Name: Used Pentax AF-540FGZ Dedicated Shoe Mount Zoom Flash, Guide Number 148 at ISO 100. undefined
Brand: Pentax
SKU: US1597873
Price: 199.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 4.84 (37 reviews)

Pentax AF-540FGZ Dedicated Shoe Mount Zoom Flash, Guide Number 148 at ISO 100.

Pentax AF-540FGZ

Pentax

Adorama

Used

Photography

Lighting & Studio

Flashes & On-Camera Lighting

On Camera Flashes

Pentax On Camera Flashes

Pentax AF-540FGZ 

Top Rated Gear: Used Pentax AF-540FGZ Dedicated Shoe Mount Zoom Flash, Guide Number 148 at ISO 100. undefined

Used Pentax AF-540FGZ Dedicated Shoe Mount Zoom Flash, Guide Number 148 at ISO 100. undefined

I am giving it a 5 star because I have used someone else's before.  I can't wait until I can use mine.  I just love the quickness of delivery.  I ordered from the parent company and after 2 months they were still unable to send me anything because of backorder.  They would send nothing until all products were ready for deliver.  Should have gone with Adorama which was my first thought.  Thank you adorama.

Have not had time to use this yet.

Reliable. Has lots of useful features, especially off camera flash.

Perfect!

Haven't had a great need for a flash unit, the on-camera flash has been sufficient. But I'm finding that the subjects I'm currently shooting require something more versatile with greater output. The AF-540 fills the requirements. Can be hot shoe mounted or positioned off-camera using it's included base or on a light stand. Wired or wireless, as needed.

Nice flash unit

I used this flash on camera and off, as the main flash and as the additional light source as well.  I was so impressed I bought 2.  The bounce and swivel head allow me to generate the light in the exact spot I need it.  I bounced the flash off a white ceiling with repeated success.

Awesome flash...

best I have ever owened !

I got this to use indoors - as fill flash when photographing my granddaughters.  I am glad to have a flash that I can direct and use as fill flash.

Works well!

Great product pentax quality. Little complicated at the beginning. The product manual does not help much. overall 5 star.

Great product pentax quality 

Daylight , reflectors , in camera flash especially will never be the total answer when illuminating your subject , keep the PENTAX AF-540FGZ IN YOUR CAMERA BAG PLEASE AND DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT ..

on/off the camera,it's beautiful

I'm a generalist shooter and use 2 of these (both purchased from Adorama) for everything from studio flash to fill flash at outdoor events to slow sync night shots. Hands down a fantastic flash. I use Cowboystudio RF flash triggers without a hitch. My only complaint is not being able to use manual flash mode with triggers (but that's probably a firmware issue with the Pentax camera(s)). Prior to RF triggers, I used them wirelessly with the camera's pop-up as control flash to trigger the 540s off-camera several feet away. The rotating head is especially useful here, as the head can be rotated while the flash can still "see" the pop from the control flash. I found the line-of-sight issue limiting, however, so went with RF. But wireless with pop-up is a good option for close, off-camera flash control. At full power, recycling time declines as batteries drain (of course), but I SELDOM use it at full power - so recycling time is not an issue until the AAs get low. I always use this with rechargeable AAs - never a power pack - and have great, reliable results. SB (spot beam) is handy for auto-focus assist with night shooting. Manual off-camera flash is great fun. Unless I'm shooting them through a soft box, I usually attach a Stofen Omni-Bounce for diffusion (use the one for a Metz 40 1i or 3i), and I typically have a Lee 1/2 CTO gel taped across the head to balance light temps. I use it as on-camera fill flash for event photography and dial the power back for natural looking fill flash. The wide and bounce cards stored in the head are handy when the flash is on-camera. I also like/use the auto-zoom feature often to shape the flash beam  (wide card disables manual zoom function). I carry any extra one in a Think Tank Skin Strobe belt pouch when shooting events. So many creative possibilities with this flash. 2 thumbs up.

Greatness

I like this flash, but I do not love it. It does everything OK, but it needs more power and faster recycling. The exposures are mostly right-on.

Good but not great.

This flash is great in every way, but don't buy the kit from Adorama that comes with rechargeable batteries.  I spent more from Adorama than I could of on the flash somewhere else because this one also came with rechargeable batteries.  However, those batteries are a bit bigger than others and DON'T FIT!  Don't buy the kit unless this does not matter to you.

Great Flash / Problem with kit batteries

We use this flash and the three other ones we own for weddings,outdoor portraits, and youth sports.

Great flash for Pentax Eqip.

As a wedding and event photographer I am usually shooting in poor lighting conditions and the ability to swivel and bounce the flash head allows me to use as a fill flash in large groups shot all the way up to getting up close and personal without washing out the shot with a bright flash. I can get 2 consecutive flash fired but never a 3rd so my only complaint would be the recycle time but I now own 2 of these flashes and I would highly reccomend it.

Great Flash..Im lost without it.

I use this flash mostly for general, everyday photography. The settings are easy to understand & it is easy to change settings quickly.

Great flash that is simple to use.

This is my only flash so it gets used for about everything. It needs more power and control of the head, it turns on it's own and you find the flash head facing the floor. The cordless system needs some rethinking, if you turn off the camera to change cards you have to reprogram the flash and camera. That's ok for flowers but not so good at weddings atleast not for my style. I like the flash overall, the light is beautiful.

Very Good but Not Great

This is THE flash for the Pentax K "family". Highly recommended.

This is the one you want!

I use the flash for just about everything, indoors, outdoors, has great colour tone, and works beautifully with my D10.

Great Flash

Not being great with flash myself, I was able to get good results, especially with a diffuser.  The flash pretty much runs itself, and I really like the off-camera wireless capability with my Pentax K20D.

Nice Flash

I really like it

I used this flash on my Pentax K200D to take pictures at a retirement party for the guests. This flash recycled fast, allowing me to continue and not lose any shots. The swivel and the bounce are equally matched for precision pictures, used with lumiquest diffusers. I have experienced no problems removing the flash as I have read in some of the reviews. This is a GREAT accompaniment for my camera and myself. Thank you Adorama for your reasonable pricing,extensive selection [...] I also am a nature hobbist and sometime this requires the flash as well

Great flash for my Pentax K200D

Perfect Match for the K20D

I'm just adding the Pentax dSLR lineup to my camera collection-  I also shoot Canon.

Compared to the Canon 430EX, this 540FGZ is very large and takes up a lot room in your camera bag.

But on the other hand, it also has wireless capabilities that works off my K20D and I LOVE that!

I still use my 430EX via a PC cord to my K20D and use the 540FGZ in wireless mode.. and I'm loving the combo.

Great flash!

I have used it at 2 jobs (a party and a wedding)
and it performed very well.   Fast recycle
and it handles the big group photos perfectly.
Bounce flash is some of the best I have taken.
Swivel flash head is perfect for all conditions.

Does a great job!

Haven't used it much yet; but so far exposures seem just about perfect on my K10D.  I'm glad I went with the 540 instead of the 360, because of the extra features which I plan to use in the future.  This flash is professional grade.

So far, so good

At first, I was contemplating to just get the 360FGZ but the tilt & swivel function of this unit is worth the extra premium.

Highly Recommended

I have formerly used a simple lamp for analog (film) camera and after buying K20 I decided to have something matching the camera. I've gone too far. This lamp is far much more I expected. Took already a couple of photos but it works amazingly. And it's built superb. The head woks great 135 left and 180 right swing! 
I am happy I have bought it!

JUST EXCELLENT

I would buy this product again and again

My first flash ever. Glad i bought this over the 360fgz since it has both tilt and swivel, which is very handy when taking portraits.

Very happy with this one

Pentax is slowly getting back into pro level gear.The 540 flash is simply incredible.I regret not buying one much sooner.I also bought the Pentax TR PowerPack III(for with this flash). Not tried it out yet.[...] this flash is about [$]. If this flash was [$]I wouldconsider it a very good value. At [$] it's a bargain.Also check out the other Pentax pro level lenses such as the 31mm/43mm/77mm.What's next? Pentax digital 18-31mp 645? I hope!

Pentax goes back to PRO quality

We bought the AF540FGZ flash unit to add to our new K10D kit.  We needed a powerful flash to aid us in getting excellent exposures indoors during weddings.  This flash unit has certainly delivered, we get consistently great results from it every time.  The head swivels a total of 180 degrees side to side and just over 90 degrees up and down, this makes for great creative potential with flash bounce and diffusion.  The PTTL system works excellently and the flash has a huge power output, making it ideal for those times when you can't get right up on your subject and need to shoot from a distance.  We've used it to shoot little league soccer, portraits, and weddings and it hasn't let us down.  It only strengthens our belief in the superior quality of Pentax made products.  

One of the greatest features of this flash is it's ability to be controlled wirelessly by the camera.  The other flash units we looked at when making our purchase required the use of at least two flashguns in order to be used wirelessly.  One had to be mounted on the camera in order to trigger the ones that were off camera.  Pentax has released a firmware update for the K10D that allows the built in flash on the camera to trigger the AF540FGZ, meaning that you can use the flash off camera even of you only own one unit.  That's what finally tipped the scales in the Pentax's favor, and we're very glad we chose this product.

Very highly reccomended.