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Promaster 7500EDF for Pentax P-TTL mini-review


a few images

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As a service to the Pentax community here, I went out and purchased the Promaster 7500EDF. (I like

telling myself it was for the good of all Pentaxians)

 

Here are some quick impressions.

 

First and foremost - it is 100% P-TTL compatible.

 

Build Quality: Very good. Positive clicks for the tilt and swivel with position indications on the LCD. The

Battery door is a slide in type, depress the batteries, slide the cover over them. A simple yet solid

design with no hinges or flaps to break. Slides into the hot shoe nicely and has a positive spin-down

lock. The included stand is simple, small and sturdy. Also, the included press-on diffuser holds tightly

and works well (allows the unit to cover 11mm for DSLR)

 

Manual: Well, the unit seems simple enough so far so the lack of an overly detailed manual may not be

such a big deal. It's a fold-up manual tucked in the box. EDIT: Just read the manual, took 5 minutes.

It's well written, simple and informative, if maybe a bit elusive as to one feature though - The MULTI

feature. More on that later.

 

Features: Brief for now.. So far I already love the dual-head design. Having two flashes is great. The

unit has a built in fill-flash as well as the main flash head. Set it to dual-head setting, point the main

flash at the ceiling, the unit knows the position, does the calculations and with a press of the shutter

you have nice fill flash and bounce flash. Much more to come on the features, I've only been using it for

20 minutes! Also, the focus assist works nicely in very dark situations. It's a projected horizontal line

pattern that the AF locks onto quickly (lens specific of course but it is enough to help slow lenses so it

very well could improve a mediocre lens).

 

The unit has a feature called MULTI - it's described as being able to fire multiple flashes during a single

shutter release. Using this feature and setting the shutter speed for say, 1 second, the unit will fire

anywhere from 1-10 flashes anywhere from 1 through 100hz for stopping action multiple times in one

frame.

 

It includes a Model mode which is simply a modeling light, high frequency for close up and low

frequency for portraits. It works perfectly as described.

 

P-TTL mode, does exactly as it describes and works very well so far. Though, as we all have come to

find out, every P-TTL flash seems to have it's issues. Only time will tell.

 

Manual mode, it allows you to select your output from 1/1 to 1/64 power.

 

Wireless/Slave mode works very nicely. I took a few shots just to demonstrate it works well. The first

image is with the in-camera flash on with the 7500EDF off, the second shot is with the 7500EDF on in

wireless P-TTL mode. As you can see, it works as it should. It does not fire on the pre-flash.

 

The LCD is easy to read and has a backlight if needed.

 

Includes leading and trailing curtain as well as manual zoom.

 

The flashes covers from 17mm with diffuser, 24mm without (11mm on DSLR with diffuser, 16mm

without) to 105mm and has a GN of 138ft with the flash zoomed to 105mm.

 

Bounce angle is -7deg to 90deg (-7 aims it down for macro work)

Swivel is 180deg

 

Additional: Has a one year warranty. Includes a Flash Stand and a Snap on Diffusor.

 

Price paid : $279 from a local brick and mortar.

 

I may very well have paid a premium but so far it is considerably nicer than the AF360 and has different

features than the AF540. For one, the fact it's a dual-head design tells me it will be more useful or

easier to use for portraits and indoor events. Not to mention, if you use it wirelessly, you will essential

have three flashes; the on-camera flash pointed directly at the subject, the detached 7500EDF angled

using the fill-flash head and of course the main flash unit angled or bounced in any direction.

 

Conclusion: I'm liking the purchase but, let's see if I'm still as happy with it in a week or three..<div>00OyUJ-42582884.jpg.b595aff6bb6d6212b527ffb5d4a127fb.jpg</div>

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Played some more.. Black back drop, Promaster set as slave with 1/64th power setting to the

right of the subject and the in-camera flash set at -2 power.

 

View the larger samples for a much better detail. They're not full size, just 1024.. Both shots

were taken with that new Tamron 70-300 f4-5.6 Di Macro 1:2 LD in it's Macro setting at

about 200mm. Such a fun lens! I really think I have obsoleted two lenses now.. If anyone is

interested, I'll have a DA 50-200 and a Sigma 100-300 DL for sale :)<div>00OydN-42585584.jpg.35403d365481981f62211cb5189e0fc5.jpg</div>

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So you have gotten the 7500EDF to work off-camera in sync with the camera flash? Can you tell me the settings you use? I have this flash and haven't figured out how to get it to fire on the 'real' flash of the camera flash, not the pre-flash. Thanks for any help.
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K10D running firmware version 1.00

 

Turn camera on (been using it in Manual Mode), Turn flash on, set flash to wireless/slave, press shutter release. That's all I do.

 

At the very least, with fresh batteries, the flash should fire on both the preflash AND the main flash. I say this because if the K10D's focus assist flash pulse starts, the 7500 matches it.

 

The 7500 is upgradeable- Call Promaster and see if maybe you have an early version. Yours says P-TTL and PX on the back, right? Maybe if you are on a firmware version other than 1.00 and 1.30 it's an issue with the K10D? Sorry I couldn't be more help.

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Well, I had the two side by side at the shop, the Metz 58 and this 7500..

 

The outer construction is different between the two but both feel strong and well made.

 

The Promaster does indeed have many of the Metz features including USB interface updating. Though, Promaster requires you to have a Promaster distributor do it while Metz trusts the consumer to do it. Maybe the guts are similar or the same but the firmware is different. The Metz has HSS capablility, the Promaster does not.

 

Anyway, I've been using it oustide today for some bird shots and if I set it to Manual and full power I can light them suckers up at 100ft with no problem. Using TTL mode so far has been working perfectly as well. I can't wait to get my Better Beamer.

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Hey Dan.. Maybe this will help you?

 

Very strange occurance..

 

With the flash ON and in TTL mode but not attached to the camera I fired a few shots with the camera using it's flash. It did not trigger the flash as it should not have based on the features of the flash BUT, when I reattached the flash to the camera it would no longer synch and was firing on the preflash, even detached and in wireless mode. How strange I thought. So, I removed the batteries and pressed the flash discharge button, replaced the batteries and it worked perfectly again and would synch flawlessly. So, I repeated what I had done and sure enough, it loses synch every time BUT it shouldn't. If you get what I mean.

 

Why does the flash lose synch when it's NOT attached and NOT in wireless mode? It leaves me to think that there is the circutry there for wireless p-ttl but not fully implemented.

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  • 1 month later...

After seeing this thread referenced at dpreview and a few other sites recently I thought I would give an update..

 

After using this flash a few times a week since purchasing it, I can firmly say that this is a very nice unit and expect it to last a very long time. The P-TTL mode has yet to disappoint me and is extremely accurate in my opinion.

 

All of the features still work exactly as described and I have zero issues with quality or failures. The fill-flash has proved extremely useful and accurate as well.

 

If there is a down-side to the flash it could ONLY be one of two things.

 

A) The flash is not P-TTL wirelessly but, in my opinion that is a non-issue due to the fact that I shoot wirelessly for side-lighting effects or back-lighting effects and NOT to get proper exposure. If I used P-TTL for side-lighting I'd get no side-lighting effect anyway.. See my point?

 

B) Lack of HSS flash.. Yeah, sure, my K10D is capable of HSS but, in all honesty, to get a decent exposure in HSS you'd need to bump the ISO so high, unless in bright sunlight (then you may not need the HSS anyway) that you would introduce more noise into the photo than you'd want. Then of course, if you wanted to use HSS in lower light situations where it can sometimes be of use, the only illumination may very well be that of the flash. Is HSS useful? Absolutely! However, it's definitely a feature used for a small percentage of images depending on your shooting habits. And to be honest, HSS is nice and all but, 1/4000 of a second is NOTHING compared to the flash duration of 1/40,000 of a second so, if you REALLY want to freeze fast action, set your shutter speed slower, around 1/60th (or expose for the background) and simply fire the flash and you will capture action at 1/40,000 of a second. See what I mean?

 

In closing, it's a great unit for the money with advanced features and a feel that's built to last. Combine that with the lack of complaints about the unit such as broken battery doors, locking pins sticking the flash unit to the shoe-mount like glue and, false or poor exposures and features not working, which are all apparent and much complained about features of 'other' flashes available in P-TTL and what's there not to like about the unit?

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Tom, thanks a mil! I read your review and it helped me make my decision. I picked up the Promaster on a business trip to the US at Murphy's Cameras in Louisville and I have not regretted it for 1 minute!

 

Excellent flash with great P-TTL functionality, I have done ca. 100 shots at a kids concert recently and did not have to bin even one of them.

 

Mike (aka NewMikey)

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  • 4 months later...

Tom,

 

Thanks. After reading your excellent review, I have decided the Promaster is the way I want to go as well. I especially

like the fact that the second flash will shoot directly while the main flash will help with shadows as it tilts and swivels.

 

The other thing, which I don't beleive you mentioned is that it's possible when I decide at some point in the future to

upgrade my Pentax K10D I may be able to purchase a firmware update from Promaster and continue to use the flash

on the new camera.

 

All in all, this seems to be a very solid performer with a few features that aren't available from the bigger companies.

 

Thanks again,

 

Tim

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  • 3 months later...
<p>I am a canon user and have just purchased this flash, I know wrong brand forum right, well it appears no one in the canon forums or anywhere in the world like to play with non canon toys, kudos to Tom for posting the only review i can find anywhere for this flash, and to Promaster who in my never to be humble opinion are the unsung and underpraised heroes of affordable GOOD quality products! Thanks again for the review Tom definitely help me make up my mind.</p>
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  • 5 months later...
<p>I am a new user and after researching decided on this flash. One, for the price (had my local cord camera match the lowest online price i could find on amazon plus the $30 rebate) & two for the performance. I am extremely satisfied with the unit. I have a rebel XT with a canon ultrasonic 17-40mm lens that does pretty well. I am still learning the basics & just joined the site to help with the education. Thanks for the review that helped me decide. :)</p><div>00U8NY-161965784.thumb.jpg.73d660970c5c5d4b7147bf92bfe4ee5d.jpg</div>
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  • 7 years later...
<p>Newbie here with K-500. I bought a preowned Promaster 7500EDF just to get my hands on a flash and learn how to use it. Unfortunately the TTL mode does not work with this camera. The images are always underexposed with TTL function. However, if I use manual function with 1/1, 1/2 or 1/4 setting (depending on my distance from the object and the fill flash angle towards ceiling), the images turn out really awesome. However, the flash keeps going back to TTL mode automatically. Do you think the flash has a problem, or I am doing something wrong or there is a compatibility issue with K-500? Many thanks! </p>
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