Pentax ist DS aperture setting problems

You receive a flash warning because the image does not have enough light for the aperture and shutter speed combination either you have set or the camera has set. There are several solutions. I can't seem to find whether that camera has a manual exposure mode or only auto modes. If only auto modes, refer to number 1 and the last two bullets.
Solutions.
1. Turn on your flash. If you do not want to use your flash....
2. If you have the ability to adjust your exposure settings

• Open your aperture to it's widest ability. That would be a small number like 2.8 or 3.5
• Reduce your shutter speed to about .125 Anything slower than that may introduce blur into the image depending on how steady your hands are.
• Increase your ISO upwards toward 1600. Be cautious though. The higher the ISO, the more grain or noise is introduced into the image.
• Do not use optical zoom (16x). Use only digital zoom (4x). You lose too much light at super zoom levels and the pic gets too shaky anyway.
  

That means your camera is in aperture priority mode. Try setting it to something else like the "green"mode or "P" mode.

Use "exposure compensation" (the button with a plus/minus symbol). It allows you to lighten (toward the + side) or darken (toward the - side).

Custom white balance can only be set in P, Tv, Av, or M modes. The auto modes are, well, automatic. They are all preconfigured and intended for ease of use not configurability.

Hey Kate
I have owned a Canon Powershot S5 since launch last year and I take a lot of photos with blurred background. I select AV on the dial (Aperture priority) and set aperture to between 2.7 and about 4.0 max, depending on how much depth of field I want and what my subject is.

This setting blurs the background beautifully.. Just remember that an aperture of 2.7 will give you a very shallow depth-of-field, so if focus on face is important, make sure you have face recognition set to ON.

I hope this helps

First make sure the camera is not set to No Flash on the shooting mode dial.Also, in P, Tv, Av or M modes the flash reverts to manual and must be raised manually by pressing the button next to the viewfinder.

In addition to the "quirks" of the Landscape and Aperture Priority Modes (neither mode works as documented!)..... The camera also behaves differently in full Manual Mode (it changes the settings, whether you want it to or not to compensate for available light)... At lower Zoom Levels, the camera will adjust the Shutter Speed Only, to try and compensate for available light... For example: with the Camera preset to F5.6 Aperture, and 1/48 sec. shutter speed, the camera will adjust the shutter speed between a range of 1/30 to 1/291 sec, to try and "auto expose" the shot for lower or higher light levels, even though you're in manual mode. At an Aperture Setting of 2.8 and 1/48 of a second, the number of internal steps in shutter speed the camera is willing to take, increases dramatially - for example: shutter speeds up to 1/600 of a second, even though you have the shutter set to 1/48 in manual mode. The camera WILL NOT attempt to adjust the Aperture to compensate for proper exposure in available light (OR WILL IT??).... It depends on your Zoom settings! It won't if your're near to full wide angle, but IT WILL if you are using the Zoom. Once you cross some unknown zoom threshold (it doesn't have to be at full zoom), then the camera begins to change both the Aperture and Shutter speed to compensate for available light, even though you are in "Full Manual", versus Auto Exposure Mode. In Manual Mode, (as in Aperture Priority Mode), the amount of change the camera is willing to make to your settings, appears to be related to a preset number of internal steps, with the number of steps dependent on both Aperture and Zoom Settings, before it gives an EV Warning for Over or Under Exposure conditions.... The type (shutter speed only for wide angle, shutter and aperture for zoom) and amount (number of internal "steps" it takes to increase/decrease shutter speed and increase or decrease aperture), is dependent on the amount of zoom you are using for the current shot.

s I understand it from what I have seen on the Web, the 3000Z can operate in several modes: 1. Fully automatic (camera select both 2. Manual (user sets both aperture and shutter speed). 3. Aperture Priority mode - user sets aperture and camera chooses correct shutter speed to get a good exposure Apparently there is no Shutter Priority mode (user cannot set only the shutter er speed and allow the camera to set the aperature to get a good exposure). This option is available on the Epson 850Z camera and this seems like a silly ommision to make on a "high-end" camera like the 3000Z.

They will - fully open in Av mode, and with any aperture in manual mode - after you allow the Ds through the custom settings menu to use aperture settings different then "A". To choose correct exposure with such a lens in manual mode you can use the AE-button - it stops down the aperture, reads the EV and sets the shutter speed according to the chosen aperture.

Auto Picture-selects on of the picture mode such as landscape(mountain), macro(flower), sport/action(running man) mode, etc. P-sets shutter and aperture. You set everything else. happy face- sets shutter, aperture and everything else.