[dgaies]

Now, where is its successor so the darn prices can start dropping for it to be affordable for the rest of us?

Excellent question. Come on Pentax/Ricoh... EsBee needs the K-3 released so I can sell him my K-5

[DigiMack]

I can't imagine what you'd have to do to get the K-5's sensor to 'band'; I've pushed shadows 5 stops without seeing any banding - that's a new one on me.The K-5 will lock up/crash/etc (including shutter firing on its own) when batteries get low - even if it doesn't *look* low. I've experienced this three times now, where pulling/replacing the battery didn't fix it, but puttin in a new, fully charged one did. The manual even says that lockups can be a problem with low batteries.

I've experienced focus issues with certain lenses; non-Pentax zooms that go from wide to tele. All my other lenses focus fine.

Just get off the dime and buy one. Even if I had to return mine under warranty, it would be worth it.

I have seen this also on the K-x when the batteries are approaching a low stage and the camera had just been used to machine gun.

[dexmus]

• Lens release button fell off
• New K-5 locked up
• Shutter going off by itself
• High-ISO banding
• Sensor stain
• Focus issues
• Flash problems with K-5
• On-Off switch rotated beyond DOF
• DEAD K-5

This is not a fair list because you included everything reported on the forum. Most of these are non-issues related to random bad copies or user processing error.

Actually, contrary to the assumption that you made

--'This was not intended to establish the camera's reliability factor which seems fairly high for the year or so its been out. ---

that would have been a FAR better question to post.

Having used K-5 for an extended period of time, do you think it is
a. more
b. less
c. same

RELIABLE than your last camera. Sadly, the answer for me was 'less'. I will be interested in hearing this from everyone.


Abhi

[jstevewhite]

Having used K-5 for an extended period of time, do you think it is
a. more
b. less
c. same

RELIABLE than your last camera. Sadly, the answer for me was 'less'. I will be interested in hearing this from everyone.


Abhi

Mmm... good question. Strictly speaking, I'd have to say *slightly* (very slightly) less. I've never had any trouble at all with my *ist D or my K20D. The only problem I've had with the K-5 is the lockups with low batteries, and that's described in the manual.

[philbaum]

If i didn't have the Pentax Forums to read, i'd say that my K5 has the same reliability as my K20

I bought my camera in Feb 2011 and not had any problems with it. I'd say at least 2 stops better than my K20. The automatic horizon correction thing, which i thought before i had a K5 to be fluff, actually has saved me a lot of pp time.

Quiet shutter - worth the price of admission.

No K3 for me,

[fstdslrkx]

I think that K-5 quality is borderline acceptable. Should be better. But since i like it so much (despite having stains and camera locking up few times and flash thingy that hardly bothers me though) for rest of things it does so well i do not want to send it for stains issue. Even though i should with window of possibilities narrowing.
So Pentax... Or Ricoh, or whoever runs the thing now really should raise quality. Not dramatically, but at least to the level of competition.I doubt that rushing out K-5 and saving on on QC was financially bigger gain then all the potential gain from people who turned away from K-5 because of stains.

[jsherman999]

to which i'd add, it would be nice to be able to say that any other manufacturer isn't prone to such things, but if you follow other forums(canon and nikon) you'd see that most every new camera follows the same type of process.

+1


.

[EsBee]

This is not a fair list because you included everything reported on the forum. Most of these are non-issues related to random bad copies or user processing error.

Abhi

Actually, I wouldn't dismiss them as non-issues as some of us expect a bit more I guess. A dead camera would be non-trivial for me, as is the case with shutter going off by itself on a new flagship camera. Or the stains which Pentax themselves admitted to being an issue, and buttons falling off, things freezing up, etc.

I've been through two *ist DS, two K20d, one K-7, one K-x and two K200d cameras and frankly, only one of them ever showed any signs of an issue but even that turned out to be a user error So I chalked that up to poor documentation!

But like you said, my assumption that the reliability factor of K-5 seemed quite high, may not be completely accurate but I still haven't seen many dumping the K-5 although you seem to have moved onto greener pastures...

[EsBee]

... it would be nice to be able to say that any other manufacturer isn't prone to such things, but if you follow other forums(Canon and Nikon)
My two cents.

This was not a comparison between brands. And I have no idea how any Pentax issue can become a non-issue or more acceptable, simply because Canon and Nikon also have similar issues!

PS. my wife and I both own K-5's and I drive the snot out of mine on a daily basis. Whereas she(the wife) hardly uses hers. Though she did leave it "exposed" in the sun on the dash of our vehicle for an entire day while we were at the beach. And when one of our children went to get it, it was so hot they couldn't hold it in their hands. And it worked like a charm. - At which point we thought... hey... that's a rugged camera!

True story btw.

Yep, I know they are a lot tougher than advertised. Just a few weeks ago, I woke up during heavy downpour in the wee hours of a Saturday morning while on a camping trip, and realized that my K200d was out there somewhere with a DA16-45 (without a filter) attached to it. It took me good 15 minutes before I found the camera drenched and sitting out in the open.

Minutes later I was taking photos inside my tent after wiping the lens off with my bare/beer hands...

[EsBee]

Excellent question. Come on Pentax/Ricoh... EsBee needs the K-3 released so I can sell him my K-5

That would be nice because I know you take good care of your stuff, but I was just saying that as it is a bit unlikely I will wait that long before getting a K-5, or considering alternatives

[dgaies]

That would be nice because I know you take good care of your stuff, but I was just saying that as it is a bit unlikely I will wait that long before getting a K-5, or considering alternatives

I know, I was mostly kidding as I suspect it might be a little while before a replacement to the K-5 is released (and drops in price enough for my to justify buying the replacement).

[Jim Radcliffe]

I switched from a Canon 5D MKII to the K5. I had some very expensive L glass and four primes. I sold it all because the K5 was smaller, lighter, had a better build and I was looking for really good primes and the Ltds seemed like they would fill the bill.

Up until the last two weeks I have had not a single issue with the K5 other than not realizing the focus boxes in the viewfinder were not as large as the actual area the camera "looks" at for AF.

I've been using the camera since March 2011 and have found it to be very enjoyable and intuitive to use, not to mention feature packed. My Canon 5D MKII felt much like a plastic toy compared to how the K5 feels in my hands. While the Canon has proven its value and ability over the last year I just could no longer tolerate the bulk and the weight of the camera itself and the L glass... thus the switch to the K5.

The recent lockup coupled with several instances of the Runaway Shutter Syndrome have not dampened my excitement for or my deisre to use the K5. Frustrating? Yes but I have to think the root cause will be found and addressed. The K5 is such a winner in so many respects. I can't believe Pentax (or Ricoh) would allow these issues to go unaddressed.

[northcoastgreg]

Having used K-5 for an extended period of time, do you think it is
a. more
b. less
c. same

RELIABLE than your last camera

The K-5 has been slightly less reliable than my previous camera, the K200D. The one problem I've had is the LCD sometimes won't come on after a shot. The shutter still works, and I can get the LCD to come on if I enter LV, but none of the other LCD functions work until I go into LV or take another shot or two. It's a minor nuisance, however, and a small price to pay for all the advantages the K-5 has over the K200D. Thanks to the greater dynamic range, I'm able to get shots I could never get the K200D. The K-5 has also breathed new life into my DA 10-17, as it produces significantly sharper results with it than I could get when using it with the K200D.

[Quicksand]

I'm not sure how to answer dexmus's question with respect to the low-light front-focus and unreliable flash exposure issues.

"Sure, the car is very reliable! The brakes never fail to ALMOST bring the car to a stop!"

[EsBee]

One comforting thing is there isn't anything new reported from what's already been said, and the biggest issue which now seem to be over was the sensor stain.

May be I spoke a bit too soon, but here's something new: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/151718-anyone-have-circu...-go-k-5-a.html

Plus, there seems to be some regular activity on the hyper-active shutter syndrome: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5-forum/144309-k-5-bug-shutter-g...-itself-9.html