DG 500 Super off camera for dual use, modest price and excellent performance and gives wireless ability for both K10D and DS.

Cheers.

Pete
 
no swivel flash?

Do as I do - put the 360 into wireless mode and aim it in any direction. They don't call it the "360" for nothing!
 
I can think of many situations where that's sort of hard to do--such as party situations where you want a quick shot from an interesting angle--sort of hard to hold the camera with one hand sometimes.

Another, more interesting situation I've had is outdoor landscapes or portraits where I want wireless flash and in order for the wireless system to work I need the flexibility of the swivel to allow me to point the flash at the subject, and point the wireless sensor at the camera so they could see each other in bright ambient light or over long enough range.

Bart
--
http://zumbari.zenfolio.com
 
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