Some strong compositions and punchy contrast . You bring a real flavour of the coastline to the ones around Seaton, I can almost feel the breeze and hear the seagulls.

You clearly love the Macro lens though! My favourite is the chocolate and jelly babies ... looks like a very tasty combination .... got to go, just off to Tesco now!

It's a theory I have ..... I have heard many complaints, mainly on PentaxForums, of people struggling with flash exposures, and often they are using modes or settings that include Auto-ISO. As a result of this the photographer is not taking any firm control over essential exposure settings.

In dim rooms in particular the auto -ISO can choose a high setting, even higher if the focal length is long (to allow faster shutter speed for steadiness). Unfortunately the program will not take account of the flash balancing aspects, and so the high ISO can easily cause flash overexposure (made even worse if the aperture is also wide and the distance is small).

This can all catch out the unwary, or unaware, flash photographer. Often they might believe that the camera should be able to just sort it all out automatically and they don't see why they should be taking better control. So they think poorly of the P-TTL system and blame Ricoh.

With a camera with such good high ISO performance the likelihood of uses allowing higher ISOs is increased, so the risk of flash overexposure is increased ..... This can be mitigated by a lower powered flash.

It has worked well! I think one of the main reasons I would like a high ISO performing camera (e.g. KP or K1) is for better flash work .....

That might get sound odd .... but no, as you've shown, by increasing the ISO and opening the aperture you actually create a better blend of low ambient light mixed with the flash on the subject. Now, with your KP you have extra flexibility .....say you needed more DOF or wanted better optical performance, then you might want to shoot at F8 ..... to get the same ambient exposure then you would need ISO 6400 ..... actually not a big deal for the KP or K1 (although I'd struggle with the K7!) ....so you can actually get more out of your flash, more versatility and better ambient / flash mixing with a high ISO performing camera.

Perhaps the GN6 is not such a limitation ....?

I'll take a look John, that would be interesting obviously I guess the closet the focus distance then the more obvious the difference.

Thanks Jeremy, good to see you out on the forum again! Yep, mono for me too ....

Thanks also David and Philip. Yes, something refreshing, and this was a very rare chance over the summer to get a short while alone with the camera and work hard at it ....(well, the baby was asleep in the Pram next to me while the rest were with my wife playing the slot machines! ....the bliss only lasted about 25 minutes )

Philip, thanks also .... yes, the OOF areas are all the result of optical effect, aperture setting, focus distance etc. Certainly the small apertures in some produced great results .... take a look at the railing in No 2 . I very much doubt that anyone would pick that out as taken with the kit lens !

It completes the line up for sure, I see that. I think you're right about the difference in terms of results between F2.8 and F4.0 being minimal . The modern cameras now have the ISO performance that the extra stop is not needed for pure light gathering either.

However, no doubt this will be a very desirable item, especially if , as Id expect, its optical performance is class leading.

Yes! This was for us paupers ... ..Actually there's some truth here. Not necessarily paupers financially, but those who are limited without having all the extra gear and support that would be needed for that 'professional portrait' that these are being compared to.

David, you're right ..... I am often talking about us "on the hoof" shooters, making the most of what we have , and trying to encourage experimenting with the light balancing possibilities of bringing flash into it. And if the pop-up is all there is then let's use it and try to get the best out of it.

I wasn't planning portraits ..... I only took the 14mm lens! But I saw the moment and wanted to get that lovely garden and great sky captured with a nice deep exposure, so felt it was necessary to light my subject.

It is obvious that there are differing tastes for the amount of flash effect and look. I personally don't ever think of the concept of "fill-in flash" . To me that is some auto algorithm in program mode that is likely to underexpose a subject. I prefer my flash look big and bold, with the subject, even outdoors, actually fully "lit" ..... because of this I am prepared to accept the look, which might involve an unnatural direction of light for example. In some ways to me, the more the flash and ambient light can be opposing each other the better!

Of course it is also nice when the sun and flash can combine to create a nice softly blended result. But sometimes we have to go for it and get what is possible given the various constraints.

Let's see some more examples of light balancing and control using the unsung and humble built-in flash!

The 12-24 is fairly old now, so is this a replacement? Presumably we can expect better, quieter DC autofocussing plus improved flare and distortion performance. Well, that's what I would be hoping for.

I'm not sure I "get" the need for the wide aperture really ..... is it really necessary or effective to shoot at F2.8 at such wide angles? Surely the same images taken at F4.0 would be hardly any different.

Hmmm, I know the KP with it's GN6 flash has been a bit controversial. Here, with the 14mm lens, the actual flash to subject distance was about 2ft. This was ok at ISO200 and f9.5, but if I wanted to shoot wider open then I would quickly run into overexposure from the flash.

I'm wondering if the low guide number on the KP is to complement it's high ISO capabilities ....I mean, people using Auto-ISO with flash (bad idea) can easily suffer from overexposure from the flash, because the ISO is chosen based on ambient light and focal length, program line etc. Often this will be totally inappropriate for flash

If KP users are allowing their ISOs to go high, considering the good performance, then a low GN flash might actually be an advantage ..... ?

That was a quick firmware update! Good to see things looking up!