K5 "frozen" problem.

jv.pentax · 01-22-2011, 04:09 PM

Hi all.
This evening I've been out with my new K5 to take some pictures
at an event. I wanted to try some features, specially hi speed shooting.
So I started shooting and everything seemed to work fine until after a continuous shooting series the camera got hung, completely frozen,

I switched it off and on... but nothing happened

. I had to remove the battery and install it to get it working again. This happened twice.

has anyone experienced something similar to that?

Of course, I had already used the camera and took some pictures (about 200), but
not so "intense" use.

P.S.: The camera had the grip (not the original, but the one from Dealextreme) and the firmware version is still 1.01. The SD card was a Sandkisk SDHC 16 Gb 15Mb/s that I
almost filled up.

Last edited by jv.pentax; 01-22-2011 at 04:10 PM. Reason: added some details

Harald · 01-22-2011, 04:13 PM

Remove the grip and test if this happens also without it. If not, you have found the reason....

jv.pentax · 01-22-2011, 04:48 PM

Originally posted by Harald

Remove the grip and test if this happens also without it. If not, you have found the reason....

I'll do that next time, Harald.

I have to say that issue happened after taking a series of more than 300 pictures, mixing
not only hi speed - low speed continuous shooting, but also one by one shooting.

imtheguy · 01-22-2011, 07:11 PM

Sorry, its not likely the grip. Mine locks when the battery gets too low, with or without grip and regardless of which battery I am using. Its not a fatal flaw but its aggrevating when the grip is attached and I am ankle deep in mud in the cold having to remove both batteries. Now I just remember to switch batteries in the menu when it gets low. .....and I wait for firmware v.1.03 to fix it.

jv.pentax · 01-23-2011, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Sorry, its not likely the grip. Mine locks when the battery gets too low

I can't now remember well, but I think the top display showed full charge, though
I didn't charged before going out.
I've been also searching for this problem in my "local" forum in Spain and found one case similar related to empty battery and "camera froze"

Here is the spanish forum post translated by google

frattofoto · 01-23-2011, 05:36 AM

I had mine only lockup once so far. I was continuous shooting and the AA batteries in my grip were low.

alunfoto · 01-23-2011, 07:39 AM

Mine froze up today also. Just once.
I was doing AF testing, rattling off frames like crazy at passing cars. At some point I called up the menu to change from 11-point AF to 5-point AF. The camera froze maybe 6-7 shots into the first series afterwards.

After removing and reinstalling the battery, all the settings in the menus were as I left them, except the focuspoint selection.

I set it back to 5-point and went on. Shot a few hundred more of frames without a single glitch.

The battery was fully charged, and the memory card a 16 GB Sandisk Extreme III with plenty of room. The firmware is 1.03, installed by an authorised Pentax repair-person before purchase.

Will post anew if it happens again.

jv.pentax · 01-23-2011, 12:26 PM

I've been suggested to upgrade to the new 1.02 firmware.

Quote:

[...] The firmware is 1.03 [...]

alunfoto, is there a 1.03 released version of the firmware ?

ve2vfd · 01-23-2011, 12:39 PM

Mine froze 4-5 times at completely random (no repeatable pattern) when I was shooting with it. Battery was fully charged, mem card is the same high quality one I've been using for over a year without a problem in my K20d... It would just completely hang and I had to reset it with a battery pull.

It's now away at Pentax Canada to be exchanged due to the sensor contamination so we'll see if the new one has the same random crashes when I get it.

Pat

jv.pentax · 01-23-2011, 03:07 PM

I've just updated to 1.02. I'll try it again and post results.

Originally posted by ve2vfd

It's now away at Pentax Canada to be exchanged due to the sensor contamination so we'll see if the new one has the same random crashes when I get it.
Pat

My unit was changed due to sensor spots problem, so
I think it is related to some "software" problem.

psychdoc · 01-23-2011, 06:14 PM

Originally posted by jv.pentax

I wanted to try some features, specially hi speed shooting. So I started shooting and everything seemed to work fine until after a continuous shooting series the camera got hung, completely frozen

Hmm...same thing here. I was about to search this forum when I saw this post. I have shot basketball games the last 3 weekends. The first 2 games time it froze about 3-4 times, this weekend it froze twice. Don't have the latest firmware upgrade but I dont think its the problem. I was shooting about 600 pictures in about an hour and a half period. Very irritating to have to take the battery out to get the camera unfrozen.

imtheguy · 01-23-2011, 07:12 PM

So far after 3 months my K-5 only freezes with a low battery and never with a good charge remaining. I tried using the same low battery and reinserting it after each freeze. It froze again every 1-3 shots until I gave up and put in a new one. If firmware v. 1.03 does not come out soon and cure it I will resort to a 5 mile extention cord for the AC converter.

psychdoc · 01-23-2011, 07:49 PM

I did not have a low battery but I was shooting AF.C on Hi speed shooting. I wonder if this has something to do with the camera being unable to handle the amount of data... Once I got home from the game I tried shooting at high speed for a few minutes and could not replicate it. I wonder whether the problem occurs only if the camera is being used for longer periods at high speed shooting. I just upgraded my firmware to the newest but not expecting any miracles. Hoping I don't have to send this for repair.

jv.pentax · 01-24-2011, 01:05 AM

Originally posted by psychdoc

I did not have a low battery but I was shooting AF.C on Hi speed shooting. I wonder if this has something to do with the camera being unable to handle the amount of data...

mmm... I hope it is fixed with this new firmware upgrade. I wouldn't like to
send to repair.

jv.pentax · 01-24-2011, 03:09 AM

Ok, I've been searching in the user manual and found this (page 354):

"Troubleshooting:

In rare cases the camera may not operate correctly due to static
electricity. This can be remedied by taking the battery out and
putting it back again [...]
"
Well, do you think this might be the cause?
I don't think so.

01-22-2011, 04:09 PM	#1
jv.pentax Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Spain Photos: Albums Posts: 129	K5 "frozen" problem. Hi all. This evening I've been out with my new K5 to take some pictures at an event. I wanted to try some features, specially hi speed shooting. So I started shooting and everything seemed to work fine until after a continuous shooting series the camera got hung, completely frozen, I switched it off and on... but nothing happened . I had to remove the battery and install it to get it working again. This happened twice. has anyone experienced something similar to that? Of course, I had already used the camera and took some pictures (about 200), but not so "intense" use. P.S.: The camera had the grip (not the original, but the one from Dealextreme) and the firmware version is still 1.01. The SD card was a Sandkisk SDHC 16 Gb 15Mb/s that I almost filled up. Last edited by jv.pentax; 01-22-2011 at 04:10 PM. Reason: added some details

01-23-2011, 03:39 AM	#5
jv.pentax Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Spain Photos: Albums Posts: 129 Original Poster	Quote: Sorry, its not likely the grip. Mine locks when the battery gets too low I can't now remember well, but I think the top display showed full charge, though I didn't charged before going out. I've been also searching for this problem in my "local" forum in Spain and found one case similar related to empty battery and "camera froze" Here is the spanish forum post translated by google Last edited by jv.pentax; 01-23-2011 at 12:23 PM. Reason: added some details

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01-22-2011, 04:13 PM	#2
Harald Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 259	Remove the grip and test if this happens also without it. If not, you have found the reason....

01-22-2011, 04:48 PM	#3
jv.pentax Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Spain Photos: Albums Posts: 129 Original Poster	Originally posted by Harald Remove the grip and test if this happens also without it. If not, you have found the reason.... I'll do that next time, Harald. I have to say that issue happened after taking a series of more than 300 pictures, mixing not only hi speed - low speed continuous shooting, but also one by one shooting.

01-22-2011, 07:11 PM	#4
imtheguy Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Virginia Beach Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,950	Sorry, its not likely the grip. Mine locks when the battery gets too low, with or without grip and regardless of which battery I am using. Its not a fatal flaw but its aggrevating when the grip is attached and I am ankle deep in mud in the cold having to remove both batteries. Now I just remember to switch batteries in the menu when it gets low. .....and I wait for firmware v.1.03 to fix it.

01-23-2011, 05:36 AM	#6
frattofoto Closed Account Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: new jersey Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 189	I had mine only lockup once so far. I was continuous shooting and the AA batteries in my grip were low.

01-23-2011, 07:39 AM	#7
alunfoto Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Norway Photos: Gallery Posts: 72	Mine froze up today also. Just once. I was doing AF testing, rattling off frames like crazy at passing cars. At some point I called up the menu to change from 11-point AF to 5-point AF. The camera froze maybe 6-7 shots into the first series afterwards. After removing and reinstalling the battery, all the settings in the menus were as I left them, except the focuspoint selection. I set it back to 5-point and went on. Shot a few hundred more of frames without a single glitch. The battery was fully charged, and the memory card a 16 GB Sandisk Extreme III with plenty of room. The firmware is 1.03, installed by an authorised Pentax repair-person before purchase. Will post anew if it happens again.

01-23-2011, 12:26 PM	#8
jv.pentax Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Spain Photos: Albums Posts: 129 Original Poster	I've been suggested to upgrade to the new 1.02 firmware. Quote: [...] The firmware is 1.03 [...] alunfoto, is there a 1.03 released version of the firmware ?

01-23-2011, 12:39 PM	#9
ve2vfd Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Montreal, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,433	Mine froze 4-5 times at completely random (no repeatable pattern) when I was shooting with it. Battery was fully charged, mem card is the same high quality one I've been using for over a year without a problem in my K20d... It would just completely hang and I had to reset it with a battery pull. It's now away at Pentax Canada to be exchanged due to the sensor contamination so we'll see if the new one has the same random crashes when I get it. Pat

01-23-2011, 03:07 PM	#10
jv.pentax Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Spain Photos: Albums Posts: 129 Original Poster	I've just updated to 1.02. I'll try it again and post results. Originally posted by ve2vfd It's now away at Pentax Canada to be exchanged due to the sensor contamination so we'll see if the new one has the same random crashes when I get it. Pat My unit was changed due to sensor spots problem, so I think it is related to some "software" problem.

01-23-2011, 06:14 PM	#11
psychdoc Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Bham Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 949	Originally posted by jv.pentax I wanted to try some features, specially hi speed shooting. So I started shooting and everything seemed to work fine until after a continuous shooting series the camera got hung, completely frozen Hmm...same thing here. I was about to search this forum when I saw this post. I have shot basketball games the last 3 weekends. The first 2 games time it froze about 3-4 times, this weekend it froze twice. Don't have the latest firmware upgrade but I dont think its the problem. I was shooting about 600 pictures in about an hour and a half period. Very irritating to have to take the battery out to get the camera unfrozen.

01-23-2011, 07:12 PM	#12
imtheguy Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Virginia Beach Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,950	So far after 3 months my K-5 only freezes with a low battery and never with a good charge remaining. I tried using the same low battery and reinserting it after each freeze. It froze again every 1-3 shots until I gave up and put in a new one. If firmware v. 1.03 does not come out soon and cure it I will resort to a 5 mile extention cord for the AC converter.

01-23-2011, 07:49 PM	#13
psychdoc Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Bham Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 949	I did not have a low battery but I was shooting AF.C on Hi speed shooting. I wonder if this has something to do with the camera being unable to handle the amount of data... Once I got home from the game I tried shooting at high speed for a few minutes and could not replicate it. I wonder whether the problem occurs only if the camera is being used for longer periods at high speed shooting. I just upgraded my firmware to the newest but not expecting any miracles. Hoping I don't have to send this for repair.

01-24-2011, 01:05 AM	#14
jv.pentax Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Spain Photos: Albums Posts: 129 Original Poster	Originally posted by psychdoc I did not have a low battery but I was shooting AF.C on Hi speed shooting. I wonder if this has something to do with the camera being unable to handle the amount of data... mmm... I hope it is fixed with this new firmware upgrade. I wouldn't like to send to repair.

01-24-2011, 03:09 AM	#15
jv.pentax Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Spain Photos: Albums Posts: 129 Original Poster	Ok, I've been searching in the user manual and found this (page 354): "Troubleshooting: In rare cases the camera may not operate correctly due to static electricity. This can be remedied by taking the battery out and putting it back again [...] " Well, do you think this might be the cause? I don't think so.