[Alizarine]

The AF540FGZ on the K5 was a disappointment for me. I have the same problems with that combo as you mention, and I never had those with other bodies. It is not the flash cycling, but some intermittent oddity of communication between the flash and the body. I do feel I and the system have outgrown that flash as the top of the line option.

I find each newer, "better" body does something not as much to my liking as a predecessor; though many other functions are indeed better. So, no I have not outgrown any of my camera bodies. The K20d is my go-to for shooting with the AF540, especially wireless. The K10d is my favorite with old film lenses, especially the 135/2.5. The Kx is still my favorite travel body. I even found uses for the K100d, until I gave it away to a budding young photographer last year.

Oddly enough I believe the Metz flashes do better at communicating with newer Pentax bodies than the 540FGZ - but then again, the top Pentax flash is waaaaay outdated

[Docrwm]

Oddly enough I believe the Metz flashes do better at communicating with newer Pentax bodies than the 540FGZ - but then again, the top Pentax flash is waaaaay outdated

That's a big reason that there is hope that a new one is on its way. I'd love to see a real improvement announced at Photokina.

[eddie1960]

That's a big reason that there is hope that a new one is on its way. I'd love to see a real improvement announced at Photokina.

apparently someone tried to get parts and found out the current crop of flashes were discontinued. I imagine at least one of the replacements will also be WR
I hope it also uses the dli90 battery that would be sweet. My flash needs replacing it's on it's last legs held together with tape I was going to get a metz, but will wait and see a this point

[maxfield_photo]

Lets hope they don't stop at water resistance, the Pentax flash system is about 15 years overdue for a total reworking.

[eddie1960]

Lets hope they don't stop at water resistance, the Pentax flash system is about 15 years overdue for a total reworking.

I just hope it's the icing on the cake so to speak. Does anyone have a WR flash?

[Docrwm]

apparently someone tried to get parts and found out the current crop of flashes were discontinued. I imagine at least one of the replacements will also be WR
I hope it also uses the dli90 battery that would be sweet. My flash needs replacing it's on it's last legs held together with tape I was going to get a metz, but will wait and see a this point

Wr would be nice, better performance overall would be better. My read of the Flash section here seems to indicate that the new Metz 54-2 (I believe) is much better overall than the Pentax flash and is more robustly constructed too.

[eddie1960]

Wr would be nice, better performance overall would be better. My read of the Flash section here seems to indicate that the new Metz 54-2 (I believe) is much better overall than the Pentax flash and is more robustly constructed too.

anything is better built than the AF360

I used a metz at a wedding and it was nice, wish i had more time to learn it's functions before hand but it was reliable and worked well with pttl

the 54-2 was the one i was thinking of, and would just buy it if i didn't think there was something new on the horizon.

I rarely use flash, but it's nice to have the option

[Docrwm]

anything is better built than the AF360

I used a metz at a wedding and it was nice, wish i had more time to learn it's functions before hand but it was reliable and worked well with pttl

the 54-2 was the one i was thinking of, and would just buy it if i didn't think there was something new on the horizon.

I rarely use flash, but it's nice to have the option

I agree about the rarely used but nice to have that option part. I've been using a TTL flash and its nice, works, was inexpensive, adds to my photography beyond not having it and the popup, and works off camera as a slave but I'd love to have an even more competent flash. Just not ready to pay $400 for the 58 AF2 model. Yet.

[dmbaile2]

I'm in the opposite boat. I spent $650 on a K-r months ago and recently bought an old k100d-Super off Craigslist for practically nothing, I bought the k100d as a "Backup" and as something for my girlfriend to play with. Now I find myself wondering if the K-r is really $600 better than my k100d... The answere is in the eye of the beholder I suppose, for my purposes and skill level, im thinking I should have skipped the k-r and learned on something cheap, not upgrading until it was clear that I needed to...

[retroflex]

I have a K-x and would say I have outgrown it. Or maybe it's my son who has outgrown it... at age 2 he's getting too fast for the AF, especially when inside.

One thing I really miss as well is TAv mode, although I've never used it. Most of the time I shoot in Av but still want to freeze the motion, while keeping ISO as low as possible. I believe TAv would be a great solution to this.

[jake14mw]

.... The flash system for me is also a limitation now. For the most part I've learned to work around it, shooting in manual, but for goodness sake, 1/180th max sync? And why don't we have zone/group controls? We just have channels which are only useful when shooting an event with another Pentax photographer. I've never even SEEN another Pentax photographer at an event. You can't fire multiple channels at once. Pentax also chooses to cripple the pop-up flash, hot shoe and PC socket at speeds over the max sync. Why? At least let the user choose if they want to deal with the ramifications. As it is, you have to have two HSS flashes in order to make HSS work wirelessly.

More precise PDAF is another high priority of mine. And 3D object tracking would be nice though I don't shoot action all that often.

.

I am so with you on these issues. I am hoping that the K-5 replacement just improves in focusing and flash system. Pentax, please upgrade the flash sych speed, or at the very least, please just let me use the higher ss and deal with black bars or whatever. Please! How hard would that be?

[redrockcoulee]

The only major reasons I am thinking about getting a K-30 are WR and the AF is supposedly better. Other than that, no, I dearly love my K-x and I'm going to keep it as my #2 body actually. I do need a little more capacity than my K-x has for outdoors work and better AF would be nice but actually I can do my job with my K-x just fine. I shoot for work with it, no problem.

Feel about the same with my K-r too. The K-r has more features than my MZ5n which has more features than my 500 C/M which I have yet to master

My wife still uses her K10D and for her it is also the AF and low light that the newer ones are better at. It so depends on what type of photography one does. It is not for the viewfinder that my old eyes need help (do not seem to have anymore trouble with the K-r than the MZ5n) but the menus are occassionally way too small

I set aside a small amount of my paycheck for new gear and am only a month or two from being able to buy the K30 at its current price. If I do buy one it will be for one of two trips I have planned in the forseeable future that might take me through a lot of rain. Until that the funds will stay unspent I suspect. The funny thing is the 500 C/M will be the main camera for either of those trips and WP is of course a non issue and it is full frame unless you are shooting a GX680 or Pentax 67

[GeneV]

I am so with you on these issues. I am hoping that the K-5 replacement just improves in focusing and flash system. Pentax, please upgrade the flash sych speed, or at the very least, please just let me use the higher ss and deal with black bars or whatever. Please! How hard would that be?

The K5 seems actually to work with flash less reliably than prior models. I really think this is an area that needs attention.

As others have said, a sturdy replacement for the current two flashes is way overdue. I had my old AF400T on a tripod last weekend, using it in manual mode behind me in an old gym. Someone hit the tripod and it came crashing down the bleachers. It fired right up and worked fine--not a chip or a scratch. I don't think that would be the case with its successor.

[GeneV]

Oddly enough I believe the Metz flashes do better at communicating with newer Pentax bodies than the 540FGZ - but then again, the top Pentax flash is waaaaay outdated

I may need to try this option. As you say, the Pentax flashes are dated. The AF360 is 11 years old and the AF540 is in its 7th year.

[Kona]

I like my K-r, but I find the higher ISOs to be pretty much unusable. Even 3200 is far too noisy for my likings. I know there are plugins for photoshop to help with it, but I try to get the best I can in camera, not rely on PP. I'd also like greater DR, weather proofing, and a top LCD. I'm waiting for photokina to see the K5's successor, but I'd be happy with a K5 itself, I think. Just too close to Sept to buy now, though. I'd have bought a K30 if it took a grip and had a top LCD, I think. But I really want those, so K5 or whatever replaces it for me.