Pentaxians! Can you advise me on a ttl flash solution for the 645z?

[Gel]

Hi all,
I'm trialing a 645z and I'm looking fro not just a ttl flash on camera, but also one which allows manual control over remote flashes in a room. Preferably with a battery pack for faster recharging.

Does such a thing exist other than the on camera ttl flashes I can find? The Pentax flashes seem to do wireless also, but don't have external battery packs.

[Joe Towner]

The AF-540gz does have a jack for an external battery, though I can't find one.

Tidbits of info are below, though what I really want is either the Profoto B1 to work, or more flexible would be the Phottix Odin where you can add speedlights to the Indra studio lights.
 
http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-645z-review/flash.html
http://pttl.mattdm.org/models:metz
 

[Gel]

That last link was awesome Joe.

It was a tie up between the Metz 58 or the FGZII - In the end I went for the FGZ. Even though it was more expensive, I use my flash with a battery pack. The ones for the Pentax are much thinner and smaller than the Godox options which were 2-3 times the size. (Plus the Pentax is a smaller flash with similar power).

It was really helpful, thank you.

[ndevlin]

The Pentax wireless TTL flash system worked just fine with the 645D - roughly identical to how the canon or Nikon systems work. 

Personally, I dislike speedlights, and in particular dislike $500 speedlights. So I use strobes.  I'm not sure if the Profoto TTL system will eventually be made to work with Pentax, but perhaps.  The B1's are really nice units.  First strobes that compete favourably with the PB Einsteins imho. With the air remote, you can control the profotos remotely as well.

Frankly, I would simply get a bunch of PB strobes with the remote radio system that allows full control over the strobes, via the radio transmitter atop the camera. It will cost not much more than three or four of the top-end Pentax speedlights.  But if you need portable power, those may be your answer.

- N.

[Gel]

As an update. I took delivery of a 540 FGZ II today and to my dismay it's going back.

There's no sync port or connection for the power pack. So I have instead bought a Mk1 which is much more user friendly, outputs more light and is cheaper.

I'm really surprised that the MKII version has less going for it.

[Joe Towner]

That sucks - I guess I've got a mk1 in hand - it's got a 330v port and a crazy 5pin setup under a flap on the left side.  Made by Hoya, I didn't realize the first time that there is a 'format' button literally to switch between digital, 35mm, 645 and 67.