Tiny Cracks on K10D Body

Old Timer 56 · 07-09-2007, 05:48 PM

Today I noticed a curious post on DP Review. The poster said that some K10D bodies are exhibiting tiny cracks or chips on the lower right hand corner. This evidently was first discussed on a German forum.

An initial glance at both of my bodies revealed nothing. But upon closer inspection with a 10X loupe and bright side lighting showed a tiny "imperfection" or maybe a crack on one of the bodies. Truthfully, I probably would have used this body to the end of its life without seeing anything unusual. It's pretty hard to spot.

I don't want to raise any alarm here. Personally, I suspect it is simply something left over from the mold process. I guess only time will tell. But I wonder if anyone else sees either a tiny crack or chip on the corner of their body. You may need a magnifier to really see this. Frankly, a chip or piece of plastic broken off would make me more nervous than a tiny crack that may not really be a crack.

Here's the link to the DP Review discussion:

Question to all K10D users: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Richard

little laker · 07-09-2007, 05:52 PM

I wouldn't worry about it until you can easily see it with your eye Old Timer.
I wonder if Rice High started the original post, he's overly concerned with the small things

Old Timer 56 · 07-09-2007, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by little laker

I wouldn't worry about it until you can easily see it with your eye Old Timer.
I wonder if Rice High started the original post, he's overly concerned with the small things

I don't know about Rice High but my initial gut response to the post was "boy, some people are really anal".

Richard

Fireball · 07-09-2007, 06:04 PM

Nothing wrong with being anal, especially after spending "that much" (well...depends on your frame of reference) on something.

I know I'm pretty anal retentive about keeping everything I own in pristine condition...

little laker · 07-09-2007, 06:55 PM

The reason why I'm wondering if it was Rice that started it is because of this thread on DP
Shiny Black Buttons of 5D (or other Canon DSLRs?): Canon EOS-1D/1Ds/5D Forum: Digital Photography Review
It sounds like the same sort of thing

equinox · 07-10-2007, 09:04 AM

Cannot blame Mr. RiceHigh for everything. Annoying as he can be, he is on occasion correct in his views.

Anyone that accepts a crack in their camera that is weather sealed is very foolish. Pay all that money to have Pentax deliver a product with a production stress crack? The Pentax fanboyism is alive and well even in this forum.

I would be addressing this with Pentax as being a fault they should fix. Over time if the crack gets longer it may weaken a persons ability to resell said product if they wanted to. To each there own I guess....

Cideway · 07-10-2007, 09:40 AM

I have one on mine, my dad's k10d doesn't to my under a 8x loupe and it looks to be just slight mark in the cast.

Old Timer 56 · 07-10-2007, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by equinox

Cannot blame Mr. RiceHigh for everything. Annoying as he can be, he is on occasion correct in his views.

Anyone that accepts a crack in their camera that is weather sealed is very foolish. Pay all that money to have Pentax deliver a product with a production stress crack? The Pentax fanboyism is alive and well even in this forum.

I would be addressing this with Pentax as being a fault they should fix. Over time if the crack gets longer it may weaken a persons ability to resell said product if they wanted to. To each there own I guess....

In the case of my particular K10D body, I'm not convinced it is actually a crack. But apart from an early Olympus P&S, this is the first camera I have owned with a plastic body and plastic has always made me a little nervous ever since I looked at cracks on a colleague's plastic Nikon. However, I'm not going to obsess about it. He never did either and his Nikon got heavy use, cracks and all.

A poster on DP Review today said he had contacted Pentax service in Colorado. Apparently the "crack" issue was news to them but they would monitor the situation. We'll see. Meanwhile, I'm getting plenty of use out of both of my K10D cameras, including the one that went to Colorado for an autofocus repair. I'm not about to send the one with the "crack" to Pentax unless it gets worse or there is a general product recall. Or the camera stops functioning.

Richard

jeffkrol · 07-10-2007, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by equinox

Cannot blame Mr. RiceHigh for everything. Annoying as he can be, he is on occasion correct in his views.

Anyone that accepts a crack in their camera that is weather sealed is very foolish. Pay all that money to have Pentax deliver a product with a production stress crack? The Pentax fanboyism is alive and well even in this forum.

I would be addressing this with Pentax as being a fault they should fix. Over time if the crack gets longer it may weaken a persons ability to resell said product if they wanted to. To each there own I guess....

as a long time debater w/ Ricehigh I find his Canon post TOO FUNNY.
As to the cracks I find that issue a bit disturbing. Most likely a sub-contractors issue ( I assume Pentax doesn't cast their own plastics). As to Colorodo's response below that I find par for the course. They are never aware of anything

equinox · 07-10-2007, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by jeffkrol

as a long time debater w/ Ricehigh I find his Canon post TOO FUNNY.
As to the cracks I find that issue a bit disturbing. Most likely a sub-contractors issue ( I assume Pentax doesn't cast their own plastics). As to Colorodo's response below that I find par for the course. They are never aware of anything

Yes Mr. RiceHigh is quite the personality on the web. Some of his posts are actually informative, others are just true Pentax hatred.

I am in hopes that the crack is just a casting flaw and not really a crack. Being in manufacturing myself with a large Chinese company, I have seen product that has similar type of defects that were just casting marks, not cracks.

Just being a casting mark, it would not cause concern for me. My previous cheap computer monitor had a crack like casting mark that was on the front bezel. I did not ask for a replacement as the manufacturer checked for me and they had a few of the same model with the same thing. I just happened to catch it by chance and would normally never had noticed it.

little laker · 07-10-2007, 01:49 PM

My guess would be just a casting mark. However if it's more than that it should reveal it's self before the warranty is up.

If it was my camera I'd just take a look at the same place every month or 2 and see it it's spreading.

*isteve · 07-10-2007, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by equinox

Cannot blame Mr. RiceHigh for everything. Annoying as he can be, he is on occasion correct in his views.

By the law of averages to make so many comments and be wrong all the time would be almost impossible

Still, its fun to challenge him now and again.

Anyone that accepts a crack in their camera that is weather sealed is very foolish. Pay all that money to have Pentax deliver a product with a production stress crack? The Pentax fanboyism is alive and well even in this forum.

Be careful about throwing the fanboy label around too much, its really annoying. Its exactly the same as calling someone who reports a problem a whiner.

The jury is out as to whether these cracks compromise the seals (which are rubber gaskets around the seams so its more than possible they do not in most cases). If they do, then I would say its a big problem. If they dont, then its still a warranty repair IMO, assuming you can be bothered, but its a minor issue.

If I was missing a whole chip I would be more worried. A crack that I need a 10X loupe to see I would monitor and if it got no worse I would stop worrying.

I would be addressing this with Pentax as being a fault they should fix. Over time if the crack gets longer it may weaken a persons ability to resell said product if they wanted to. To each there own I guess....

Best to get it fixed just before you sell it then in case it comes back! Personally, I look after my gear but I use it in a lot of difficult situations and it gets knocked and scratched. I dont think this is terribly significant compared to a lot of usage scars I generally see on second hand gear.

At its current retail price the K10D is so cheap its almost disposable and this destroys the second hand market anyway. When the new "pro" model comes out I will keep both mine as backups and buy the new body for paid work only. I'll probably keep the K10's until they fall apart, so if I get a crack I will most likely just get a tube of epoxy out and plug it.

walter · 07-10-2007, 02:16 PM

I don't need a magnifying glass to see the 2mmx4mm chip missing from that part of my camera. I haven't dropped the camera yet, so I doubt it's anything I caused. The camera's about 7 months old.

I think it's mostly cosmetic at this point, but I'll probably tape over it. I don't see the gasket through the hole, so I don't think it will have much effect on weather sealing.

here's a picture of the chip

stewart_photo · 07-10-2007, 04:30 PM

I'm surprised this was ever described as a potentially widespread problem in the first place. I've read the German forum, the dpreview discussion (the pictures there were posted by "haarrissexj4" in the German forum), and this thread, and only about 25-30 individuals so far, out of literally thousands reading, are finding any cracks at all, with an even lessor number observing anything beyond very diminutive ones. Very few appear to be that serious. Add my own camera to those without any such cracks or marks after a couple of months of somewhat less then perfectly gentle handling (hard on my equipment).

stewart

wlachan · 07-10-2007, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by stewart_photo

I'm surprised this was ever described as a potentially widespread problem in the first place. I've read the German forum, the dpreview discussion (the pictures there were posted by "haarrissexj4" in the German forum), and this thread, and only about 25-30 individuals so far, out of literally thousands reading, are finding any cracks at all, with an even lessor number observing anything beyond very diminutive ones. Very few appear to be that serious. Add my own camera to those without any such cracks or marks after a couple of months of somewhat less then perfectly gentle handling (hard on my equipment).

stewart

I don't know, but when people start showing up saying their K10D had the same crack or chip at the same identical spot, it tells you something. But I am not surprised at all after owning two Z-1p for a # of years with the same problem, even with new bottom plates. If it were like the Z-1p, the fit at that corner might be just a little tight and causes more stress than the thin plastic bottom can handle. And that very tiny almost invisible crack will be more obvious eventually. I think the chance of Pentax addressing it would be remote but one can always keep a spare bottom which is not expensive just in case.