Originally posted by Entropy I'm not a big fan of the AF540FGZ, and plan on selling it if a K10D firmware update doesn't fix the underexposure issues it has within the next few months.
The problem is not your Pentax AF540FGZ, it is the reflective metering system of ALL single lens reflex (SLR) camera system. Most if not all SLRs have their metering system set to 14 percent gray. Not 18 percent as most people think. So if even if you were metering off an 18 percent gray card you would not get a perfect exposure.
With that said, the problem with the under exposure is that your meter is receiving the greatest amount of light from something brighter/lighter (white) than the 14 percent gray. Therefore, the meter is turning the flash off so that it yields the brighter/lighter reflection as the 14 percent gray. In other words the meter is turning white to gray by under exposing your subject. The opposite would be true if the meter was reading off black. It would overexpose the picture because it would be trying to see the black as 14 percent gray.
To compensate for this you simply dial in more exposure/less exposure by adjusting the exposure wheel on the back of the flash. The other method would be to adjust the flash using the Fn button on the back of the K10D.
Good article on meters here:
Meters Don't See 18% Gray by Thom Hogan