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11-25-2010, 05:24 PM   #76
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Tried a few shots today with the bounce with the 540 and was getting results same as many of you way over exposed with bounce :-( hope a fix on the way. Tried -1.5 on flash still a little over.

11-26-2010, 10:17 AM   #77
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I wonder if he set the white balance to the flash mode. If not enough ambient light in the room can cause the camera to over expose and you will get wash out. Jut thinking?
11-26-2010, 05:43 PM   #78
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QuoteOriginally posted by blockamon Quote
In TAv mode, it was always grossly overexposed, almost as if the flash was always firing at full power.
Beware, in TAv the camera will meter as if there is no flash. If the ISO is too high, the flash may not be able to reduce its power enough to match the exposure chosen by the camera.

Anyway TAv is not a good mode for using the flash unless you're after fill flash.

If not using fill flash, set the camera to M or X mode.

I tried a few shots with the K-5 and AF540FGZ. No overexposure so far in both direct or bounce modes although the histogram was at the limit to the right. The exposures were pretty consistent even after changing aperture or ISO.
11-26-2010, 05:56 PM   #79
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Ok tried again with different settings. The K-5 tries to expose to the far right when using flash. It works OK but if there are white elements in the scene that maybe overexposed.

In TAv, as expected, there is overexposure as the flash is not able to reduce its power. On the AF540FGZ you can see the working range on the LCD, both the minimum and the maximum working distance are indicated.

11-26-2010, 10:35 PM   #80
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Pentax Flash problem with the K5

Hello, I live in the US. I am using the second K5 I got this month. The first one I had did the same thing with the flash everyone else is experiencing. I have the Pentax AF 360 FGZ, Pentax AF540FGZ and it did it with both. It also did it with the built in flash. The problem happened with direct flash and bounce flash equally bad. All three units were equally bad and did not matter which Pentax or Sigma lens I used from all the ones I had. I discussed this with Pentax. They first suggested I send them the camera. I said it would be easier to exchange it. They told me to go ahead. Which I did. I returned the first one I got for a refund and bought a different one from a different dealer. Same exact issue. The problem is that the over exposure is unpredictable with any of the flash units....the two external ones and the built in one. I dial -1.0EV on the flash menue, but that makes it only a little better. Pentax has had quite a bit of quality control issues. Although I have owned every "flagship" they made, I feel betrayed by Pentax. The K5 had so much going for it. But this blowes it. The problem is intermittent, which means you never know when you will miss this once in a lifetime shot with the flash. Before I read this forum, I thought I was the only one on the planet with this problem. I thought my collection of lenses is bad. I ordered $2500 worth of DA* lenses to see if that will make the K5 perform up to its potential. I find comfort in the fact that many others are having the same issue. So I am not the only one.

I am including some samples taken earlier today with the AF360FGZ. This was direct flash. Same setting not much changed. I have dozens more of heartbreaking examples. I will return this camera too and wait for a solution or go Nikon or Canon...can not decide yet. I will keep using my K7 a little longer and stop the $2500 lens order I put in today.

What really bothers me is that there are contributors to this forum who say they are not having ANY issues with the flash. To me this means one thing...faulty circuitry...those who are suggesting bad flash contacts are wrong. I have the problem with both external Pentax flashes AND with the built in flash. This is obviously a quality control issue with the hardware. I doubt firmware update will fix it. And by the way, a new firmware update is out for the K5 that increases the RAW burst capture, but it did not address or fix the flash issue. Pentax is either oblivious or deliberating avoiding discussions of the issue.
11-27-2010, 01:50 AM   #81
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax Shooter Quote
What really bothers me is that there are contributors to this forum who say they are not having ANY issues with the flash. To me this means one thing...faulty circuitry
I doubt that.
I think all K5 behave the same. I have tested 5 copies so far with different flashes and they all behave the same.

The K5 is overexposing with indirect flash.
Of course not under all conditions, but often.
11-27-2010, 03:21 AM   #82
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QuoteOriginally posted by blende8 Quote
The K5 is overexposing with indirect flash.
Of course not under all conditions, but often.
I think it would be nice to see pictures examples of these overexposures. When someone is telling me that it overexposes in TAv I take that with a big grain of salt. The K-5 allows for a huge ISO latitude (by default up to ISO 12,800), could it be that people are set on a too high ISO not allowing the flash to throttle down enough? The "not under all conditions" is suspicious too, that's why seeing the pictures may help to understand what's going on.

11-27-2010, 05:54 AM   #83
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Here are some examples:
DigitalFotoNetz.de :: Thema anzeigen - K5 + Blitzen: Seltsames Verhalten
and here:
DigitalFotoNetz.de :: Thema anzeigen - K-5 + Metz Automatikblitzen auf 2. Verschlussvorhang?

My own examples are from our bedroom which is currently not in a state to present it publicly.
But they look the same as the examples above.
11-27-2010, 06:31 AM   #84
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QuoteOriginally posted by ManuH Quote
I think it would be nice to see pictures examples of these overexposures. When someone is telling me that it overexposes in TAv I take that with a big grain of salt. The K-5 allows for a huge ISO latitude (by default up to ISO 12,800), could it be that people are set on a too high ISO not allowing the flash to throttle down enough? The "not under all conditions" is suspicious too, that's why seeing the pictures may help to understand what's going on.
Manuh, these flash issue reports were suspicious to me too, because at the beginning I did not have any issue with flash. Then after some days of use BAMM! I also ran into this issue.
It's really bad because so far it seems to be totally unpredictible, I get decent pics one day then get totally overexposed (like 2+ stops) pics next time. I even had a case when within 1 hour some shots were ok (no flash issue) and some others overexposed - using exactly the same settings (M mode, f4, 1/80s, ISO200) and same ambient light level in the same room indoors.

I couldn't find any pattern so far, it doesn't seem to matter what exposure settings I use, the flash issue may pop up and vanish.

As I recall someone from Pentax support told it's a communication issue between the cam and the flash, i.e. the cam may not send all (or the proper) info to the flash in the hotshoe and therefore the flash may use full power. Wireless flash not being affected by this issue also suggests that it's probably a hotshoe communication issue. So I guess this is just a bug in firmware and could be fixed in new firmware.
11-27-2010, 06:37 AM   #85
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K5 with flash

This is happening with direct flash and bounce flash.
ISO setting is not relevant it seems. Tried it with all settings possible.
Between the copies I have purchased so far, I took over 3000 shots. So every possible combo of settings has been tried. I am convinced it is the hardware.

You see, a USD1600 camera should have a more reliable and less finicky flash performance than my optio point and shoot. But unfortunately the K5 does not live up to that so far. You should spend hours and thousands of shots trying to find the right combo of settings to force your camera to perform as promised by the manufacturer. I wonder how many Canon and Nikon users have to hunt for the sweet setting combo that will allow flawless flash photography.

Did you notice that in the green mode, no matter what light conditions are, the camera is always opting for the highest ISO possible?

For the picture samples, this site is not allowing to upload my pics for some reason but I have them posted on ************* website. They are under Pentax SLR talk forum under my same user name Pentax Shooter. Just posted them yesterday, please feel free to look and let me know what you think.

Pentax, if you are listening or reading, please feel free to look at my pictures too. Total disappointment.

I am acutally convinced it is the hardware and I am heading with the camera back to the store today. I may wait a couple of months and keep watching for solution or fix. If none is found, will put my pentax gear on ebay and go rogue....maybe Canon, I like theire lenses. But will miss the size and ergonomics of my Pentax camera. So if you are looking for good Pentax stuff and willing to wait you might find some good buys here from me in the next few weeks.
11-27-2010, 06:55 AM   #86
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It's definitely the camera, because the flashes work correctly on other cameras, e.g. the K20.
11-27-2010, 08:43 AM   #87
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Tried my sync cord and flash on my kx and everything was fine shooting around white walls. I got good exposure. Then I went to my cat on my black couch and the flash fired at full power because of the dark subject. Its trying to expose the blacks even though its over exposing the whole scene.

I tried different setting on the mets 48 flash and found High Speed Sync works awesome with this type of situation. Use a shutter speed faster than 180. At 200 the flash works great and i get good exposure without it blowing out the high lights.

The faster the shutter speed the lower the flash output since high speed sync cuts the guide number and flash power. So if your scene is being blown out try 500 just scroll the wheel till you get a good exposure.

You will notice the flash power increases the closer you get to 180 and decreases the farther away from it. So you can get really soft light at 800 or 1000 depending on what you need. I also use rear curtain sync on camera using shutter priority or manual mode. Haven't tried other settings.

UPDATE
using the metz 48 with High speed sync i was able to bounce shoot straight on with very good exposure. I also set the trailing sync setting in the camera using the flash button then scroll to 2nd curtain sync or trailing sync. I am able to use all shutter speed with consisten exposure...if its too bright I simply dial up the shutter a bit and it takes care of the problem I hope this helps some body here.

Last edited by tigerzen; 11-27-2010 at 09:05 AM.
11-27-2010, 09:02 AM   #88
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I think using the high speed sync this way it equivalent to Nikon's TTBL setting while the regular PTTL is more equivelant to Nikon's TTL setting as using the Nikon TTL for many shots will over expose shots. I mostly using the TTBL setting using the Nikon. But the High speed sync really gives me all around good exposure.

HS sync is just not for sunlight anymore. I will be trying this more often now that I have bracket and a strofen for event photography.
11-27-2010, 09:05 AM   #89
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As I mentioned before, this problem is pretty bad and I am surprised this has not been noticed before production. It seems that metering white of almost white subjects is off.
My questions are:
Has Pentax headquarters acknowledged this problem?
If so, will Pentax headquarters deal with this issue in a firmware update?


So far I've heard only guessing, hopes, assumptions from various sources. I am afraid that if this is a hardware problem, Pentax will have only few options to deal with this:
Free replacement K5 cameras to all current owners, or
Recall all K-5 cameras to have the problem circuitry replaced
.

Either way, I can imagine that Pentax is weary admitting that it is a hardware problem due to the potential ramifications such as client loss, returns, or bad press.

I think this actually could cause Pentax to go under unless it is addressed VERY soon. Hopefully a firmware update can fix this.

Does anyone have any additional (non-rumor) facts on the status from Pentax about dealing with this problem? And info from customer support people is not going to cut it, they can say anything to avoid us returning our cameras.

Thanks
11-27-2010, 11:52 AM   #90
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It maybe a too aggressive algorithm on light tones. I noticed that white parts of the picture tend to be overexposed with a histogram very close to the right. In the past the K10D was bashed for flash underexposure: any reflective item (ex: mirror) in the picture would cause massive underexposure. Pentax have changed the algorithms in the K-7 as this camera was exposing much more to the right (and too much for fill flash according to some people).
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