Pentax AF360FGZ User Manual

PENTAX Corporation 2-36-9,Maeno-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 174-8639, JAPAN (http://www.pentax.co.jp/)
PENTAX Europe GmbH (European Headquarters) Julius-Vosseler-Strasse, 104, 22527 Hamburg, GERMANY

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PENTAX Scandinavia AB P.O. Box 650, 75127 Uppsala, SWEDEN (http://www.pentax.se)
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PENTAX Canada Inc. 3131 Universal Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2E5, CANADA (http://www.pentaxcanada.ca)

• Specifications and external dimensions are subject to change without notice.

56752

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The CE Mark is a Directive conformity

mark of the European Community.

Copyright © PENTAX Corporation 2003

02-200304 Printed in Philippines

AF360FGZ
AUTO ZOOM ELECTRONIC FLASH UNIT
OPERATING MANUAL

Thank you for purchasing the PENTAX Auto-flash AF360FGZ.
In addition to easy daylight sync photography with TTL auto, the AF36OFGZ also allows wireless TTL auto
(P-TTL) photography and high-speed sync. It is clip-on type flash which enable accurate focus adjustments
even in dark locations with built-in AF-assist spotbeam.
Please read this instruction manual carefully first for proper use.

PENTAX is a trademark of PENTAX Corporation.

* The MZ-S is mainly used in the illustrations in these instructions.

FOR SAFE USE OF YOUR FLASH UNIT

Although we have carefully designed this flash unit for safe operation, please be sure to follow precautions
given on page 2.

This mark indicates precautions that, if not followed, could result in

WARNING

CAUTION

is a symbol indicating items that are prohibited.

is a symbol emphasizing a warning.

serious injury to the user.

This mark indicates precautions that, if not followed, could result in
minor or medium injury to the user or damage to the equipment.

1

PRECAUTIONS FOR YOUR FLASH UNIT

WARNING

The electronic circuits inside the flash contain
high voltage working parts. Never attempt to
disassemble the flash unit yourself.

Never touch internal parts of the flash unit if
they become exposed from dropping the
camera or for some other reason, as there is
danger of an electric shock.

Do not expose the flash unit to water or
moisture. This is to prevent electrical shock.

2

CAUTION

Do not use the flash near anyone's eyes, as it
may hurt them. Be particularly careful with the
flash around infants.

Never try to disassemble, short or recharge
the battery. Also, do not dispose of the battery
in fire, as it may explode.

Misuse of the battery can cause hazards such
as leakage, overheating, explosion, etc. The
battery should be inserted with the "+" and "-"
sides facing correctly.

Remove the batteries from the camera
immediately if they become hot or begin to
smoke. Be careful not burn yourself during
removal.

• When using the flash unit off the camera, do not try to attach any metallic object to the electric
contacts or to mount incompatible accessories. Otherwise, the TTL auto mechanism may be
damaged or rendered inoperable. Use only compatible Pentax accessories.

• Never use solvents such as paint thinner, alcohol or benzene to clean the flash unit.

• Avoid leaving the flash unit for extend period in places where the humidity and temperature are
very high such as in a car.

• Be careful not to subject the flash unit to strong vibrations, shock or pressure. Use a cushion to
protect the flash unit when carrying it in a motorcycle, car, boat, etc.

• Shield the flash unit from salty air and water at the beach, splashing liquid of any kind, and rain.
When the flash unit is subjected to rain or moisture, wipe it off with a dry soft.

• Replace the batteries at the same time. Do not mix battery brands, type or an old battery with a
new one. It may cause explosion or overheating.

• Remove the batteries when not using for extended periods. Leakage of fluids may result and
cause damage to inside of the flash unit.

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• When mounting the flash unit to the camera's hot shoe, hold the portion near the hot shoe
bracket to avoid damage to the hot shoe, and do not mount/dismount it by force.

• If the unit has not been used for an extended period of time, or is being readied for an important
shoot, it is recommended that you take a test flash with the test button and test shoot with it.
Test flash is also important to maintain optimum performance.

• Manganese batteries are not recommended for use as they provide a lower number of flashes
per set of batteries.

• Battery performance may temporarily be hindered in low temperatures. Batteries should be kept
warm in temperatures below freezing for proper performance.

• Dark or low-reflectance subjects may result in underexposure. Set the camera's exposure
compensation to the + side.

• Do not attach any accessories having the wrong number of electrical contacts for the hot shoe
or grip. Otherwise, TTL auto metering might not work properly.

• When using the AF360FGZ with SF 7 camera, set the flash mode to Auto flash (A) mode.

4

FOR SAFE USE OF YOUR FLASH UNIT.............1

PRECAUTIONS FOR YOUR FLASH UNIT...........3

NAMES OF WORKING PARTS.............................6

INSERTING THE BATTERIES.............................10

NOTES ON THE POWER SUPPLY.....................12

MOUNTING TO CAMERA ...................................13

AF360FGZ FLASH MODES................................14

PICTURE FORMATS AND

FLASH COVERAGE............................................15

DEDICATED FUNCTIONS WITH

THE PENTAX CAMERAS ...................................19

P-TTL AUTO FLASH...........................................22

(with *ist, MZ-S or MZ-L/MZ-6/ZX-L)

TTL AUTO FLASH ..............................................26

AUTO FLASH ......................................................28

MANUAL FLASH.................................................30

HIGH-SPEED SYNC MODE................................32

(with *ist, MZ-S or MZ-L/MZ-6/ZX-L)

CONTRAST-CONTROL-SYNC FLASH ..............35

WIRELESS MODE ..............................................37

(with *ist, MZ-S or MZ-L/MZ-6/ZX-L)
SELECT BUTTON[S]/ADJUSTMENT DIAL

FUNCTIONS ........................................................46

WIRELESS CHANNEL SETTING .......................48

WIRELESS SLAVE MODE SETTING.................49

SLAVE [IN THE MANUAL FLASH MODE].........50

BOUNCE FLASH ................................................52

WIDE-ANGLE PANEL AND CATCHLIGHT

PANEL .................................................................53

MODELING FLASH/TEST FLASH .....................54

SLOW-SPEED-SYNC FLASH ............................54

AF SPOTBEAM...................................................55

TRAILING-SHUTTER-CURTAIN

SYNC FLASH ......................................................56

USING THE AF360 FGZ DETACHED

FROM THE CAMERA ..........................................57

MAJOR SPECIFICATION....................................58

WARRANTY POLICY..........................................60

5

NAMES OF WORKING PARTS

0.7 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 2 2m

2.3 5 10 20 40 70ft

A.Zoom

M.Zoom

mm

CH.

ISO

SB

P-TTLAM

35mm64567

HS

F

MASTER SLAVECONTROL

LIGHT

ZOOM

READY

TEST

FORMAT

CH.

MODELING

HS

OFF

ON

SYNC.

WIRELESS

W

MCS

MODE

FORMAT

W

IRE

LE

S

S

W

S

q Flash head
w AF spotbeam emitter
e Slave sensor
r Auto flash sensor
t Catchlight panel
y Wide - angle panel
u Hot - shoe bracket
i Flash signal contacts
o Shoe lock pin
!0 Locking lever
!1 Battery chamber cover
!2 Bounce lock release button

!3 LCD panel illumination button/Format button
!4 Flash zoom button/Channel button
!5 Test button/Modeling flash button/Ready lamp
!6 Setting switch
!7 Power switch
!8 Wireless mode switch
!9 Sync mode switch
@0 Adjustment dial
@1 Select button
@2 Flash mode button
@3 LCD panel
@4 Bounce angle adjustment

@4

6

5

1

@3

!3

!4

!5

@2

!6

@1

!2

4

2

!1

!7

@0

!8

!9

!0

9

8

3

7

76

HS

MODE

0.711.5234681216 22m

2.3 5 10 20 40 70ft

A.Zoom

M.Zoom

mm

CH.

ISO

SB

P-TTLAM

35mm64567

HS

F

MASTER SLAVECONTROL

LCD Panel Indication

q5 Zoom indicator

w6 Format display : [35mm] → [645] → [67]
e7 Flash mode display : [P-TTL] → [A] → [M] → [SB]
r9 Flash exposure compensation indicator : [-3.0 ~ +1.0 stops, 0.5 stop increments]
t0 ISO indicator : ISO 25 ~ 1600
y0 Bar graph
u1 Effective flash range indicator :

i0 AF spotbeam : [SB]
o2 Synchronization mode indicator : [Leading-shutter-curtain sync: ] - [Trailing-shutter-curtain

!03 Bounce flash warning : [ ]
!1114 Flash adjustment display : [●● ●● /××]

f/number display : F2 ~ F22

!27 Channel indicator : Channels 1 ~ 4
!38 Wireless mode indicator : [MASTER], [CONTROL], [SLAVE]

: [A Zoom] → [MZoom] xxmm = 20, 24, 28, 35, 50, 70, 85 [35mm format]

35, 45, 55, 70, 100, 135, 150 [645 format]
55, 60, 70, 90, 120, 180, 190 [67 format]

[Closest distance] - [Maximum distance (in P-TTL, TTL, A modes)]
Optimum distance in manual mode

sync: ] - [Contrast-control-sync: ] ­[High-speed-sync: ]

8

2

3

4

5

6

7

AT

RM

FO

35mm

0.7 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 22m

2.3 5 10 20 40 70ft

MODE

TTL

A.Zoom

LIGHT

FORMAT

ZOOM

W

WIRELESS

CH.

1

mm

READY

TEST

MODELING

!3

!2

!1

!0

9

8

When in poorly lit locations and the display panel
cannot be seen, pressing this button will illuminate
the panel for about 10 seconds. Pressing it again
will turn off the illumination. If the camera’s exposure
meter switch is also ON, the camera’s display panel
will also be illuminated. Additionally, if the camera’s
LCD illumination button is pressed, the AF360FGZ
display panel will also be illuminated.

9

INSERTING THE BATTERIES

FORMAT

35mm

A.Zoom

P-TTL

0.7 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 22m

2.3 5 10 20 40 70ft

MODE

LIGHT

FORMAT

S

SYNC.

W

WIRELESS

ZOOM

CH.

HS

W

WIRELESS

MCS

mm

MODELING

OFF

READY

TEST

BATTERIES

This flash unit operates with four AA-size batteries
as shown below.

Alkaline battery : LR6
Lithium battery : FR6
Nickel Hydroxide battery : Ni-MH

The flash unit charges in approximately 6 seconds
with brand new alkaline batteries, 5 seconds with

ON

Nickel Hydroxide battery and 6 seconds with lithium
batteries. If charging time takes more than 20
seconds, then the batteries are weak and should be
replaced with the same type of new batteries.

Slide the battery chamber cover as shown in
the figure to remove.

12

Insert four AA-size batteries, making sure the
plus/minus marking(,,.) match the diagram

inside the battery chamber cover.

10

FIX→

When the power switch is set to the [ON]
position, the Ready Lamp lights up indicating

3

that the flash has been charged and is ready to
fire. Then, by pressing the Test Button, the test­flash will fire. Auto check confirmation can be
done in the Auto flash mode but cannot be
done in the TTL or P-TTL mode.

• If the batteries are not inserted properly, the
Ready Lamp will not light up. Insert the
batteries correctly.

• If you let the flash unit fire in succession on
lithium batteries, heated batteries would
activate the safety circuit so that the firing is
temporarily disabled.
In this case, take time to reduce the battery
temperature and it would bring you back to the
normol condition of use.

11

NOTES ON THE POWER SUPPLY

Sliding the Power Switch to the ON position will turn ON the power, sliding it to the OFF position will turn OFF
the power.

• Please refer to page 37 for the WIRELESS
MODE position.

• When the power is turned OFF and ON again,
the flash mode will be set to P-TTL and the

FORMAT

35mm

P-TTL

A.Zoom

W

WIRELESS

mm

Zoom position A. Zoom 24mm (35mm
cameras), A. Zoom 45mm (645), and A. Zoom
60mm (67).

MOUNTING TO CAMERA

12

12

0.7 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 22m

2.3 5 10 20 40 70ft

ZOOM

MODE

S

LIGHT

FORMAT

SYNC.

FIX→

HS

W

MCS

CH.

OFF

WIRELESS

READY

TEST

MODELING

ON

Auto Power Off Function

When the flash unit is left unused for about 3
minutes with the power switch set to the [ON]
position, its power automatically switches off to
save on power. To restart charging of the flash
unit, turn ON the power. If the flash unit is
mounted on the autofocus cameras, press the
shutter release button lightly to turn ON the power.

•

The power will shut off after approximately 6
minutes only when set to auto fash mode [A].

• During wireless flash operation, the power
will turn off after about 1 hour of non­operation.

Remove the hot shoe cover from the camera.

1

Slide the shoe bracket into the camera's hot
shoe, then turn the locking lever in the direction

2

of the arrow to secure it in place. To remove it,
loosen the locking lever and slide it off the
camera.

• When the flash unit is attached to the *ist, MZ­S or MZ-L/MZ-6/ZX-L and the locking lever is
turned toward [FIX →] to lock it, the locking pin
will be extended for secure locking.

• Turn the locking lever in the opposite direction
indicated by [FIX →] before sliding the shoe
bracket into the camera's hot shoe.

• Mount or remove the flash unit to or from the
camera's hot shoe while holding the portion
near the shoe bracket to prevent damage to
the hot shoe.

• The 67II does not come with a hot shoe. The
optional hot shoe grip 67II should be used.

13

AF360FGZ FLASH MODES

OFF

PICTURE FORMATS AND FLASH COVERAGE

The AF360FGZ has the following flash modes. Select the mode best suited for the subject.

1P-TTL auto flash [P-TTL]

Works with the Pentax *ist, MZ-S or MZ-L/MZ­6/ZX-L camera.
A pre-flash is fired before the main flash fires so
that the multi-segment metering sensor can
measure the subject's distance, brightness,
backlit condition, etc. The data obtained is
incorporated to set the output of the main flash.
This mode obtains more accurate results than
with the conventional TTL mode.

2TTL auto flash [TTL]

Based on the amount of light reflected off the film,
the camera adjusts the flash output automatically
to obtain a correct exposure.
This mode works with all autofocus Pentax
cameras (except *ist, MZ-S and MZ-L/MZ-6/ZX­L), LX, Super A, 645N, and 67II.

3Auto flash [A]

The built-in flash metering sensor adjusts the
flash output automatically.
Use with cameras that are not P-TTL or TTL Auto
flash compatible.

4Manual flash [M]

Use the flash unit's Guide No. to calculate the
correct flash range and aperture. This mode
works with all Pentax cameras.

5AF spotbeam beam [SB]

Under low-light or low-contrast conditions, a red
AF-assist beam is emitted to enable
autofocusing. The flash will not fire. This works in
tandem with a Pentax autofocus camera.

14

The AF360FGZ's flash coverage can be adjusted with the auto or manual zoom head to suit the camera's
picture format (35mm, 6x4.5 cm, or 6x7 cm) and lens focal length. Follow the procedure below.

Camera Format Size: [FORMAT] setting

1

35mm

FORMAT

W

P-TTL

0.7 1 1.5 2 3 4 6 8 12 16 22m

2.3 5 10 20 40 70ft

ZOOM

MODE

S

LIGHT

FORMAT

SYNC.

WIRELLESS

CH.

OFF

HS

W

WIRELLESS

MCS

CH.

READY

TEST

MODELING

ON

123

q Slide the setting switch down [yellow dot].
w Press the [FORMAT] button and set to the

camera format size being used.

e Slide the setting switch back up [white dot]

when complete.

• When used with *ist, MZ-S or MZ-L/MZ-6/ZX-L
camera, the format size will automatically be
set when the shutter release button is pressed
halfway down. For all other cameras, set
accordingly before using.

15