Pentax Life

Matthew Miller has collected every piece of information on Pentax, Metz, Sigma and other P-TTL compatible flashes on his easy to navigate and useful wiki-like website, which also includes the thorough flash related reference. Here is his own description of the project:

I’ve written a guide comparing in detail the current Pentax flash offerings and P-TTL-compatible third-party options. If you’re not sure what to buy, or even what’s available, this will answer all of your questions, including ones you might not have known you have.

I’ve gathered information from many diverse sources, collected it all together, and presented it in several different useful ways. Not only are there easy guides to the top-level features like flash power and tilt/swivel reflectors, there’s a lot of detail on less obvious (but important!) distinctions that most people don’t learn about until after they make a purchase.

I wanted to make sure everyone is able to get the most out of their equipment. Different photographers have different needs, so there’s no one answer to “what’s best for me?”. This guide makes sure you’ll know the answer to that question before you buy.

And, even if you already own a flash, you might learn something, either about features you have but didn’t realize were there, or about features you didn’t know you were missing.

Pentax P-TTL Flash Comparison: The definitive guide to Pentax hot shoe flashes and compatible 3rd-party options.

Sigma has introduced successors to the popular EF-500 series flashes – EF-530 DG SUPER and EF-530 DG ST. Both new flashguns have a guide number 53 meters and movable head for flash bouncing.

EF-530 DG Super also (unlike DG ST) supports wireless flash function and modeling flash function, enabling the user to check for intense reflections and shadows, before actually taking the picture.

Sigma EF-530 DG Super and EF-530 DG ST will be available in a month or two for $259 and $189 respectively.

Pentax Germany website promises the surprise at the IFA Consumer Trade Show in Berlin (August 31st – September 5th). According to DigitalFotoNetz, newest highlights from the digital camera range to be shown.

German press release repository PresseBox has a press release issued by Pentax Europe GmbH (but not activated yet) about “powerful flashgun with a guide number 54 for Pentax DSLR cameras“. Perhaps this is the new flash that Pentax will roll out on August 31st – September 5th at the IFA Consumer Trade Show in Berlin.

PentaxLife Forum user ogl has reported that the Russian Pentax dealer has significantly raised prices on all Pentax lenses. Some of them are priced twice more than in U.S. or Japan and 20% more than in U.K. – the former probably most expensive place to shop for Pentax. What could this mean? Response to the current shortage, or they are getting ready for the coming breakthrough, or Hoya raising prices everywhere?

Pentax AF-200FG flash on the K10D body. © Ned Bunnell

Ned Bunnell has posted some images of Pentax AF-200FG entry level flash unit announced yesterday mounted on the K10D body to show its relative size. Pretty compact solution for those who feels that built-in flash insufficient.

With a guide number of 28 at ISO 200 (the lowest ISO setting for the same day announced K100D Super entry-level DSLR) Pentax AF-200FG P-TTL flash is almost twice more powerful than built-in flash. Also it stands higher providing bigger angle between the camera’s optical axis and the flash to prevent “red eye” effect.

Pentax AF-200FG will be available September 1, 2007 for $149.95. If you need more power, bounce head and other pro features, you should consider AF-360FGZ or AF-540FGZ flashguns.

Update: Impress Watch have published the photo of AF-200FG clipped on the K100D Super with DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 “kit” lens.

Pentax Imaging US released K100D Super today – a minor upgrade for the year old K100D. It’s built on the same 6.1 Megapixels sensor, powered by four AA (or two CR-V) batteries and has the same body. The only new features are dust removal system (like in higher level K10D) and full SDM (Supersonic Drive Motor) lenses support. MSRP $519.95 for body only and $599.95 for kit with DA 18-55mm lens. Both body only and kit will ship in August 2007.

Official press-release. Official specifications.

Also entry level Pentax AF200FG Auto Flash unit was announced. MSRP $149.95. Will ship in August 2007.

According to the letter received by DPReview forums user Richard Day from the Technical support of German flashgun manufacturer Metz, they will introduce Pentax / Samsung digital SLR dedicated flash unit Metz Mecablitz 58 AF-1 P/S digital in the end of July, 2007 approximately.

It will be guide number 42 flashgun with full P-TTL support and wireless capabilities. Its reflector could be rotated 270 degrees horizontally and -7/+90 degrees vertically in any combinations. A unique feature is USB socket for updating flash firmware remotely over the internet. It’s expected to be cheaper than the Pentax 540 FGZ.

A lot of news came from Pentax today. First of all, Pentax Japan announced the availability of DA* 16-50mm F2.8 and DA* 50-135mm F2.8 high quality large aperture zoom lenses equipped with built-in supersonic motor (SDM System) and all-weather sealing. Both of them will be available in US on May 15, 2007. You can pre-order DA* 16-50 from Amazon for $899.95 and DA* 50-135 for $999.95.

Also Pentax promised to show three more DA* lenses: two telephoto primes (200mm F2.8 and 300mm F4) and DA* 60-250mm F4 ED IF SDM telephoto zoom. The primes release scheduled for September 2007 and 60-250mm for December 2007.

Other new digital SLR products ready to show but not yet scheduled for release includes long awaited Pentax 645 Digital medium format SLR (it’s now known that it will use developed by Kodak 31.6 megapixels CCD sensor), Pentax D-FA645 55mm F2.8 medium format prime lens, Pentax DA 35mm F2.8 Macro Limited prime for 1.5x cropped digital SLRs and compact AF200FG flash unit.