Pentax ZX-10 Sync Problem or am I the problem? Calling Pentax Action Folks

I've been a professional equine photographer for about three years now and just recently started shooting manually with my Pentax zx-10 camera. I have the highest powered flash that is available for this camera and has the laser light and all. I do a lot of Tennessee Walking Horse and Racking horse photography - you have to get the legs and all just right or the people will not buy. I KNOW for a fact when I hit my shutter button, that the shot is correct but for the past two shows, when I get my proofs done, I've missed half my shots because the legs are 1 or 2 seconds from where they should be. Is my flash not syncing right?

I've tried to sync it. Also, when I sit the shutter speed manually, and try and use a flash, it will blur the photos terribly, to the point that they are not even salvagable.

Can anyone give me any input on how to get it to start working correctly? My fstops are on as low as they will go on my lense, at 4.5 and shutter speed at 2000. When the flash comes on, the meter reads "TV 60" which is the same as 2000. I'm really getting aggravated at a time when I should be getting better, it's getting worse :S

Thanks.

-Tasha

You said you're shooting manually now. What exactly does that mean? And your meter reads "TV 60" when the flash goes off? That means you're in shutter-priority mode at 1/60th second. Your camera's flash sync is only 1/100th of a second. There's no way you're shooting at 1/2000th second. It's not possible. There are only a few cameras with really high-speed sync and they max out at at 1/500th second. I don't think that it would be possible for the legs to be 2 seconds off, either. That would mean that when you press the shutter release, there would be a 2 second pause before the shutter opened and the flash went off. That would be pretty noticeable. But, at 1/60th of a second, with second-curtain sync, your timing may be a little off. Increase your shutter speed to the max sync of 1/100th second and set your flash or camera for first-curtain sync. That means it will fire at the beginning of the exposure. That should solve your problem - or at least improve the photos.

Do you have a manual for your camera? If you do, take a look at the exposure mode section and the flash section. And if you don't have one, here's a link to the manual download page on the Pentax site: http://www.pentaxusa.com/docstore/index.cfm?show=6

I hope that helps. Let us know if you have more questions. You might want to try posting on the Sports Forum, too. That's probably a better place to get help for technical problems like this.

do this,it will work.set shuttuer priority.shutter speed 125th,let camera pick aperture.this should work.yor flash is what freezes your action.125 will stop it ,with a bright flash{sunpak544}.this works good indoors for basketball ect.
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