K10D inbuilt flash under exposure

Hi all. I had a search but couldn't see anyone else suffering from this. Quite a few photos taken with the K10D inbuilt flash are underexposed. I'm not expecting much for for such a small unit but I get better results on the ist DL. Has anyone else noticed this ?

Does anyone know of non-dedicated flash units around £50 that will work ? I'm aware of the trigger voltage issue so if anyone has any suggestions I would be grateful. I just want something that's better than the inbuilt one for occasional use (our fast moving child mostly).

Many thanks

I'm not sure it's anything to do with the power of the built-in flash, although obviously you won't get good results if you're too far away, as I'm sure you know.

But the metering does seem to be quite sensitive to reflective backgrounds - I find a subject close to a white wall, for example, will often be underexposed, presumably because of all the light reflecting off the background, fooling the metering into setting the flash to output less light. Very much like the underexposure issues with backlit scenes.

It can be annoying when I just want to use the thing as a P&S.

Thanks, I'll look out for that.

The K10D is so definately not a point and shoot camera. I find it difficult to get the results I want but I'm learning to use it. On the other hand, the ist DL is a great point and shoot camera.

Providing you are within the distance of the guide number 11ft at F5.6 and 100ISO it should be ok. However, when using anything other than Green mode, you can boost the flash output. I run mine at +0.3 or +0.7. Goto Fn and select flash, then turn rear dial to set flash exposure compensation. Works well for me.