flash voltage

<p>Hi Pentaxians,<br>

I was reading the previous post on flashgun choices and wondering about this:</p>

<p>Is the trigger voltage for old flashguns like AF400FTZ, AF500FTZ safe for K20D? I am talking about shoemounting on the camera. I do not care about P-TTL.</p>

<p>Hope to get some useful information. </p>

<p>Subho</p>

 

<p>No problem with both. If you decide on any other brand, you should test it with a multi meter to test trigger voltages. They should be a max of 30 volts and really no more than 20 volts. Check this site:</p>

<p>http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html</p>

<p>Be sure to use a meter that has at least 20,000 volts/ohm sensitivity to get an accurate reading. The really cheap 1000 volt/ohm testers may read lower than the correct voltage due to the higher internal resisitance of the meter. I think this is only an issue with analog meters. I think all the digital multitesters will be of the 20,000 volt/ohm variety.</p>

<p>Thanks Peter and Mike for the information. I am looking at the list. I guess I am going to buy one from the list or 400/500FTZ.</p>

<p>Subho, I assume you are aware that with AF500FTZ or AF400FTZ you will be forced to use manual flash only with K20D; not only is there is no P-TTL on those models, there is no Auto flash either. Given this restriction, the AF500FTZ offers more power, more manual power level settings, and built-in slave capability vs. the 400 so would probably be preferable.</p>