Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
11-28-2010, 10:50 AM   #106
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
jpzk's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Québec
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 8,251
QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax Shooter Quote
In the US as in Canada, we can return the product if we are not happy. I'm not too sure about that, at least here; my very first camera (DSLR that is) was a K10D. After three weeks of normal useage, I had to return it because of a problem. They did not at first want to just replace the camera, they wanted to "repair" it! A brand new camera at at that.Only after much complianing and cursing did I get a replacement, but at least one moth later!
Pentax will have to deal hopefully with mass returns of this camera if the problem is not fixed promptly. I already talked to them and they did not seem to care.I am not at all surprised. The guy told me to shoot in green mode for a few days and see what happened. I shot for a few minutes in green mode and saw immediately what happened. It is worse in green than any other mode, because geen mode will not allow any significant imput from the photographer.

Again, this is an external and a pop up flash issue. The issue maybe the logic algorhythm the machine uses to set the flash power and camera settings or it may be faulty wiring and computer boards....I honeslty do not care which one it is and I am not waiting to find out. I am returning this unit while I can. This is my second with the same issue. Penatx needs to hear about it. In the mean time back to the K7 which also has the same problem but to a lesser extent. May be even time for a Canon 7D???
I would be rather annoyed as well if I had to return the same product, twice! Hopefully, Pentax will see to this very soon or they will have a huge number of returns ... not good for business.


11-28-2010, 01:26 PM   #107
Veteran Member
AussieTrev's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Queensland
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,590
Well I set up a bit of studio in the lounge room. Blue back drop with a little back light coming through. My K with both my 540 and 360 reflected with umbrellas. then I went nuts and was shooting just my wife, then both of us. All shots have no significant exposure problems. I used Av first then full M. Still no exposure problems. Well the battery went flat on the K5, I haven't got a spare yet. Switched to my K20D same lens 16-50 f2.8 again very similar results with exposure. Afterwards I realised that I had the K20D set at 1600 ISO with the K5 at 400. Results were very similar, except with the 600 ISO they had a bit of grain. I even then had the wife shoot with her K20D at 200 ISO. We swapped to the 105 Sigma macro again consistent results.

We did drop the flash compensation and raise it from time to time, but then we were getting creative. Again very consistent results. We switched to shoot through umbrellas again consistent results. As I posted previously I have even shot with the 540 and a diffuser on and off camera, again consistent results.

In short I am way happy so far, except I should have ordered a second battery.

I will try and post some of the results as soon as I get time.

Hope this helps.
11-28-2010, 06:56 PM   #108
Senior Member




Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 138
Two things I found out, I'm not sure though I'm too tired to think straight.
EV compensation seems to works as FEC also and my Metz 58 won't zoom when tilted upwards, goes straight to 105mm and doesn't react to zoom. No wonder I was getting very odd exposures today when I needed flash.

I really need this to be solved, have some school projects where I need indirect flash. Maybe I need to dig the good ol' K200D back from the box...
11-28-2010, 09:15 PM   #109
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
ManuH's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Montreal
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,249
QuoteOriginally posted by Horst-Helmut Quote
Two things I found out, I'm not sure though I'm too tired to think straight.
EV compensation seems to works as FEC also and my Metz 58 won't zoom when tilted upwards, goes straight to 105mm and doesn't react to zoom. No wonder I was getting very odd exposures today when I needed flash.

I really need this to be solved, have some school projects where I need indirect flash. Maybe I need to dig the good ol' K200D back from the box...
Use the good old Auto mode. In this mode, the flash choose the exposure, it's not as sophisticated as P-TTL (cannot see the exact framing you selected) but works well most of the time. The bonus is that it doesn't use the pre-flash that seems to make some people blink their eyes at the wrong time.

11-29-2010, 05:53 AM   #110
Senior Member




Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 138
QuoteOriginally posted by ManuH Quote
Use the good old Auto mode. In this mode, the flash choose the exposure, it's not as sophisticated as P-TTL (cannot see the exact framing you selected) but works well most of the time. The bonus is that it doesn't use the pre-flash that seems to make some people blink their eyes at the wrong time.
Yes I can use that, but it's kind of PITA to set the zoom manually in the Metz 58 all the time, lots of buttons to press, slows down the whole process of taking pictures. Still, it doesn't read the lens zoom when tilted/swiveled in any mode, I think it did that with K200D. I'd still use that but it has some funky focusing problems even in good light, one of the reasons I upgraded to K-5.

As it's been said these kind of bugs shouldn't be in a camera that is the top of the line. I really hope this is a firmware bug and get's fixed asap, about only negative thing I've found from the camera. At the start of 2011 we're having an "on assignment" course of flash photography and really need that bug fixed.
11-29-2010, 06:05 AM   #111
New Member




Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 13
Hello Horst,
my Metz 48 AF doesn't read the focal distance as well when tilted or swiveled...so I guess it's by design...anyone can confirm this? Fortunately, I don't have any exposure problems with either the K7 or the K5.

Regards,
Tudor
11-29-2010, 06:29 AM   #112
Senior Member




Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 138
I only have exposure problems when shooting in Av (yes, at times I use that with flash, worked flawlesly on K200D) or M and using the exposure compensation, I just found out that EC affects manual mode also, usually just set the needed aperture and shutterspeed needed for using flash. The EC stays in different modes, works differently in K200D's M-mode because it only has one e-dial and when changing aperture in M-mode you push EV-button and turn the dial.

If I need to compensate for different situations in Av, the +1EC I use for bright surrounding works also as +1FEC and leads to overexposure. The way I'm used to work with flash is FEC -1 (+- 0.5) and EC +1-1.5 (depending on the situation, this is an example for bright compensation), but with K-5 I need to use FEC -2 (+- 0.5) with the mentioned +1 EC. I'm not sure if I'm working by the book but that has given me the right exposures with K200D. I use different compensations depending on situation, but from that example you (all) get the point.

Still the problem I'm left with is the focal length reading from lens to flash in tilt/swivel, it doesn't matter in a situation that is static but when shooting in a party etc. I really don't have time to fiddle with the flash zoom for every shot, I expect it to move with the zoom as I take pictures and use different focal lengths. If I use say 20mm focal length and the flash is tilted 90deg it zooms to 105mm automatically and the light doesn't get to the edges of the frame.

Edit: 3


Last edited by Horst-Helmut; 11-29-2010 at 06:35 AM. Reason: More details
11-29-2010, 08:43 AM   #113
Veteran Member




Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Boston, PRofMA
Photos: Albums
Posts: 3,026
QuoteOriginally posted by Horst-Helmut Quote
Yes I can use that, but it's kind of PITA to set the zoom manually in the Metz 58 all the time
In Auto-thyristor mode, the Metz doesn't autozoom w/ the focal length of the zoom lens? Interesting. I thought a Pentax-compatible flash would do this automatically.
11-29-2010, 08:49 AM   #114
Senior Member




Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 138
Yes it zooms but not in tilt/swivel when attached to k-5, zoomed fine on the K200D...
11-29-2010, 10:46 AM   #115
Veteran Member




Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Madison, Wis., USA
Posts: 1,506
QuoteOriginally posted by tsofron Quote
Hello Horst,
my Metz 48 AF doesn't read the focal distance as well when tilted or swiveled...so I guess it's by design...anyone can confirm this? Fortunately, I don't have any exposure problems with either the K7 or the K5.

Regards,
Tudor
I'm not sure what you mean by "focal distance". Perhaps the distance from the camera to the focus point? Nor am I certain how that would help much.

When using bounce flash, you probably want the flash to zoom to maximum FL. You certainly don't want the flash to be set at the same focal length as the lens! The lens has a straight path to the subject whilst the light from the flash takes a longer route as well as being scattered by the ceiling/wall.

You'll need a longer FL on the flash to provide a good amount of dispersion of the light reflected down to the subject without scattering all over the room and losing too much of it.
11-29-2010, 01:28 PM - 1 Like   #116
Veteran Member




Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Boston, PRofMA
Photos: Albums
Posts: 3,026
QuoteOriginally posted by glanglois Quote
When using bounce flash, you probably want the flash to zoom to maximum FL.
Actually depends a bit on how far away you are from the bounce reflector wall/ceiling. If you're close, wider is better to make it a wider lighting reflection. If you're far away, zoomed is best, but it won't provide a good area of coverage if your lens is a wide angle...
11-29-2010, 02:16 PM   #117
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
ManuH's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Montreal
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 1,249
A nice device for bouncing is the Lumiquest 80/20. It let pass only 80% of the flash light for the bounce and the 20% remaining is used for direct flash providing a nice fill.
11-29-2010, 02:45 PM   #118
Pentaxian
Arpe's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: New Zealand
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 4,450
QuoteOriginally posted by kenyee Quote
Actually depends a bit on how far away you are from the bounce reflector wall/ceiling. If you're close, wider is better to make it a wider lighting reflection. If you're far away, zoomed is best, but it won't provide a good area of coverage if your lens is a wide angle...
Yes. In my experiments in a house sized room having the flash at its widest zoom setting gave the best result.
11-29-2010, 09:17 PM   #119
New Member




Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 17
It is the lens not the flash or camera it seems....read on

I did suspect the lens like you all said, but this lens I had for years and used on all my SLRS, from the PZ1-P to the ISt D to K10D and recently on K7. I always worked great....so to me, being away from home, this was not a likely thing to persue.....until I got back to my Man Cave... at home....I pulled out all the lenses I had and I was shocked to realize the actual problem....
IT IS THE LENS(ES)....................
As a matter of fact, non of my DA lenses work right with this camera. The only Pentax lenses that metered accurately were the SMC FA ones. Those left over from the PZ1-P and PZ 10 days. (Yes I still have the lenses and cameras). Only one sigma lens worked fine and this is a Sigma 70-210 Macro 4-5.6 I had for about 15 years...a Pentax SMC FA 35-70Macro I had this one for about 15 years too... and the last one that did work accurately is the SMC FA 28-135 and this is the PZ1-P Kit Lens. It has the motorized zoom if anyone remembers this lens. These three worked perfectly......
Now the puzzle...the bad lenses I said did not work with the K5 were Sigma DC 18-200mm and the one I had in Orlando was a Sigma 28-300 Zoom (this one is a 35mm SLR camera lens I had for years.) I took this one with me to Orlando because the DA lenses did not work right, but this one did, or so I thought. The Pentax Lenses that did not work with the K7 were the DA 18-35 and DA18-55 AL.
The puzzle is that these lenses work fine with the K7...but screw up bad with the K5. This tells me the lense is OK, but the K5 is having a time with the lens.
I will order some more Lenses DA* and the new Sigma 18-50 OS HSM and see how that goes.
So now I am sure it is not the camera....but, why my 15 year old Pentax lenses work flawlessley with the K5, but not the new DA ones??? Beats me.....
11-30-2010, 07:51 AM   #120
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Budapest
Posts: 821
QuoteOriginally posted by AussieTrev Quote
My K with both my 540 and 360 reflected with umbrellas.
So you mounted both your 540 and 360 flash with umbrellas in the hotshoe of your K-5? Wow! Quite hard to imagine two flashes with umbrellas in a single hotshoe
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
camera, dslr, flash, iso, k-5, k-5 ii, k-5 iis, k5, pentax k-5, shots
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Sigma 530 Super flash doesn't fire multi flash, any advice? pasipasi Pentax DSLR Discussion 4 11-25-2010 02:04 AM
For Sale - Sold: Metz 48 AF-1 Flash; Pentax off-camera flash cable set (Adapter F, FG (US/UK/CA bigben91682 Sold Items 4 10-12-2010 04:23 AM
Basic Pentax K-x, hot-shoe, flash, flash bracket, wireless question MrPetkus Flashes, Lighting, and Studio 5 04-27-2010 10:57 PM
For Sale - Sold: Pentax AF200S flash, Vivitar 2800 macro flash, Lowepro Lens case 4 Light_Horseman Sold Items 8 03-06-2010 10:13 AM
For Sale - Sold: Pentax TC's, Kenko TC, SF10 (x2), AF540 flash, Promaster FTD 7000M flash Marc Langille Sold Items 17 08-16-2008 10:29 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:33 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top