[scastilloc]

Tengo el mismo problema con el flash pero en el modelo K-R, despues de tres semanas de uso, misteriosamente un dia el flash dejo de funcionar......ya he probado todos los consejos pero nada, desgraciadamente tengo el mismo problema de yamasaki, compre en EU, y ahora me encuentro en Mexico y la garantia internacional que dice Pentax tener no es tan internacional como dice, por lo tanto me he quedado con mi camara sin flash.

[kero663]

Hi guys, I have the same problem with my Kx as well, but is now fixed. All I did was go into the menu setting, go into Multi exposure, and untick the Auto EV Adjustment box. And now my onboard flash works again.

Hope this help

[yamasaki]

Thank you kero663, but it still doen't work.. I think that it may be a hardware problem.

I was testing here my flash, and I noticed that when I open it, the exposure time doesn't changes, I am crazy or this means that my camera doesn't notice that it is 'open'? I think that the exposure time used to be recalculated when I did it before, with the flash working.

Shouldn't this time change? --I am using Av mode

Thank you guys, this forum is awesome!

[scastilloc]

Hola, yo tengo el mismo problema con el flash, al parecer el flash no carga, cuando abro el flash, he intento tomar una foto la camara no responde por algun tiempo, inclusive no AF, despues de un minuto, todo empieza a funcionar, aunque como el flash parece nunca cargar no puedo tomar la foto.

Tambien me he dado cuenta que cuando abro el flash, y pongo el modo liveview el indicador de bateria se va al llenado maximo aun cuando la bateria no este completamente cargada.

[nextimelah]

hi guys, i am having trouble with my k-x too.

a few days ago, I was using it perfectly fine. then it just stopped working. when in Av/P modes the flash indicator would blink. then when i press the flash button, the flash indicator disappears (normally it would become solid).

I have a set of NiZn batteries, but i cannot confirm if that was the set I was using prior to the blackout since I also use NiMh batteries.

i can still use my hot shoe for external flash though.

I wonder if this is a known issue with the k-x/k-r.

really hope someone can help find out what is the real problem here!

[jose gonzalez]

lo que pasa no tiene que ver con el flash, sino mas bien con el light mettering o sea la deteccion de luz por la camara... para probar el flash pongalo en automatico el flash y en la letra P, luego hay que tapar el lente y en automatico debe de disparar el flash,,,,, lo otro es que las baterias deben estar bien cargadas de lo contrario no disparara el flash.

[PaulQ]

I realise that this is a very old thread but it seems pointless to start a new one when (a) the problem is still around (b) a Google search for "Pentax K-x Flash not working" brings this up as the first choice.

lo que pasa no tiene que ver con el flash, sino mas bien con el light mettering o sea la deteccion de luz por la camara... para probar el flash pongalo en automatico el flash y en la letra P, luego hay que tapar el lente y en automatico debe de disparar el flash,,,,, lo otro es que las baterias deben estar bien cargadas de lo contrario no disparara el flash. English = what happens has nothing to do with flash, but rather with the light metering or the detection of light by the camera ... to test the flash put it in automatic flash and point P, then you have to cover the lens and automatic flash fires must,,,,, the other thing is that the batteries should be fully charged otherwise it will not fire the flash.

I have had the same trouble. I took my K-x down some caves. Obviously, once down there, it was completely black: no light at all. To conserve battery power, I switched on and off between shots. The first problem was that I couldn't get the flash to pop up automatically, so I pressed the button to put it up. The next was that once or twice the flash did work -> It first flashed to activate the autofocus and then flashed to take the photo. But the majority of times the flash would not work at all and, at the same time, the shutter button was disabled. I tried it in P, Sv, Tv, Av, Automatic, Portrait, Landscape and even Fast moving subject. I also tried various flash settings. Occasionally, but unpredictably, the flash would work. It seemed as if here was an interval of at least 5 minutes between each flash. This gave me the idea that a capacitor in the circuit was malfunctioning. I had considered the temperature in the caves, but that was ~10 deg C (~50F) and thus well within operational limits.

Another poster has remarked that, at all times, the battery meter on his camera was showing fully charged whilst the flash failed to work on demand. Mine did this too. I mention this as the set of batteries I have are about 2 years old and had been charged but unused for about 2 weeks.

I have now found this at http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/KX/KXFLASH.HTM:

The Pentax K-x features a built-in, pop-up flash, which operates in either Auto, Flash On (forced flash), Auto + Red-eye reduction, Flash On + Red-eye reduction, Slow-sync, Slow-sync + Red-eye reduction, Trailing Curtain Sync, or Wireless mode. The flash can automatically pop-up as needed in Auto Picture, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait, or several of the Scene modes (Surf & Snow, Food, Kids, and Pet). In Night Scene, Sunset, Stage Lighting, Candlelight, and Museum modes, the flash is disabled altogether. In other modes, the flash is released from its compartment by pressing the Flash Up button to the left of the viewfinder. Close it again by pushing the flash head back down. The same button is used to disable the flash when it has popped up automatically, but you prefer not to use it.

I'm wondering if this is the problem. The Flash-Up button seems as if it switches the flash off if pressed when the flash is up.

I tried this out using the same batteries I had used in the caves a week earlier: they had not been recharged. Whilst the flash was in Manual mode and the camera on setting P, the flash worked with the lens cap on. However, when the flash was put in Automatic mode, the flash failed to pop up or work, neither would the shutter operate after the Flash-Up button had been pressed again.

On the other hand, in the manual (English .pdf version) at page 295 of the document it mentions four possible reasons for the shutter not working, of which

"The shutter cannot be released | The built-in flash is charging | Wait until charging is finished." seems to be the most likely and the cause is that the capacitor for the flash is very slow in charging.

The double function of the "flash up" button doubling as an on/off switch seems to be a pointless "feature" as there is a "no flash" setting on the mode dial.

The speed of the recharge may be affected by the state of the batteries (level of charge/temperature/age of batteries/etc.)

So, I recommend, as an experiment:
(i) 2 sets of good quality, new batteries are purchased and fully and freshly charged in accordance with their instructions. Put one set in the camera and carry the other - be ready to switch batteries if the flash/shutter fails.
(ii) Try pressing the flash up button again to toggle the flash to "On".

Having said all this, I am not fully convinced that the batteries or the toggling of the "flash up" button cures anything. Fiddling with the camera probably just creates some "busy time" to allow a slow capacitor to charge.

I will see how it goes.