[jrforman]

Thanks for taking the trouble JR. I did try bouncing off the wall with no obvious difference. However, I have taken more shots - all in Aperture priority at f5.6. My niece kindly agrees to be the guinea pig.
No PP has been done.
This is with Stoffen diffuser and directed at the subject:


This is with Stoffen and bounced off wall:

This is with Stoffen and bounced off ceiling:


and this last one is without a diffuser and directed at the subject:


I'll wait to see what you think.
Cheers

The last three exposures seem to be good. The one with the Stoffen pointed straight ahead seems under exposed. I think that is your issue. I can't find the reference but included with one of my Stoffen's it had a warning that when used in a straight ahead fashion can generate poor results and accordingly always have it tilted 45 degrees or better. If the picts with the bounce run a little hot, just give your flash a -1/3 or -2/3 FEC and you should be good to go.

[pefoto01]

Този проблем и с АФ-360 ФГЗ ли го има?
Само като насочиш флаша към тавана,или не?

[Naim Khan]

Този проблем и с АФ-360 ФГЗ ли го има?
Само като насочиш флаша към тавана,или не?

I am not sure if I have understood you correctly or not but my flash unit it Metz 58. The overexposure occurs when it is tilted up or to the side. Exposure is OK whne it is pointing straight at the subject.

[Naim Khan]

The last three exposures seem to be good. The one with the Stoffen pointed straight ahead seems under exposed. I think that is your issue. I can't find the reference but included with one of my Stoffen's it had a warning that when used in a straight ahead fashion can generate poor results and accordingly always have it tilted 45 degrees or better. If the picts with the bounce run a little hot, just give your flash a -1/3 or -2/3 FEC and you should be good to go.

JR, to me the 2 shots in the middle look over exposed.
I have been in touch with Pentax UK/Europe since yesterday and have sent them a couple of photos. They agree with my impression about the one that I think is overexposed. My feeling is that the camera doesn't register there is a flash attached when it (the flash) is tilted. The camera then exposes according to what the background light is and PTTL doesn't shut the aperture when sufficient light has hit the sensor, which leads to overexposure. I think it will need a firmware update to sort the problem out.
Let's see what Pentax have to say.

[pefoto01]

Имам проблеми с превода.
За флаша разбрах,кога преекспонира.
Благодаря!
Привет!

[pefoto01]

А някой знае ли как е К-5 с АФ-360ФГЗ?

[Cannikin]

FYI, my flash is the Pentax AF-360FGZ, so it is not isolated to Metz.

It is easily verifiable that the flash is moderating the flash power in direct flash, but as soon as it is at an angle (diffuser or no diffuser), it fires at full power with no regard to exposure. It is not only seen by carefully controlling the settings (as I noted in the other thread), but obvious by observing the flash itself. In direct flash, the flash is brief and recharged almost instantly. At an angle (any angle, even shallow) the flash is much, much brighter, and the charge has been fully drained, necessitating a several second recharge, even at very close range (3 feet away, 5 feet to the ceiling).

This is not normal behavior, and the completely blown out exposures do not look as expected. I have verified this with my K-x many times with exactly the same settings, location and ambient lighting, as well as the very same K-5 itself with Auto mode on the flash.

---

Last edited by Cannikin; 10-27-2010 at 04:37 PM.

[Naim Khan]

I have kept in touch with Pentax UK and on Thursday one of the tech guys asked me to take some shots at ISO 100 and then Auto at 100-400. Unfortunately I have been a bit busy so only took the photos last night. The Pentax gentleman is also a member of the forum, although he asked me not to divulge his identity so I am not doing so. Hopefully he is subscribed to this thread but in any case I am going to email him as well.
This first is at ISO 100 and directly at subject:


ISO 100 + bounce up


ISO 100-400, Bounce up


ISO 100-400, Bounce side


ISO 100-400, Bounce from back wall


The results are better than with higher ISO but there still is a problem AND we should not be expected to change the ISO every time we want to use flash.
The Pentax gentleman promised me that they were studying the results and are planning to contact their engineers soone.

[buaobao]

Here's how i do mine. Hope this will help in some way.
MANUAL FLASH MODE : In my AF 360 FGZ, i tried to measure the flash and it gives me a reading at Flash power at 1/8, distance 2 meters, (K-20D,K-7,K-5) at F8, ISO 200 using FA 31mm ltd. And then using Sigma zoom F2.8, 24-70mm at F6.3 (with the same setting) . Remembering the difference between F1.8 and F2.8 lenses at least gives you an idea how to adjust either the flash power, bigger aperture, or pushing the ISO up a bit and its your choice which one will suit you best.
The reason I use manual is that it produce consistent output disregarding the luminance of the subject outfit.(this may not 100% foolproof, but at least you have the basis in simple math.
( with few adjustment flash compensation). I shoot with umbrellas and soft boxes and always get the exposure needed.

Also I use two flash gun but most of the time ended up just bouncing the master on the ceiling if applicable.Using a Master(Sigma EF500 FGZ bounce up) and Pentax AF360 as slave in P-TTL in 1/3 or 2/3 power also provides good contrast.

Im not really sure how the pentax manage to produce a decent flash output using ISO all the way up to its unexpanded limit ISO 12800 (.... haven't tried the expanded yet)
The built in Flash actually gives me an acceptable exposure even using ISO 2500 in few pictures Flickr: Please wait...
( My K-7 provides me at a distance of 1.5ft at F14 and ISO 200 built in flash -0.7 1/180 consistent output )

[cwood]

I have found my k-7 with 360FGZ to be completely useless in p-ttl mode when fired at 45 degrees with a stofen. Usually it WAY overexposes the flash but it seems random to me. I generally just shoot manual flash exposure anyway.

When Pentax flashes are fired at 90 degrees without modifiers I have found them to be just as reliable as Nikon or Canon (I use all three systems on a regular basis) but as you deviate from that basic shooting position the P-TTL start to run into trouble.

[fs999]

I don't have the problem with my Metz 48 AF 1.

But my Dörr macro flash doesn't work correctly with my K-5.
When both are on, the flash is triggered continuously and when I try to shoot all shots are black.
The flash works well on my K-7...

There must be a problem with the K-5...

[Naim Khan]

I have just come off the phone with Pentax. They say they have escalated the problem and have referred it to Pentax Europe. Presumably they are taking the matter seriously and are trying to sort it out ASAP.

[fs999]

It is as I thought, it is a K-5 problem... some flashes won't work on a K-5 !

I have a friend who also has the Dörr macro flash and has the same problem, but his Sigma EF 500 DG Super works fine...

[simico]

I've just tried it with a few quick snaps in the living room and everything seems to work fine. Metz 48 flash, flash light bounced off the wall and ceiling, took shots at ISO800 and ISO3200, exposure is fine and there's absolutely no overexposure.

ISO 800 shot:


ISO3200 shot:

[fs999]

Does nobody else have a Dörr Macro Flash ?