[lithos]

I'm wondering how many people who bitched about Pentax's reaction own an iPhone 4...

[goldenarrow]

I'll send my camera in after 11 months, because of resale value. But i seriously dont see what the problem is with the stain, its invisible in 99.9% of my shots and so very very very easy to edit out of the .1% it does affect.

I'd probably not have noticed it if it wasn't for the interweb.

Not just a feeling of compromise. Macro photography is degraded badly in many photos from other reports of people who like to specialize in that kind of activity. Not easy to get out of those kinds of photos. That is something you don't hear from the reviewers on the web. But that limitation should not be there in a $1500 camera, period.

And the apology still does not excuse Pentax for not coming clean on how the contamination actually happened (or is still happening???????). On some other forum I read that Pentax used too much oil-like substance assembling the sensor/AA unit into the camera bodies. But no one from Pentax will confirm this or deny it.

[raphtze]

But that limitation should not be there in a $1500 camera, period.

spot on! that plus the low light AF accuracy....i actually couldn't recommend this camera to a friend :'( well.....i'll send the body back after the lunar new year (end of feb i'll send it back)

[raphtze]

shot this earlier today through a window at work. stain can be seen in the upper left quadrant. used a heal brush in photoshop to work it out...but damn....this should NOT be an issue for the kind of camera the K-5 is supposed to be!

-raph

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Last edited by raphtze; 01-26-2011 at 10:11 PM.

[Wheatfield]

shot this earlier today through a window at work. stain can be seen in the upper left quadrant. used a heal brush in photoshop to work it out...but damn....this should NOT be an issue for the kind of camera the K-5 is supposed to be!

-raph

Would you feel better if it was a 5K Canon you were having a problem with?

[Christopher M.W.T]

Look get a grip, it's the initial batch that suffered problems and they've acknowledged it.

It's being rectified and they are repairing troubled models, what more can you ask for?

[Tommot1965]

shot this earlier today through a window at work. stain can be seen in the upper left quadrant. used a heal brush in photoshop to work it out...but damn....this should NOT be an issue for the kind of camera the K-5 is supposed to be!

-raph

nice shot mate....

aint this thread about Pentax saying sorry to you..why are you still whining about it..??..get a new one and all will be good again....Keep smiling champ :}

[Tommot1965]

Not just a feeling of compromise. Macro photography is degraded badly in many photos from other reports of people who like to specialize in that kind of activity. Not easy to get out of those kinds of photos. That is something you don't hear from the reviewers on the web. But that limitation should not be there in a $1500 camera, period.

And the apology still does not excuse Pentax for not coming clean on how the contamination actually happened (or is still happening???????). On some other forum I read that Pentax used too much oil-like substance assembling the sensor/AA unit into the camera bodies. But no one from Pentax will confirm this or deny it.

why should they confirm or deny how it happened..it happened, they said sorry...now move on mate, they dont need to tell us all the nitty gritty do they ??

[raphtze]

hehe well, apology accepted of course! and real glad that pentax is doing the right thing with replacing defective cameras. that being said, the feeling of frustration with the camera when this issue first came out was driving me, as well as others insane. 2k, 5k, however much it costs, that's just ludicrous. perhaps some folks here take photography as a serious hobby; i used to freelance for a small newspaper (asian week in SF, and also supplemented my meager income as an undergrad freelancing for the university paper at Cal) and also did weddings with my old film SLR's (my trusty PZ-1p, which i still have and kicks much ass) maybe something like the stain can be worked around for casual photographers, but when a person depends on a tool for his livelihood, that tool better deliver--one can't be concerned with the shortcomings--and make no mistake, the stain is a major shortcoming. i'm a long time lurker, and did not register on to this site until recently, when i got the K-5, my very first DSLR; call me silly, but i was waiting for a full frame! hahaha. i gave up on pentax delivering a full frame (no, i cannot afford the 645D) and read all the great reports about the K-5 and here we are today. i just feel that pentax should have delivered a true-knockout with the K-5, and they truly did, but this great camera will be 'tainted' with this sensor issue. nevermind the fact, that some folks got replacement cameras, and still got stains.....a quick glance on some of the forum threads shows that some folks have gotten 3 or more replacement K-5's. that's not exactly confidence inspiring. add to the fact that many folks still have issues with autofocusing in low light (another bug worthy of its own discussion) this can't be good for hoya/pentax, and projects a real negative image (pun intended) for others wanting to buy this great camera, or switching to pentax. well all that aside, i love pentax and will continue to shoot with pentax, hopefully forever. so of course i'll send my K-5 in; and here's hoping they fix that pesky low light AF accuracy too.

-raph

[Jonson PL]

Thanks for the info, good to hear that it is being dealt with.

Whether it was faulty A-A filters received from a third party manufacturer, as mentioned somewhere; or another place along the line, main thing is that is being taken care of.

I guess it comes down to a choice. The Leica M8.2 should be an example of a camera that is though roughly checked before leaving the factory. But then we’re talking 3-4.000 $ camera. Don’t think many Pentaxians would go for that set-up instead. Then people would likely prefer to have a camera sent back under warranty.

The top Pros from Canon, who had to send back their EOS-1Ds Mark III cameras, due to serious autofocus problems, were in dire trouble having bought the camera to rely on for critical high end work. For most of us, it is an inconvenience, but a minor one at that.

If the worst thing that is gonna happen to you, is a camera that sometimes will have troublesome images, then by most accounts you're pretty well set up.

[creampuff]

raphtze, the most probable reason why some people got replacement cameras that still had the camera stain was because they returned their cameras back to the vendor who sold the cameras to them and probably got another camera from the seller's inventory that was from the same early batch.

If they had sent the cameras back to Pentax or their local agent, that would have rectified the issue once and for all as the camera's sensor would have been replaced entirely, as opposed to getting a new copy that could still be from the older batch with stained sensors.

[goldenarrow]

What is the date of manufacture and serial# that begins the fixed line of cameras going forward? If they admit to a fault, then do they know what will fix it, or are they just trying something different, hoping that it will be fixed? Knowing the "nitty gritty" will help everyone know that they have identified the manufacture/assembly CAUSE. Yes, in my opinion, publishing these facts does help inspire confidence in their operations and that matters when some pro and semi-pro photographers think about buying one. For hobbyists, would you feel good about buying a $1500 lemon (fill in the blank with what type of item)?

[Kerrowdown]

When I clicked on the link, a Japanese page came up but with an English language option link was there on the top right hand side.

[creampuff]

What is the date of manufacture and serial# that begins the fixed line of cameras going forward? If they admit to a fault, then do they know what will fix it, or are they just trying something different, hoping that it will be fixed? Knowing the "nitty gritty" will help everyone know that they have identified the manufacture/assembly CAUSE. Yes, in my opinion, publishing these facts does help inspire confidence in their operations and that matters when some pro and semi-pro photographers think about buying one. For hobbyists, would you feel good about buying a $1500 lemon (fill in the blank with what type of item)?

Pentax may not be fully aware which cameras have the stains on the sensor and which are stain free as there are plenty of cameras already shipped out among the distribution network in different countries when the issue first became known. Even if a camera was among the early production batches, it is not 100% clear that every unit would have experienced the issue.

Frankly speaking, whatever the root cause, it is irrelevant because it has little bearing for the end user. What is sufficient to know is that Pentax is prepared to replace any unit that exhibits the sensor stain at no additional cost to the user. That's an ironclad guarantee that the company stands behind their product and fixing the issue. Now if that is not sufficient to convince anyone that the issue is being addressed, then simply put, don't buy the K-5.

The thing is there are many who already have the K-5 and are quite positive and satisfied about the camera and yet there's seems to be some who maybe don't have the means or aren't prepared to buy but need to seemingly question Pentax's efforts to rectify the issue or throw up negative connotations. If you don't actually own and use a K-5, how can you in all honesty call it a lemon (when it is not)?

[Wheatfield]

What is the date of manufacture and serial# that begins the fixed line of cameras going forward? If they admit to a fault, then do they know what will fix it, or are they just trying something different, hoping that it will be fixed? Knowing the "nitty gritty" will help everyone know that they have identified the manufacture/assembly CAUSE. Yes, in my opinion, publishing these facts does help inspire confidence in their operations and that matters when some pro and semi-pro photographers think about buying one. For hobbyists, would you feel good about buying a $1500 lemon (fill in the blank with what type of item)?

Wow, just wow.
You really want someone to fall on their sword over this don't you?

The other day I got a recall notification on my truck. They wanted to replace something called the ECM.
Apparently it is not a good thing if it fails.
They didn't go into the hows and whys of what made them decide to issue a recall, nor did they go into the manufacturing or design error that caused the defect in the first place. They just said that they had discovered a defect and wanted the truck back so they could fix it.

From the consumers POV, that is all that is required.
Now, I suppose I could say that my truck is a $50K lemon because it's had a recall.
Every company has the occasional buggy product. Pentax actually has a pretty good track record to date, both with not having had a lot of problems in the past, and with being pretty good about fixing them.
For myself, I'd say it's time to put this baby back in it's crib and let it sleep.