Posted by Kate Silvia on November 8, 2010 at 5:32 PM
Hey Gang,
I have a friend who is asking me about a Vivitar DF 383 flash for her Pentax camera. I'm a Nikon shooter and have no experience with either Pentax or Vivitar. Any suggestions on whether or not this is a good flash to use? General purpose, portraits of kids etc, mostly enclosed settings.
Any other flashes you might recommend for her? I've only used the SB-800...so I'm at a loss for ideas.
She needs to keep the price pretty low I think...looks like the Vivitar is about $130 on B & H.
Thanks.
Kate
Posted by Toni Lankerd on November 10, 2010 at 10:24 AM
Kate...
Which Pentax camera is she using? I have a Pentax AF500ftz I would be willing to sell, but if she uses the K10D or 20D DSLR, the flash would have to be used in manual mode only.
Posted by Michael Elenko on November 15, 2010 at 2:47 AM
Cheap flash poor QA, not recommended.
The Sigma DG 530 works fine and is PTTL compatible for Pentax.
There is a house brand Promaster that is PTTL compatible I've heard good enough things about. I don't know the model number or name, but, like the very excellent Metz 58AF, it has two lamps on the front.
If your friend is comfortable using manual flash or a flash with the "A" mode (thyristor) then a used Sunpak 383 Super works wonderfully. I got one for about $50 recently. Lots of fun.
Discussion
2 repliesI have a friend who is asking me about a Vivitar DF 383 flash for her Pentax camera. I'm a Nikon shooter and have no experience with either Pentax or Vivitar. Any suggestions on whether or not this is a good flash to use? General purpose, portraits of kids etc, mostly enclosed settings.
Any other flashes you might recommend for her? I've only used the SB-800...so I'm at a loss for ideas.
She needs to keep the price pretty low I think...looks like the Vivitar is about $130 on B & H.
Thanks.
Kate
Which Pentax camera is she using? I have a Pentax AF500ftz I would be willing to sell, but if she uses the K10D or 20D DSLR, the flash would have to be used in manual mode only.
The Sigma DG 530 works fine and is PTTL compatible for Pentax.
There is a house brand Promaster that is PTTL compatible I've heard good enough things about. I don't know the model number or name, but, like the very excellent Metz 58AF, it has two lamps on the front.
If your friend is comfortable using manual flash or a flash with the "A" mode (thyristor) then a used Sunpak 383 Super works wonderfully. I got one for about $50 recently. Lots of fun.
ME