[erwatt]

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My better half got me a Pentax K30 for Christmas. It's used but looks flawless. However, I cannot get the flash to work. I've looked through the owner's manual and found a lot of stuff I needed to check. All settings are set as per the owner's manual. I can use an external flash and that works, Just can't get the camera's flip up flash to work. Anyone out there that can help? I'm sure it's operator error but I need a little help.
Tks

[UncleVanya]

Put camera in M mode; set Shutter speed below 1/180th of a second. Go into the flash menu on the 4 way and look at the options and be sure you have the default always on set and the flash is up. Try that first - if it works then we can get fancy.

[AlexBW]

I've never had flash issues wiyh my K30. Does the flash flip-up, but not fire?
Try pressing the flash button on the left of the camera to make flash flip-up. Set camera in P mode, select Flash settings using Button-Left, and select leftmost flash option (Flash On). Take a photo, and see if it worked.

[RKKS08]

I once seemed to experience this problem with my K200D, but the pre-flash for pTTL still worked.
After studying all the menus (they are not as many as with the K-30) i found that the flash mode was set to wireless support.
Must have happened a couple of days before when setting something blindly (with eye on the VF).

I don't know whether the K-30 supports wireless with the built-in flash as a master, but maybe there is another setting which supresses ignition of the flash.

[erwatt]

Put camera in M mode; set Shutter speed below 1/180th of a second. Go into the flash menu on the 4 way and look at the options and be sure you have the default always on set and the flash is up. Try that first - if it works then we can get fancy.

Thanks UncleVanya for your interest and suggestions. I set the shutter speed below 1/180th of a second, tried every flash mode except remote, - same results.
I have reviewed the operator's manual several times. Tried making changes to flash set up parameters, several times. I updated the firm ware to the latest version. Still no flash.
One thing I found a little strange was the shutter count. It was just over 300. I thought that sounded very low. Maybe the shutter count reset when I updated the firm ware - which doesn't make sense?? Let me know what you think about the count.
Again, Tks for the help!

---------- Post added 12-27-15 at 09:42 PM ----------

I once seemed to experience this problem with my K200D, but the pre-flash for pTTL still worked.
After studying all the menus (they are not as many as with the K-30) i found that the flash mode was set to wireless support.
Must have happened a couple of days before when setting something blindly (with eye on the VF).

I don't know whether the K-30 supports wireless with the built-in flash as a master, but maybe there is another setting which supresses ignition of the flash.

Thanks RKKS08!
I've set that parameter, and a few others, to all possibilities - still no flash. I have upgraded to the latest firmware - no flash. I can use an external flash with a hot shoe adaptor and the external flash works.
Again, Tks.

---------- Post added 12-27-15 at 09:49 PM ----------

I've never had flash issues wiyh my K30. Does the flash flip-up, but not fire?
Try pressing the flash button on the left of the camera to make flash flip-up. Set camera in P mode, select Flash settings using Button-Left, and select leftmost flash option (Flash On). Take a photo, and see if it worked.

Thanks AlexBW for the suggestion. I had tried this before, but tried it again just to be sure of the result. Still no flash.
I have adjusted many parameters several times & updated the firmware - still no flash.
I can attach an external flash and that flash will work, but not the flip up flash?
Again, Tks.

---------- Post added 12-27-15 at 10:02 PM ----------

Several members have replied to my post regarding my K30 with a non-working flash. Just to summarize what I have tried.
I have reviewed the operator's manual several times. Made changes to flash set up parameters, several times and that didn't help.
I updated the firm ware to the latest version. Still no flash.
I found I could attach an external flash and it works just fine, but not the flip up???
One thing I found a little strange was the shutter count. It was just over 300. I thought that sounded very low. Maybe the shutter count reset when I updated the firm ware - which doesn't make sense?? Let me know what you think about the count.
I want to thank all of you for your suggestions. Please don't hesitate to add to this post if you can think of anything else.
Again, Tks!!!

[UncleVanya]

I feel like I'm one of the Car Talk hosts and we just played "Stump the Chump"... I have no more ideas that is really odd. Firmware updates do not typically reset shutter counts either BTW.

[noblepa]

Thanks UncleVanya for your interest and suggestions. I set the shutter speed below 1/180th of a second, tried every flash mode except remote, - same results.
I have reviewed the operator's manual several times. Tried making changes to flash set up parameters, several times. I updated the firm ware to the latest version. Still no flash.
One thing I found a little strange was the shutter count. It was just over 300. I thought that sounded very low. Maybe the shutter count reset when I updated the firm ware - which doesn't make sense?? Let me know what you think about the count.
Again, Tks for the help!

---------- Post added 12-27-15 at 09:42 PM ----------





Thanks RKKS08!
I've set that parameter, and a few others, to all possibilities - still no flash. I have upgraded to the latest firmware - no flash. I can use an external flash with a hot shoe adaptor and the external flash works.
Again, Tks.

---------- Post added 12-27-15 at 09:49 PM ----------





Thanks AlexBW for the suggestion. I had tried this before, but tried it again just to be sure of the result. Still no flash.
I have adjusted many parameters several times & updated the firmware - still no flash.
I can attach an external flash and that flash will work, but not the flip up flash?
Again, Tks.

---------- Post added 12-27-15 at 10:02 PM ----------

Several members have replied to my post regarding my K30 with a non-working flash. Just to summarize what I have tried.
I have reviewed the operator's manual several times. Made changes to flash set up parameters, several times and that didn't help.
I updated the firm ware to the latest version. Still no flash.
I found I could attach an external flash and it works just fine, but not the flip up???
One thing I found a little strange was the shutter count. It was just over 300. I thought that sounded very low. Maybe the shutter count reset when I updated the firm ware - which doesn't make sense?? Let me know what you think about the count.
I want to thank all of you for your suggestions. Please don't hesitate to add to this post if you can think of anything else.
Again, Tks!!!

What are you basing your notion that the shutter count has been reset? The file number, which usually corresponds (roughly) to the shutter count CAN be reset. There is an internal shutter count that can not be reset. This internal shutter count is recorded in the EXIF data for each image. Get software that will display the EXIF data and you can list it from each image.

[bertwert]

Dead flash capacitor?
Loose connector?
Burnt LEDs?
Sounds like a hardware problem, you'll just have to live with it unless you can swallow repair costs.
If you have an external flash this shouldn't be a problem.

Also internal shutter count cannot be reset.
Check it with this page: Check Shutter Count & Camera Manufacture Date Online - EXIF Reader

[UncleVanya]

Dead flash capacitor?
Loose connector?
Burnt LEDs?
Sounds like a hardware problem, you'll just have to live with it unless you can swallow repair costs.
If you have an external flash this shouldn't be a problem.

Also internal shutter count cannot be reset.
Check it with this page: Check Shutter Count & Camera Manufacture Date Online - EXIF Reader

We don't know if the service center can reset it.

[focusian]

i guess flash's capacitor may broken Pentax K 30 Flash Board Capacitor Replacement Part | eBay