Weather sealing failed on my new K-5

**Ash** · 04-29-2011, 02:27 PM

All the best for the repair kiwibird.
I'm sure we'd have expected more from the K-5's weather sealing than what you'd experienced.

bdery · 04-29-2011, 02:36 PM

Originally posted by DRabbit

Forget your hair... that desktop needs to be managed!

I thought the same thing

dave216 · 04-29-2011, 02:46 PM

Really sorry for you,
k5 is great camera but it seems that it has some weak sealings and if you use zoom that extends too much it will suck air/water into the camera (one weak spot is i think memory card cover as i found too much dust under it) that's why its safe to use 50-135 and any lens with fixed or slightly extendable barrel length in poor weather

GarySloman · 04-29-2011, 04:57 PM

Sorry to read of your camera failure. I have used my K5 in the rain for various lengths of time and have been out in a heavy snow for many hours with an 18-55 wr and have had no problem. I have also had my K7 out in foul weather, with a plastic bag on a non-weatherproof lens with no problem. The cameras were quite soaked when I got them in.

Yours may have had a defect. Good luck with repair or replacemnt.

Ratmagiclady · 04-29-2011, 06:23 PM

Originally posted by Davor

Kiwibird, after reading of your post i remember this:
YouTube - PENTAX K-5 (K5) test (resists water)
Sorry for you and your K-5. Hope you will resolve problem. Good luck!

If I can play the skeptic, here, btw, what I see in this video is someone pouring a bottle of water into a specific place in an ostensibly-sealed lens and playing some ambient shutter sounds, from which we're apparently meant to infer some failure when they slowed down.

I presume those sounds are of people taking pictures *of* the camera as the water was poured. Not the camera itself slowing down, and if so, ....Buffer?

I think it'd be difficult to get that much water into an *unsealed* lens, pouring a bottle in or not. and it seems tremendously implausible that what would happen would start with the shutter sounding like it's going in slo-mo.

If something went wrong there, I think I'd attribute it more to the camera sitting in a pan that was filled with water with the bung removed, and then working again when it was taken out.

You kinda don't half-fry microchips.

I'm personally a bit of a Luddite and wouldn't care if the thing had *drain* holes, but there does seem to be such a thing as 'negative marketing' these days.

'Moderate rain' and 'Pouring in a bottle of water,' for one, are not the same thing.

Anyway, pardon my skepticism here. One thing about Pentaxians is, if it's broke, we wanna know why and how, not have someone else's say-so to sell something else.

narichey81 · 04-29-2011, 06:36 PM

That sucks for you, but i dont think that it is in any way typical. I have been following the brand on forums for about 5 years now, and this is the first time i can remember anyone posting about having a seal failure. I dont read every post, but if this was anything like a common occurrence you would sure as hell hear about it from the forum screechers. That being said, im sure in about a week it will be all over the web that pentax seals are worthless (ala, the k5 is soft fiasco)

Ratmagiclady · 04-29-2011, 06:49 PM

Originally posted by narichey81

That sucks for you, but i dont think that it is in any way typical. I have been following the brand on forums for about 5 years now, and this is the first time i can remember anyone posting about having a seal failure. I dont read every post, but if this was anything like a common occurrence you would sure as hell hear about it from the forum screechers. That being said, im sure in about a week it will be all over the web that pentax seals are worthless (ala, the k5 is soft fiasco)

It's the nature of 'seals' to fail. Just slower than the lack of them.

If there's any reason Pentax doesn't seal the entry level models, (Or they stopped saying 'Weather Resistant' on watches,) it may be because, if you work retail, you know you'll hear: 'It broke! No one mistook this for 'Underwater,' honest, it was just a sprinkle! It's the manufacturer's fault!'

Even actual underwater cameras, you'd be like, 'Did you install and lubricate the seals?' 'Yes, yes, of course... What?'

There's a certain amount of, 'Yes, you can store a Kalashnikov in mud and it'll probably work. Also, *don't do that.*"

TOUGEFC · 04-29-2011, 11:49 PM

Sad to hear mate

also once its at the repairer's ask them if they can determin what the fault was.

**Rondec** · 04-30-2011, 03:55 AM

Good luck with the repair! Just to echo others, I have used my DA *lenses and K7/K20/K10s in all kinds of weather without problem. You just probably had a bad seal, but Pentax should take care of you.

Bart · 04-30-2011, 07:45 AM

Originally posted by DRabbit

Forget your hair... that desktop needs to be managed!

Originally posted by bdery

I thought the same thing

Urgently!

Javaslinger · 05-01-2011, 12:42 PM

Hmmm, perhaps the issue is the 18-135... Here's my unfortunate experience from yesterday...

I took my K5 and 18-135 out on the river in my kayak. I wear a harness (can't remember the name of the damn thing) that attaches my camera to my chest over my PFD.

I went through several smallish (level 1-2) rapids which did splash considerable water all over me an the camera, but I never flipped and it was never submerged. Certainly no worse than holding it under a shower head I would think...

Anyway, first I noticed the barrel on the lens sounding 'suctiony' when I would zoom in and out... then I heard some motor slowing when shooting... Perhaps the aperture blades or the shutter itself? Shots began to be over exposed despite the exposure settings as if something was staying open too long...

Then, after awhile, the camera said no card detected in camera....

Once I got to shore to inspect things.. it did seem that some moisture had gotten into the memory card area... and I saw some condensation under the top control LCD... The electronics, main LCD, and viewfinder all continued to work perfectly...

Well, I took out the battery, camera card, and removed the lens and left it all to dry...

Today, everything seems to be working normally.

Thoughts?

Ken

jamesm007 · 05-01-2011, 05:02 PM

Well no water has ever gotten past any of my seals on the K20D and GX10 before it. I have never read of any problems with the K-7! I can tell you water, normal light splashes or heavy rain can't touch any of the seals in a K20D. The seals are behind plastic so water must hit the plastic first then drain to the seal which is held to the body with a bit of pressure. Take a look at this video. I have done this and much more and not problems with my K20D to this day or its DA18-55mm WR. Even used them in snow storms.

The seals around LCDs and seams are either right or wrong. If right they can prevent water or dust from entering under pressure greater than the moving doors can.

Dust getting up to a SD card door seal is normal and OK, but if you see any dust getting beyond (pass) the seals have the camera looked at by Pentax.

Now WR lens should be treated with a bit more care IMO as they have moving oring seals! Just logic....?

618e78f5.mp4 video by jamesm700 - Photobucket

**fs999** · 05-02-2011, 05:44 AM

Sorry for you !

This is perhaps a "better" test :

You Tube

kiwibird · 05-02-2011, 08:26 AM

Once again, thanks everyone for your kind replies.

Ken, it did occur to me that the problem might have been the 18-135 lens. I was zooming with it a bit, and did notice moisture appearing on the barrels even after I dried it off. Those videos showing the camera being inundated with water and still working, does not show what would happen if a lens is zoomed in and/or out in wet conditions. So, it could very well be that the zooming action sucked enough water into my camera to ruin it. Although why the lens survived, but the camera did not, is beyond me. Maybe I had bad seals to boot. Whatever the cause, I hope they can fix it.

Javaslinger · 05-02-2011, 12:07 PM

Yeah, mine appears to be working good as new after drying for a few days with the lens off, battery out and SD card removed...

I don't know whether to send it in for repairs or not... it's probably the smart move since there could be longer term issues, but I'd hate to spend the money and not have it for months for no reason.

04-29-2011, 06:23 PM	#20
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by Davor Kiwibird, after reading of your post i remember this: YouTube - PENTAX K-5 (K5) test (resists water) Sorry for you and your K-5. Hope you will resolve problem. Good luck! If I can play the skeptic, here, btw, what I see in this video is someone pouring a bottle of water into a specific place in an ostensibly-sealed lens and playing some ambient shutter sounds, from which we're apparently meant to infer some failure when they slowed down. I presume those sounds are of people taking pictures of the camera as the water was poured. Not the camera itself slowing down, and if so, ....Buffer? I think it'd be difficult to get that much water into an unsealed lens, pouring a bottle in or not. and it seems tremendously implausible that what would happen would start with the shutter sounding like it's going in slo-mo. If something went wrong there, I think I'd attribute it more to the camera sitting in a pan that was filled with water with the bung removed, and then working again when it was taken out. You kinda don't half-fry microchips. I'm personally a bit of a Luddite and wouldn't care if the thing had drain holes, but there does seem to be such a thing as 'negative marketing' these days. 'Moderate rain' and 'Pouring in a bottle of water,' for one, are not the same thing. Anyway, pardon my skepticism here. One thing about Pentaxians is, if it's broke, we wanna know why and how, not have someone else's say-so to sell something else. Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 04-29-2011 at 06:29 PM.

04-29-2011, 06:36 PM	#21
narichey81 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 58	sucks That sucks for you, but i dont think that it is in any way typical. I have been following the brand on forums for about 5 years now, and this is the first time i can remember anyone posting about having a seal failure. I dont read every post, but if this was anything like a common occurrence you would sure as hell hear about it from the forum screechers. That being said, im sure in about a week it will be all over the web that pentax seals are worthless (ala, the k5 is soft fiasco)

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04-29-2011, 02:27 PM	#16
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	All the best for the repair kiwibird. I'm sure we'd have expected more from the K-5's weather sealing than what you'd experienced.

04-29-2011, 02:36 PM	#17
bdery Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Quebec city, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 9,357	Originally posted by DRabbit Forget your hair... that desktop needs to be managed! I thought the same thing

04-29-2011, 02:46 PM	#18
dave216 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Republic of Georgia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 46	Really sorry for you, k5 is great camera but it seems that it has some weak sealings and if you use zoom that extends too much it will suck air/water into the camera (one weak spot is i think memory card cover as i found too much dust under it) that's why its safe to use 50-135 and any lens with fixed or slightly extendable barrel length in poor weather

04-29-2011, 04:57 PM	#19
GarySloman New Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NYC Photos: Gallery Posts: 17	Sorry to read of your camera failure. I have used my K5 in the rain for various lengths of time and have been out in a heavy snow for many hours with an 18-55 wr and have had no problem. I have also had my K7 out in foul weather, with a plastic bag on a non-weatherproof lens with no problem. The cameras were quite soaked when I got them in. Yours may have had a defect. Good luck with repair or replacemnt.

04-29-2011, 06:49 PM	#22
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by narichey81 That sucks for you, but i dont think that it is in any way typical. I have been following the brand on forums for about 5 years now, and this is the first time i can remember anyone posting about having a seal failure. I dont read every post, but if this was anything like a common occurrence you would sure as hell hear about it from the forum screechers. That being said, im sure in about a week it will be all over the web that pentax seals are worthless (ala, the k5 is soft fiasco) It's the nature of 'seals' to fail. Just slower than the lack of them. If there's any reason Pentax doesn't seal the entry level models, (Or they stopped saying 'Weather Resistant' on watches,) it may be because, if you work retail, you know you'll hear: 'It broke! No one mistook this for 'Underwater,' honest, it was just a sprinkle! It's the manufacturer's fault!' Even actual underwater cameras, you'd be like, 'Did you install and lubricate the seals?' 'Yes, yes, of course... What?' There's a certain amount of, 'Yes, you can store a Kalashnikov in mud and it'll probably work. Also, don't do that."

04-29-2011, 11:49 PM	#23
TOUGEFC Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brisbane Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,561	Sad to hear mate also once its at the repairer's ask them if they can determin what the fault was.

04-30-2011, 03:55 AM	#24
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,653	Good luck with the repair! Just to echo others, I have used my DA *lenses and K7/K20/K10s in all kinds of weather without problem. You just probably had a bad seal, but Pentax should take care of you.

04-30-2011, 07:45 AM	#25
Bart Pentaxian Join Date: May 2007 Location: WW community of Pentax users Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,646	Originally posted by DRabbit Forget your hair... that desktop needs to be managed! Originally posted by bdery I thought the same thing Urgently!

05-01-2011, 12:42 PM	#26
Javaslinger Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Blacksburg, VA Photos: Albums Posts: 286	Hmmm, perhaps the issue is the 18-135... Here's my unfortunate experience from yesterday... I took my K5 and 18-135 out on the river in my kayak. I wear a harness (can't remember the name of the damn thing) that attaches my camera to my chest over my PFD. I went through several smallish (level 1-2) rapids which did splash considerable water all over me an the camera, but I never flipped and it was never submerged. Certainly no worse than holding it under a shower head I would think... Anyway, first I noticed the barrel on the lens sounding 'suctiony' when I would zoom in and out... then I heard some motor slowing when shooting... Perhaps the aperture blades or the shutter itself? Shots began to be over exposed despite the exposure settings as if something was staying open too long... Then, after awhile, the camera said no card detected in camera.... Once I got to shore to inspect things.. it did seem that some moisture had gotten into the memory card area... and I saw some condensation under the top control LCD... The electronics, main LCD, and viewfinder all continued to work perfectly... Well, I took out the battery, camera card, and removed the lens and left it all to dry... Today, everything seems to be working normally. Thoughts? Ken

05-01-2011, 05:02 PM	#27
jamesm007 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Detroit MI, USA Posts: 508	Well no water has ever gotten past any of my seals on the K20D and GX10 before it. I have never read of any problems with the K-7! I can tell you water, normal light splashes or heavy rain can't touch any of the seals in a K20D. The seals are behind plastic so water must hit the plastic first then drain to the seal which is held to the body with a bit of pressure. Take a look at this video. I have done this and much more and not problems with my K20D to this day or its DA18-55mm WR. Even used them in snow storms. The seals around LCDs and seams are either right or wrong. If right they can prevent water or dust from entering under pressure greater than the moving doors can. Dust getting up to a SD card door seal is normal and OK, but if you see any dust getting beyond (pass) the seals have the camera looked at by Pentax. Now WR lens should be treated with a bit more care IMO as they have moving oring seals! Just logic....? 618e78f5.mp4 video by jamesm700 - Photobucket

05-02-2011, 08:26 AM	#29
kiwibird Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: New York City Photos: Gallery Posts: 43 Original Poster	Once again, thanks everyone for your kind replies. Ken, it did occur to me that the problem might have been the 18-135 lens. I was zooming with it a bit, and did notice moisture appearing on the barrels even after I dried it off. Those videos showing the camera being inundated with water and still working, does not show what would happen if a lens is zoomed in and/or out in wet conditions. So, it could very well be that the zooming action sucked enough water into my camera to ruin it. Although why the lens survived, but the camera did not, is beyond me. Maybe I had bad seals to boot. Whatever the cause, I hope they can fix it.

05-02-2011, 12:07 PM	#30
Javaslinger Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Blacksburg, VA Photos: Albums Posts: 286	Yeah, mine appears to be working good as new after drying for a few days with the lens off, battery out and SD card removed... I don't know whether to send it in for repairs or not... it's probably the smart move since there could be longer term issues, but I'd hate to spend the money and not have it for months for no reason.