I have been having trouble with the K-5 when I bounce the flash. It seems to overexpose quite a bit (1 stop or more depending upon situation). I have posted this topic a few times on this forum and another. The flash that I have been using is a Metz 50 af-1. I have tried it on 4 other k-5 bodies and the problem does not exist on my K-r. It happens when the camera is on any mode and the ISO is above 100. I typically shoot at ISO's above 100 at weddings with the camera on manual f5, 1/50th to conserve flash power and to pull in more ambient light. I was beginning to think that it might be a Metz problem, but I contacted Metz and this is their response:
Dear Mr Kelly,
Thank you for your e-mail enquiry of 11 March 2011.
We regret the trouble that you have with your flash unit 50 AF-1 and your camera Pentax K-5.
Please be informed, in our company we tested the digital camera "Pentax K-5" (firmware version 1.01 and 1.02) with flash units of our product range and also original Pentax flash units "Pentax AF-540FGZ" and "Pentax AF-360FGZ" and compared the results of images. The results are identical because the camera determines the intensity of flash light.
However, we found also out by our tests that the precision of Pentax digital camera's "Pentax K-5" P-TTL flash control is not as precise as like with other Pentax digital camera.
Please see:
http://forums.dpreview.com/...forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=37036542 http://dp-master1.dpreview.com/...ms/read.asp?forum=1036&message=37196234 http://forums.dpreview.com/...forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=37065884
We recommend you to take also pictures with an original Pentax flash unit at your photo dealers. Then you will see whether the problem is caused by the camera itself or by your flash unit.
We hope this information has been of help for you and remain
With kind regards
Wolfgang Becker
Technical Support
I decided to take some shots with my K-5 and K-r so that people can see if they have the same issue. All my shots were with the camera on Manual, f5, 1/50 sec., and at ISO 100, 200, 400, and 800 with the flash on PTTL and strait up bounced. The lens used was a DA* 16-50 with the lens at 35mm and I was about 5 feet away. The scene was in the -EV as well (at least -1 stop with ISO 800 selected). Let me know what you think. Oh ya, I have the newest firmware in my camera 1.03.
The K-5-
f5, 1/50th, ISO 100
f5, 1/50th, ISO 200
f5, 1/50th, ISO 400
f5, 1/50th, ISO 800
The K-r
f5, 1/50th, ISO 100
f5, 1/50th, ISO 200
f5, 1/50th, ISO 400
f5, 1/50th, ISO 800
Thank you...
Last edited by efkelly; 03-14-2011 at 02:31 PM.