don_davis2

Hello Harry, Pentax has a device to protect the camera circuit from voltage damage. Contact you camera manufacturer if the has one available. Good luck D.D.

I like Tom's answer it should give similar result with the addition of the two lights indicated by the highlights at 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock. D.D.

Hello Conrad, I would endorse Stephen's answer almost verbatim, however I would like to make one further suggestion. You have a computer and many of the questions you have will be answered instantly by simply typing them into google or other browser. Good luck D.D.

Hello Neil, I'm of little help because I only have one old Strobonar that has been unused for years. I was playing with it a few months ago and it surprised me by what appeared to be normal activity after the cpacitator reformatted. If you use digital media to test their consistency you are only out your time if not satisfied. Good luck D.D.

Hello, You should be OK They will provide power as clean as we get in the US or Canada. Two things I wish to mention. There is a small device available for less than $40.00 called Kill a watt that will give you 8 specs of any power supply. Second always have the generator up and running before you plug anything in. I recently lost 7 electronic devices when my home backup generator tried repeatedly to start under an overload. Good luck D.D.

Hello Alex, A couple of thoughts while you wait for a more authoratative reply. I am not familiar with your camera model or flash but you should be safe if they can be attached without modification. Don't sell off brands short out of hand. In 1982 I had a $400.00 dedicated Pentax AF400 when I picked up a $42.00 Ava Blitz I still have them both. The Ava Blitz has been the most dependable and I can still use it while the other is just so much Pentax junk. Good luck D.D.

Hello, Brooks is partly right. "Manufacturers used to give the duration e.g. 1/1000 to 1/50,000 depending on distance from subject and f-stop" The preceeding is a quote ref the speed of photographics strobe. If all you need is to include the flash in large photos of the sky frequent long exposures of a second or more might catch an occassional flash. Good luck D.D.

Hi Stewart, I may be wrong but aren't those high wattage tungston lights? If so you would need hundreds of pounds of lead acid batteries to run then briefly. I'm interested to see what more knowlegable replies follow. D.D.

Hi, Until you get a more knowlegable reply, its basicly a double exposure. A floor level very brief point source approx the distanc in front as the background is behind gives the subjects shadow. Two high soft light sources on either side produce the remaining shadows from the full exposure. Its an interesting effect and should be reproduceable after some experimentation. D.D.

Hi, An apendum to my previous post. Matt who was posting at the time I was writting is correct on the probable total consumption except for the facecious coment about the beer, that low? There is an interesting device available, a"Kill-O-Watt meter",that will give you the result you want and much other information ref your hydro use without any math. D.D.

Hi Steve, I never took phisics but this is simple math. 1,000 watts for one hour is a killowatt hour so if you pay ten cents per killowatt hour as I do each light costs ten cents per hour to run. To find the true cost per killowatt take one bill and devide the total cost by the number of Killowatts paid for. Many utillity comanies only talk about the cost to produce not the cost to deliver a killowatt. And yes the cost will astronomical compaired to strobs. Good luck D.D.

Hello Alicia, Just to expand a bit on what others have said. A basement is a good location that can have windows easily covered. If it is long enough set up your studio at one end with a temporary archway approx midway. Have all source of light off in the area behind subjects. A cover of cheap black cloth hung in front of any thing that produces a back ground highlights. The combination of distance the background and the archway will control spill from your lighting. And remember it doesn't mater what any of these props look like as long as they do the job and are not in the final probuct. Good luck D.D.

Hello Lacy, Of course the film camera isn't dead, yet. But if you want to use one in ten or 20 years you probably should purcase it now and rotate the film in your freezer. Features, price, speed, convenience, eco tradoffs of of digital will reduce the number of purchasers of film untill the will not be produced ecnomicly. If you want roll film today it is very limited sheet film is Too expensive for frequent use and 35mm will sucume to new technology very soon. D.D.

Hello, My last film cameras were Pentax LX so I purchased an *istD. The *istD was lemon but I still wanted a Kaf mount so I purchased a K10D. Most of the tings I could do with thousands of dollars worth of camera, attachments and a darkroom can be done instantly within the camera before I down load the photo files. I have boxes full of cameras used since the early fifties. This little electronic box can preform 80% of the functions provided by the whole collection. I'm satisied. D.D.

Hi Obede, If you still have an interest in this flash give me an email address and I will send a copy of instruction booklet. I picked one up in 1982 and it has provided far more satisfaction than the Pentex AF 400 which I paid more than ten times the amount for. D.D.

I apologize for going off topic but Asim's coments about the LX made me wish to offer this caution. I used LX cameras at home and work from the time they were introduced and hoped they would get a digital back. For Pentax it obviously made more sense to modify the ist for digital use. I purchased one when they were introduced. Its a wonderfull point and shoot but the lack of a suitable viewfinder prevents me from recomending it. If you are using 35mm and thinking about digital, buy or borrow a cheap little camera with an eyelevel viewfinder untill you decide it is comfortable. D.D.

Hello Amanda, A postscript to the previous message. Don't be concerned that " the golden hours ruined " This camera has a very capable white ballace adusting system. The beauty of digital images is that if you make any exposure mistakes that with the right software you can correct it ( up to placing the subject in frint of another back ground ) Hope this helps D.D.

Hello Amanda, The istD's response speed is as good as any reflex camera. As an example a few mins ago I was sitting at my computer with the istD at my right with the builtin flash in the up possition. I heard my Amazon parrot begin flying from a position about 20 feet away. I picked uo the camera turning it on as I lifted it. The exposure I made caught him just as he was leaving the frame. The entire sequence was less than three seconds. In this case the lens had been focused at approx the exposure distance when the camera had been shut off. What I got was a flying bird without a beak otherwise a usable immage. I find it awkward to use older non auto lenses. You will have to mentally adjust the focal length of all your 35mm lens by a factor of 1.5. For example if you use a 100mm lens for your portrates it will become a 150mm. You would have to move the camera back an additional 50% for the same sized immage. To get the same perspective in your portrates you would have to go back to a 65mm lens. If you are interested I would send you the image and you could evaluate the response speed of this camera. Hope this helps D.D.