Exposure confirm with Sunpak 266

I just bought a Sunpak 266 TTL to go with my OM2-SP, mainly for its

bounce capabilities. If I use the flash on the auto setting, letting

the camera control all its functions, and aim the head up for bounce--

will I still get the flashing exposure okay light in the viewfinder?

When bouncing, the flash fires at full output, and I'm not getting

the flashing confirmation light (I do get it when using the flash

straight-on). I'm wondering if this is normal, or if my tests are

skewed.

I'm not conversant with that flash, but if it is TTL dedicated to OM cameras, the camera is in auto mode and the flash is set to TTL mode it doesn't matter where you point it, the camera will control the result through the lens reading off the film. It can only do this up to the limit of the power of the flash, so don't expect miracles. You will lose a lot of effective power using bounce, so open up a couple of stops at least, and you still have to compensate for very light or dark subjects which could fool the meter. If the camera has LED confirmation then there is no reason it shouldn't work - in TTL mode.

If the flash is on auto mode, it is the flash itself which senses the amount of light reflected from the subject, not the camera. You need to switch the camera to manual 1/60th and set the aperture recommended on the flash. There are usually variable power levels corresponding to diferent apertures on auto flashes. I doubt you will get viewfinder confirmation in this mode, but the flash should have it's own neon blinking light.

PS - make sure you test with a film loaded - I use a dummy film for this purpose. If you auto expose with the camera empty it reads from the dark back plate and the times are inordinately long. This would mislead you to think you were underexposing.

Not getting the winking confirmation is a sign that you have not enough power - move closer, open up the aperture, and/or use faster film.