max_steinhardt Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 <p>Today is a very exciting day! As of 10:30am pacific time, I can proudly call myself a pentaxian.</p> <p>Okay, enough with the melodrama. I have been lurking these forums for a little while, and feel like i have a handle on some of you, but this is my first time posting on photo.net, so I'll give you a (very) brief backstory on me (feel free to skip this paragraph to get to the question). Basically my parents had an MX while i was growing up. I always liked playing with it, but never really gave it much thought when it was out of sight. After high school, a series of coincidences landed me in an events videography job for a few years (ya know, the guy in the background of all your wedding photos). When I left that job, I was happy to be out of events, but missed filming. Later, armed with a 2mp P&S, I took pictures of a dragonfly that had just emerged out of it's larval form and realized that photography scratched my film itch. A short time later, I got a hand-me-down Nikon D70, which I learned a lot on. Eventually, I borrowed the old MX from my mom, fell in love with it, put a bunch of rolls trough it, and decided to divert my saved photography funds from a second lens for the D70 to a MX kit.</p> <p>Now that my MX has arrived, I wanted to know if there would be any problems using my Nikon sb600 flash on my it (besides the slow sb600 menus and the fact the the flash is larger than the MX body in pretty much every dimension).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaner66 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 <p>It'll work, and you won't have worry about voltage problems.</p> <p>To get even better pictures, try to figure out how to get the flash off the camera and try your hand at some good slide film.</p> <p>Go visit blogspot.strobist.com and good luck with your new camera.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_steinhardt Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 <p>Good to know, thank you. I already had the storbist bookmarked, it is an interesting site.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWScott Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 <p>It should work great. I use my Nikon SB22s on all my Pentax bodies.</p> <p>I don't know if the SB600 has an "auto" switch or it it will select "auto" (i.e. thyristor automatic metering in the flash) if it's not attached to a Nikon TTL camera..?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_steinhardt Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 <p>Honestly, i didn't even think about trying it. A quick test with the flash in TTL mode seems like it works. Now all i need is a shrink ray! The one thing that i did notice is that depressing the shutter button half way does not take the flash out of standby, so that means standby will probaby have to stay off when I'm using the flash, which isn't too big of a deal.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_skomial Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 For film cameras it should set itself for film TTL mode. This would work during inittial camera/flash discovery after both are powered up, from elimination of modes from iTTL, iTTL/BL, D/TTL, and finally could possibly settle for film TTL mode. Not sure if that would work with all film TTL cameras this way - perhaps not, but many of them work OK, even if they are not Nikon brands. If film TTL mode of SB-600 works with Pentax MX, then you can call yourself lucky. The film cameras back compatibility of SB-600 ends with the film TTL mode. SB-600 does not have any thyristor automatic mode, and has no optical trigger built-in, however, it should work in Manual mode. Other modes like Auto AA mode (Thyristor non-TTL), SU-4 (optical slave built-in) are built in the SB-800 flash. Needless to say that SB-900 drops all the back compatilility modes, and is not appropriate for older film cameras for flash automation. If film TTL works OK on Pentax MX, you could use then any Nikon TTL cord (perhaps no sense to get SC-29 though). For wireless use you would need an optional optical slave, e.g. from Wein, Vivitar, Sunpak, or a generic one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewg_ny Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 <p>I don't expect that TTL will work on MX. Pentax didn't introduce TTL until the later LX and Super Program. I'm not sure that Nikon TTL would work on a Pentax TTL-capable body like LX, Super Program, or any of the SF/Z/PZ/MZ/ZX autofocus SLRs. Even if it appears to fire it would not be at all surprising if it only fires at full power. MX, being a mostly mechanical camera, offers no flash automation/dedication at all. Best choice would be an auto (thyristor), non-TTL flash hopefully with some manual adjustment capability. It will be up to you to set the aperture & ISO appropriately on the flash, minding subject distance, etc.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainvisions Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 <p>Welcome to Pentax. The MX is precisely the camera I hope Pentax will one day (even in a Limited run) release in digital form. I can only imagine mounting a 21mm pancake on it!!!</p> <p>As far as the flash, it will work, since the MX is just a dumb non TTL flash camera (and I mean that in the highest sense of possible meanings).</p> <p>I'd assume the Nikon SB600 has manual settings. And if it does, just set it to manual mode and be on your way. Actually the SB600 should even have a spot in manual where you enter the ISO and f/stop and it shows a range graph (the Sigma EF500 does, and I think the Pentax FGZ360 does).</p> <p>I typically use my flashes in manual mode on my DSLRs, I also used them from time to time in manual on my film cameras. Although I found TTL worked pretty well on film.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_skomial Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 "Best choice would be an auto (thyristor), non-TTL flash" - not with SB-600. Get SB-800 for that, or Vivitar 283, 285, or some of Sunpak, Metz, etc, after making sure external Automation is available. Yes, the MX is not a TTL film camera, then no TTL with SB-600 or any flash. I believe I owned and used MX perhaps 25 years ago, along with K1000, 6x7, MV, It may have some sentimental value ? - and certainly is capable to take beautiful pictures, if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_steinhardt Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 Wow, thank you everyone for the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a few images Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 <p>As Justin eluded to, manual strobing is probably easier than fiddling with P-TTL. While a nice feature for the auto-crowd and something I have used a few times, I find it easier to simply adjust the flash manually. If I'm shooting a bunch of images in the same light all I do is get the flash setup for ambient and then dial the camera around a bit from exposure to exposure to get the effect I want.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrewg_ny Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 <p>Adjusting the flash manually is somewhat easier with digital where you can chimp. I'd think for MX an auto flash might be handy at times. It would be far cheaper to get a separate auto-capable flash than buying a fancy SB-800 unless you're tied to the idea of using one flash for both cameras.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max_steinhardt Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 <p>yeah, I have used an old sunpack 333 on the family's MX, and it was a lot less fuss. At the moment, I'm not tied to the idea of a single flash for both cameras, but rather working with what i got.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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