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#1
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
Hello all,
I've had my Pentax *ist DL for about a month now and love it; but I hit a strange problem today and would love to have any help possible with it. Basically, if the camera needs a flash for the shot - either I'm in Auto Flash mode and the camera thinks the flash needs to fire, or if I'm in Manual Flash mode and have specified that the flash needs to fire - then the flash will pop up and then ... nothing happens. Not only does the flash not fire, it doesn't sound as if it's charging, and the shutter button becomes non-responsive. It becomes a stand-off - the camera wants the flash to fire, the flash isn't responding in any way, and my attempts to tell the camera to shoot the photo go for naught. If the camera doesn't need the flash to fire, it will shoot as normal. The problem hit out of nowhere today in the middle of me shooting photos of my daughter, and I can't think of a possible cause. I've swapped out batteries, I've turned the camera off and on repeatedly, I've even reset all of my options back to the defaults. I'm now a bit lost as what to do; Pentax user support isn't open on the weekends; and my daughter's first birthday party is tomorrow, and while I'll the best I can sans flash, this obviously isn't the ideal situation. I've wondered if perhaps I need a firmware update (my DL appears to be running v.1.00) but on the Pentax site I've only seen updates for the D and DS. Anybody run into this before and get it resolved? Any help would be hugely appreciated. Cheers, Chris Hafner |
#2
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
In article .com,
wrote: Hello all, I've had my Pentax *ist DL for about a month now and love it; but I hit a strange problem today and would love to have any help possible with it. Basically, if the camera needs a flash for the shot - either I'm in Auto Flash mode and the camera thinks the flash needs to fire, or if I'm in Manual Flash mode and have specified that the flash needs to fire - then the flash will pop up and then ... nothing happens. Not only does the flash not fire, it doesn't sound as if it's charging, and the shutter button becomes non-responsive. It becomes a stand-off - the camera wants the flash to fire, the flash isn't responding in any way, and my attempts to tell the camera to shoot the photo go for naught. That sounds like a hardware problem - a defective flash. Basically, if you (or the camera) decide the flash is needed, then you're not going to be able to trip the shutter until the flash reports that it is charged. That appears not to be happening. I'd recommend either not using flash, or getting an external flash. That's about your only choice for this weekend. After that, return the camera for repair. |
#3
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
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#4
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
Jeff R. wrote:
: wrote in message : oups.com... : Hello all, : : I've had my Pentax *ist DL for about a month now and love it; but I : hit a strange problem today and would love to have any help possible : with it. : : Basically, if the camera needs a flash for the shot - either I'm in : Auto Flash mode and the camera thinks the flash needs to fire, or if : I'm in Manual Flash mode and have specified that the flash needs to : fire - then the flash will pop up and then ... nothing happens. Not : only does the flash not fire, it doesn't sound as if it's charging, : and the shutter button becomes non-responsive. : I can't hear the flash on my *1st charging even when it *is*! I can't : hear much above 15kHz, so I asked my daughter to check, and she can't : hear it either - she has perfect 19y.o. hearing. So don't use the : sound of the flash as a guide. : Have you pressed the LH "thumb" button to raise the flash? Mine won't : charge if it is retracted. : Is the flash "lightning" symbol in the VF blinking (indicating "I need : flash and its not charged")? : I'm not sure from your post if you raised the flash and waited... Also there is a menu item that allows the camera to take an image even if the flash is not fully charged. When it is on, and the flash is active (up) but not fully charged, the camera will refuse to take an image. But if the menu item is off you can snap an image even if the flash isn't charged. Of course if you are using auto and the latter happens you will get a very long exposure time. You may want to try it both ways. But having said that I would suspect from your description that there is a mechanical fault in the charge circuit or to the flash capacitor (possibly due to a bump or jerk that caused something to come unconnected inside). You will have to have someone open the camera up and fix the fault. If it is done by anyone but a Pentax authorized repair facility the warranty would be voided. One possible solution is to simply use a hotshoe mounted external flash. This does not require the internal flash charging circuit and capacitor at all. Good luck Randy ========== Randy Berbaum Champaign, IL |
#5
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
John Francis wrote:
In article .com, wrote: Hello all, I've had my Pentax *ist DL for about a month now and love it; but I hit a strange problem today and would love to have any help possible with it. Basically, if the camera needs a flash for the shot - either I'm in Auto Flash mode and the camera thinks the flash needs to fire, or if I'm in Manual Flash mode and have specified that the flash needs to fire - then the flash will pop up and then ... nothing happens. Not only does the flash not fire, it doesn't sound as if it's charging, and the shutter button becomes non-responsive. It becomes a stand-off - the camera wants the flash to fire, the flash isn't responding in any way, and my attempts to tell the camera to shoot the photo go for naught. That sounds like a hardware problem - a defective flash. Basically, if you (or the camera) decide the flash is needed, then you're not going to be able to trip the shutter until the flash reports that it is charged. That appears not to be happening. I'd recommend either not using flash, or getting an external flash. That's about your only choice for this weekend. After that, return the camera for repair. Thanks, John - that's what I was afraid of. Cheers, Chris Hafner |
#7
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
Randy Berbaum wrote:
Jeff R. wrote: : wrote in message : oups.com... : Hello all, : : I've had my Pentax *ist DL for about a month now and love it; but I : hit a strange problem today and would love to have any help possible : with it. : : Basically, if the camera needs a flash for the shot - either I'm in : Auto Flash mode and the camera thinks the flash needs to fire, or if : I'm in Manual Flash mode and have specified that the flash needs to : fire - then the flash will pop up and then ... nothing happens. Not : only does the flash not fire, it doesn't sound as if it's charging, : and the shutter button becomes non-responsive. : I can't hear the flash on my *1st charging even when it *is*! I can't : hear much above 15kHz, so I asked my daughter to check, and she can't : hear it either - she has perfect 19y.o. hearing. So don't use the : sound of the flash as a guide. Good point, Jeff - now that you mention it, I don't know that I ever did either. I've only had it a short time, so it's not really burned into my mind. : Have you pressed the LH "thumb" button to raise the flash? Yep. Mine won't : charge if it is retracted. : Is the flash "lightning" symbol in the VF blinking (indicating "I need : flash and its not charged")? Yep. : I'm not sure from your post if you raised the flash and waited... For about a half-hour I just kept the flash up, hoping for it to charge. Also there is a menu item that allows the camera to take an image even if the flash is not fully charged. When it is on, and the flash is active (up) but not fully charged, the camera will refuse to take an image. But if the menu item is off you can snap an image even if the flash isn't charged. Of course if you are using auto and the latter happens you will get a very long exposure time. You may want to try it both ways. I found and tried that after my initial post - it does now allow me to shoot, but the flash is still unresponsive. But having said that I would suspect from your description that there is a mechanical fault in the charge circuit or to the flash capacitor (possibly due to a bump or jerk that caused something to come unconnected inside). You will have to have someone open the camera up and fix the fault. If it is done by anyone but a Pentax authorized repair facility the warranty would be voided. One possible solution is to simply use a hotshoe mounted external flash. This does not require the internal flash charging circuit and capacitor at all. Thanks, Randy. It does sound increasingly as if it' s a hardware problem, which is a shame since I've only used the camera four times in the month I've owned it, and the flash has fired perhaps 80 times. Cheers, Chris Hafner |
#8
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
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#9
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
Jeff R. wrote:
wrote in message oups.com... Hello all, I've had my Pentax *ist DL for about a month now and love it; but I hit a strange problem today and would love to have any help possible with it. Basically, if the camera needs a flash for the shot - either I'm in Auto Flash mode and the camera thinks the flash needs to fire, or if I'm in Manual Flash mode and have specified that the flash needs to fire - then the flash will pop up and then ... nothing happens. Not only does the flash not fire, it doesn't sound as if it's charging, and the shutter button becomes non-responsive. I can't hear the flash on my *1st charging even when it *is*! I can't hear much above 15kHz, so I asked my daughter to check, and she can't hear it either - she has perfect 19y.o. hearing. So don't use the sound of the flash as a guide. Have you pressed the LH "thumb" button to raise the flash? Mine won't charge if it is retracted. Is the flash "lightning" symbol in the VF blinking (indicating "I need flash and its not charged")? I'm not sure from your post if you raised the flash and waited... -- Jeff R. Hummm. In my experience, most teens these days have listened to loud music so long their hearing is worse than MINE, at 63. Or maybe it is just that their brains have developed selective hearing.... or both. |
#10
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Help with a flash problem on a Pentax *ist DL
In article ,
Kenneth Bell wrote: In article .com, says... Hello all, I've had my Pentax *ist DL for about a month now and love it; but I hit a strange problem today and would love to have any help possible with it. Basically, if the camera needs a flash for the shot - either I'm in Auto Flash mode and the camera thinks the flash needs to fire, or if I'm in Manual Flash mode and have specified that the flash needs to fire - then the flash will pop up and then ... nothing happens. Not only does the flash not fire, it doesn't sound as if it's charging, and the shutter button becomes non-responsive. After reading through the posts I agree with everyone that you have a defective flash. I also have the DL and I think you should send it in for service first chance you get. While your waiting for it to be serviced my advice would be to order an external flash, you won't be disappointed. While there are times I use the internal flash, it isn't often and ussually when I don't have the external flash with me. Depending on your needs I'd suggest either the Sigma EF-500 DG ST or the Sigma EF-500 Super. The main difference between the two Sigma flashes is that the Super allows for multiple flash setups. Both cost less than the Pentax AF360. One word of caution about Sigma flashes - Sigma appear to reverse- engineer the Pentax interface, rather than licensing from Pentax. As such, the flashes you mention will not work with the latest Pentax body (the K100D & K110D). Sigma have offered to upgrade at least one of the models at no charge to the end user; be sure that anything you buy can be upgraded. Another concern is that the latest Pentax flash was, according to rumours, delayed so that it could be updated to work with the next Pentax body (the K10D, due to be announced in a little over a month). That raises doubts as to whether the Sigma flashes will need yet another update, even assuming any such update is possible. |
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