Looking back to Peter's first post and the image, I don't think the highs are really too 'blown' - yes, the flash is a bit too much, but I do think a good RAW editor should be able to bring back some balance and texture to the skin, and improve the colour. I'm sure RAW is worthwhile in this case.

I love that, those weird distortions look a bit like one of those fun-fair mirror halls. Great control of exposure and contrast here.

Need a bit more window clean filter - or maybe 'DeGrease Lens' in the custom settings would do it as well

Its just the impression of tone I get - looks a bit like a mild tobacco grad, which is usually used to enhance late summer kinds of skies. What is that 'straw stripe' you mentioned? Anyway, I just feel the slight tobacco tone is washing across the blue sky, which I feel should be cooler to match the scene better.

So are we really saying that the approach to exposure is different between shooting RAW & JPEG?

Its ironic to an extent isn't it - transparency had supposedly less 'latitude' than negative, and exposure had to be more carefully managed, but RAW supposedly does not

Yes, it works nicely. What about having the tree bang in the middle!

The ground is excellent - not so sure about the 'grad' look sky. Its a bit too tobacco for my liking (that is a cliche), and I think you need colder blues in the upper sky, as there's a seasonal mismatch between the frosty-looking ground and the rather summery sky tones.

Pentax Camera JPEGs are very good too - what about using the camera Custom Settings to make small adjustments just before you shoot - the main ones to look at would be White Balance, Saturation, Contrast (Hi & Low tone) and Sharpness. If you can get these very good on the shoot you should get great JPEGs out of the camera.

Also use the INFO screen to make sure you're shooting the best JPEGs quality-wise - set the maximum 'size' (like 14MP) and the highest 'quality' (like 'Premium').

Any TTL system is always going to be subject to the inconsistencies of the reflective light metering - and flash hotspots and bouncing light around just add to to uncertainties of how the system will deal with it.

What we need technology to do is help as much as possible to make manual flash easier. Manual keeps full control with the user, and removes the inconsistencies of the system taking power control. The camera deals with fixing ISO & aperture - if we don't want to carry around complex flash tables then we need the flash unit to quickly tell us the distance and/or power needed. That's the features I'd be seeking out on a flash unit display, plus easy intuitive flash power settings once the camera ISO / aperture have been input, ideally this would happen automatically.

I'm not claiming to be some great expert, promise Just sounding like one You've had different experience with the Sigma's then - I had two DG500 Supers, the first one failed with some electrical fault and was replaced - and got dropped. I felt that other more expensive ones, with their tighter build, probably would have been OK on this particular fall onto grass. But of course I'll never know for sure. I didn't mean to diss Sigma, just point out that there thtis that price/quality equation to consider.

I do think you can get a lot from the pop-up, and there are some great accessories that reflect and diffuse the light, but yes of course a quality flashgun is the way to go.

The premium offering would be Pentax - full featured but not budget. Sigma have the features, but in my experience the DG range are large and don't have a great build quality and 'feel' - not at all premium in that respect. I dropped one once, and that was that.

Metz often comes in as a middle road type of offering - they have a good choice of models, are fairly compact, and the top of range ones have all the features as well, for a not quite premium price.

The latest update to the Pentax 360 line should improve auto-flash performance on the latest bodies - can anyone with one vouch for this? So that's the best premium choice, and I'd look at Metz for the next down.

The main thing I think for a hotshoe flash is good manual power control (like 1/2, 1/4, 1/16 power) and a readout that tells you the distance / power to use for any fixed ISO & aperture combination.

Since moving to Pentax a new flashgun has not been a high priority for me - I am impressed with the versatility of the built-in flash, when used in manual mode and sometimes with a reflector panel. Also we are lucky indeed with our flagship models to have such sophistication's as trailing curtain flash with the pop-up One extra thing I would like though now in a flashgun is high-speed-sync, mainly for fill-flash situations in bright light.