As Don & Nathan suggest, first experiment with window light and reflectors. You don't even have buy anything Here are some suggestions:
* Use sheets of packing polystyrene for reflectors (if your teeth can stand the squeaking noise! :lol
* A sheet of aluminium kitchen foil can be used as a silver reflector
* Use old white sheets for diffusers
* Use old dark sheets for backdrops

It's all about controlling the light It's best to learn this without spending too much money... when you've sussed out your skill levels and the possible returns, then (perhaps) invest in pro-lighting.

You can also experiment with cheap lighting - halogens etc. Or cheap, old flashguns.

Oh, yes, and practise, practise, practise.... and more practise

HTH!
Matt

Rob,
You may find it easier if you map the ISO to one of the wheels in Tv mode (and Av mode). This enables instant access to the ISO. Pressing the Green button puts it into Auto ISO and adjusting the wheel puts straight into manual ISO
(Alternatively you can access ISO directly by holding down the OK button and moving the front edial. Again, holding down OK and pressing the green button will engage Auto ISO).
HTH!

Stefan,
Going slightly OT...
It depends on what type of sensor is being used as to whether a shutter (yes, with curtains) is needed. The sensors used in dSLRs (like the K10D, and most other makes too) need a physical shutter.

IIRC, they differ in the way the pixel values are read out. The dSLR reads out a column (or row) at a time, and because of this time lag needs a physical shutter. The compact digicam electronics can "freeze" the image and read it out when needed - and therefore do not need a physical shutter (it's done in electronics instead).

Wish I could find the web page describing it...
Matt

It's the apostrophe
EDIT: Changed the title: https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/Cannot-find-Jpeg-on-my-CS3-10910

Let me know how it improves your adventures!
Matt

Hi Alan,
It is confusing isn't it!

Normally when using flash you should be mostly interested in the aperture - because it's the aperture that controls the amount of flash lighting applied (the shutter speed is more or less irrelevant).

If you use P mode on the camera and adjust the Av setting then everything is logical.

If you want to adjust Tv then the Tv mode makes perfect sense - and that works logically too.

Try this: Put down the flash, use P mode, point to a bright object and manually override the shutter speed to a high value. Now point to a dark object and adjust the Tv again. You'll find that it's limited in the way you describe.

However, the difference is that without flash the camera blinks the aperture value (i.e. "I can't open the lens any wider than f/4!!"), but when you engage the flash the camera turns off this flashing warning

(There is a similar issue with bright objects too - when using flash there are situations where you'd expect the meter to blink to indicate out-of-range, but because flash is enabled this blink operation seems to be disabled.)

In general I'd suggest Av mode or M for flash
Hope that helps explain!
Matt

Hi Simon,
If you're wanting to use old flashguns as slaves then you MUST use the 54PZF on "A" or "M" mode only - which really means having the camera in "M" mode. That'll be ideal for night landscapes.

The P-TTL "intelligent" mode will fire two short bursts of flash and "dumb" slaves will fire on the pretrigger.

So, the "A" and "M" modes on the flash will fire a single burst of light. You can then use ANY flashgun you like with a suitable slave cube. Ideally get a flash that has control over manual mode - the smaller flashes often don't have "M" mode, or M-mode-power settings.

e.g. flash cube: http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=7...
or
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=7...

My advice - search out the bargain buckets of local photography shops and second hand shops. You should be able to pick up a reasonably powered Sunpak, old Pentax, or Vivitar for around £20

HTH!
Matt

P.S. And there is, as Tel says, my e-book
EDIT: Just seen your payment arrive Simon... I'll email it back to you when I get home this evening!

That's absolutely correct (you may find that 1/180s is your highest shutter speed).
It is down to the physics of the shutter that makes the limit.

All cameras have a shutter speed limit for external flash. Some other brands may go as high as 1/250s - but they all have a limit!

If you're having problems with the amount of light, then turn the light heads down until you get under 1/125s! Aim for around f/5.6 to f/11, and use the lowest ISO rating (ISO100 on the K200D?) Definitely use a fixed ISO - not Auto ISO (otherwise the camera will push up the ISO to handle the ambient light, not "knowing" that you've got huge flash heads to fill in the light!

HTH!
Matt

Michael Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye" is excellent. About the best one on composition I've seen.

There's also Bryan Peterson's books - "Learning to see creatively" and "Understanding Exposure" that are also helpful.

No PP in any of those

HTH!
Matt

Rbubbly, I think you meant "Topaz Adjust" -
http://www.topazlabs.com/topazlabs/03products/topaz_adjust/
This is tonemapping... which is separate from HDR assimilation
...but it looks an interesting plugin though
Matt

Ha! I made one that worked out of Lego
Matt