My K-5 dies when I press the shutter.

Fl_Gulfer · 09-11-2011, 09:23 AM

You know that every camera model has it's share of problems, and mostly you only hear about the problems not the good things in forums. Go to any forum and the main talk is problems not I love this and this ect ect. So if your going to buy your products on the complaints in forums you may as well use your eyes & brain as a camera and when they fail your won't have to visit a forum and complain.
My k-5 had the spots and it was replaced in 3 days, it also has the shutter repeating problem but I have the grip and keep one battery half changed and that solved that problem till I have time to send it in for repair.
But I would never consider changing brands for there problems. At least "I" know I have the best CMOS DSLR on the market

derekkite · 09-11-2011, 09:25 AM

In my trade I'm finding 1 in 5 parts that I install are faulty. Different manufacturers, different parts, different everything except consistent trash. Costs me serious money.

From what I'm seeing, Pentax seems to be figuring out the problem and disseminating fixes to their service people. That is what I would be looking for.

I'm thinking that the retailer return/exchange policy is probably the most important decision. Those extended warranties that they try to sell are maybe a good idea.

Sagitta · 09-11-2011, 10:27 AM

This sounds suspiciously like what happened with my K-x (minus the battery drain issue - but that could be a quirk of the K-5 in this situation). In my situation, it was actually user error in that I managed to get crud into the shutter gears. My K-x was out of warranty so I poked it (the gear) with a small flathead screwdriver and then blasted the offending spot with compressed air. If your camera is still under warranty I wouldn't advise using my fix, but my camera has been working perfectly since I took the air to it.

EDIT: I didn't take my camera apart, you can see the gear next to the mirror when you take the lens off the camera. It just took a small poke with the flathead to allow the camera to finish cycling the shutter. I'd average anywhere from a couple to a couple dozen shots between the shutter sticking (both open and closed) until I sprayed down the gear itself with the air.

EDIT II: FWIW, I've shot well over 1,000 shots since I took the air to the camera without any problems. Did you swap lenses at all shortly before you had your problem? In my case I'm thinking I had lint or something stuck to the bottom of the lens I swapped over to in the dark and managed to crud up my camera that way.

aliasant · 09-11-2011, 10:41 AM

Thanx for the tip but I dont think it applies here.
The battery is never drained. Its still full. Just that somehow when the mirror is trying to openup it cant and "reports" that it cant get enough juice and then the OPsys tells me theres no battery and shuts down. Something like that anyways. Weirder still.
My camera now works again after about 4 hours resting. I havnt done anything. I just tried it once every hour and this time it worked.
My guess is that it will last for 30-60 frames and then stop again. I just hope the tech guys dont give up after 30 frames and sends it back to me. Wouldnt surprise me

Originally posted by Sagitta

This sounds suspiciously like what happened with my K-x (minus the battery drain issue - but that could be a quirk of the K-5 in this situation). In my situation, it was actually user error in that I managed to get crud into the shutter gears. My K-x was out of warranty so I poked it (the gear) with a small flathead screwdriver and then blasted the offending spot with compressed air. If your camera is still under warranty I wouldn't advise using my fix, but my camera has been working perfectly since I took the air to it.

EDIT: I didn't take my camera apart, you can see the gear next to the mirror when you take the lens off the camera. It just took a small poke with the flathead to allow the camera to finish cycling the shutter. I'd average anywhere from a couple to a couple dozen shots between the shutter sticking (both open and closed) until I sprayed down the gear itself with the air.

EDIT II: FWIW, I've shot well over 1,000 shots since I took the air to the camera without any problems. Did you swap lenses at all shortly before you had your problem? In my case I'm thinking I had lint or something stuck to the bottom of the lens I swapped over to in the dark and managed to crud up my camera that way.

StepOne · 09-11-2011, 11:04 AM - **1 Like**

Make a short video, show your serial, camera, explain and show your problems there. Send a CD/DVD with camera also to Pentax Service. Don't "try" to make it work, if it failed, will fail again. Get it fixed or one that work for the price you paid for.

Frogfish · 09-11-2011, 11:15 AM

This is identical to the problem I had ... the CPU has failed. Send it in for a replacement CPU.

aliasant · 09-11-2011, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by Frogfish

This is identical to the problem I had ... the CPU has failed. Send it in for a replacement CPU.

Oh.
!
!!!

Great. Sort of

How long did it take them to send yours back?

Frogfish · 09-11-2011, 11:31 AM

Originally posted by aliasant

Oh.
!
!!!

Great. Sort of

How long did it take them to send yours back?

4 days. But then I live in Shanghai ... I guess that will vary from country to country.

aliasant · 09-11-2011, 12:01 PM

Originally posted by Frogfish

4 days. But then I live in Shanghai ... I guess that will vary from country to country.

Thank you. That is at least good news. Anything less then three weeks right now. I need time to code my software and set up my new website so 3 weeks would suit me well I think.

pamones · 09-11-2011, 03:25 PM

This is what exactly happened to me as well! Which resulted in my circuit board getting fried!

Took CRIS over 6 weeks for them to repair the camera and get it back to me because the part was on back order. Good Luck!

snofox · 09-11-2011, 04:49 PM

Originally posted by Wheatfield

Tony, I truly do hope the Pentax works out for you, and I do sincerely apologize for giving you such a rough ride, both here and on DPReview. I was clinging to the hope that this wasn't yet another failure of the camera, that somehow it could be blamed on a user error.
I'm sorry, I was wrong about you, and I am sorry because I was wrong about your camera.

Wheatfield, in this and another post in a different thread, you have just restored yourself, in my view, as one of the most valued members of this Forum. Well done, man.

aliasant · 09-12-2011, 02:27 AM

Called the shop and will send it back to the repairshop, free of charge, tomorrow.
Now Im not sure if theyr gonna give me a brand new K5, again, or if they can fix the broken video function as well as replacing the cpu ( or what ever it is) If they have to swap the sensor doesnt that mean swap the camera as they did with the spotted sensors?

Anyways. Its on the way.
Heres the last frame I took just before it burned........
Cropped and some LR fixes.
The lens was an old and cheap Expert 300mm f4,5 m42.
Its a Swedish brand but probably Komine or similar that made it.
Im surprised how nice this cheapo lens is. This particular image was shot against light and it was quite dark so not the best conditions but shots takes in better light are amazing. It also weighs almost nothing. Perhaps 700grams or even less.

Thanx all for pitching in info and good vibes!

Frogfish · 09-12-2011, 03:29 AM

Weird bokeh but I know Rupert & Otis are going to love this shot.

aliasant · 09-12-2011, 06:42 AM

Originally posted by Frogfish

Weird bokeh but I know Rupert & Otis are going to love this shot.

I hope so

The bokeh is weird sometimes but also quite nice when given the chance.
These 2 shots are more or less straight from the camera and shows this lens from a better side. Completely off topic of course but its my thread so what the.....h

psychdoc · 09-12-2011, 11:20 AM

Originally posted by aliasant

Thanx for the tip but I dont think it applies here. The battery is never drained. Its still full. Just that somehow when the mirror is trying to openup it cant and "reports" that it cant get enough juice and then the OPsys tells me theres no battery and shuts down. Something like that anyways. Weirder still. My camera now works again after about 4 hours resting. I havnt done anything. I just tried it once every hour and this time it worked.

Mine is with CRIS for the EXACT same problem. Sudden shut down, battery says depleted, keep camera unused, then it works for a day or so and then same symptoms with different batteries.

They said 4 weeks to repair. It has been over 2 weeks so far. No info on what the technician found...

I have a K2000 as my 2nd camera. But for sports and dance that I have been shooting, its noisy and can't shoot very fast.

I emailed CRIS and got this same reply twice:

"The unit is currently assigned to the technician department awaiting repairs. Our approximate turn around time is 4 weeks from the date of receipt or approval"

I then emailed them back today asking what the technician found and got this reply:

"The unit is not yet assigned to a technician. The date is still about 4 weeks from the date of receipt".

Ouch! They make is seem that someone is looking at it. I guess between being assigned to the technical dept and being assigned to the technician is a LONG line...

09-11-2011, 09:25 AM	#17
derekkite Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Nelson B.C. Posts: 3,782	Communicable disease In my trade I'm finding 1 in 5 parts that I install are faulty. Different manufacturers, different parts, different everything except consistent trash. Costs me serious money. From what I'm seeing, Pentax seems to be figuring out the problem and disseminating fixes to their service people. That is what I would be looking for. I'm thinking that the retailer return/exchange policy is probably the most important decision. Those extended warranties that they try to sell are maybe a good idea.

09-11-2011, 10:27 AM	#18
Sagitta Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Maine Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,081	This sounds suspiciously like what happened with my K-x (minus the battery drain issue - but that could be a quirk of the K-5 in this situation). In my situation, it was actually user error in that I managed to get crud into the shutter gears. My K-x was out of warranty so I poked it (the gear) with a small flathead screwdriver and then blasted the offending spot with compressed air. If your camera is still under warranty I wouldn't advise using my fix, but my camera has been working perfectly since I took the air to it. EDIT: I didn't take my camera apart, you can see the gear next to the mirror when you take the lens off the camera. It just took a small poke with the flathead to allow the camera to finish cycling the shutter. I'd average anywhere from a couple to a couple dozen shots between the shutter sticking (both open and closed) until I sprayed down the gear itself with the air. EDIT II: FWIW, I've shot well over 1,000 shots since I took the air to the camera without any problems. Did you swap lenses at all shortly before you had your problem? In my case I'm thinking I had lint or something stuck to the bottom of the lens I swapped over to in the dark and managed to crud up my camera that way. Last edited by Sagitta; 09-11-2011 at 10:36 AM.

09-12-2011, 06:42 AM	#29
aliasant Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Stockholm Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 634 Original Poster	Originally posted by Frogfish Weird bokeh but I know Rupert & Otis are going to love this shot. I hope so The bokeh is weird sometimes but also quite nice when given the chance. These 2 shots are more or less straight from the camera and shows this lens from a better side. Completely off topic of course but its my thread so what the.....h Attached Images Last edited by aliasant; 09-12-2011 at 09:50 AM.

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09-11-2011, 09:23 AM	#16
Fl_Gulfer Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Florida Gulfer Photos: Albums Posts: 3,054	You know that every camera model has it's share of problems, and mostly you only hear about the problems not the good things in forums. Go to any forum and the main talk is problems not I love this and this ect ect. So if your going to buy your products on the complaints in forums you may as well use your eyes & brain as a camera and when they fail your won't have to visit a forum and complain. My k-5 had the spots and it was replaced in 3 days, it also has the shutter repeating problem but I have the grip and keep one battery half changed and that solved that problem till I have time to send it in for repair. But I would never consider changing brands for there problems. At least "I" know I have the best CMOS DSLR on the market

09-11-2011, 10:41 AM	#19
aliasant Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Stockholm Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 634 Original Poster	Thanx for the tip but I dont think it applies here. The battery is never drained. Its still full. Just that somehow when the mirror is trying to openup it cant and "reports" that it cant get enough juice and then the OPsys tells me theres no battery and shuts down. Something like that anyways. Weirder still. My camera now works again after about 4 hours resting. I havnt done anything. I just tried it once every hour and this time it worked. My guess is that it will last for 30-60 frames and then stop again. I just hope the tech guys dont give up after 30 frames and sends it back to me. Wouldnt surprise me Originally posted by Sagitta This sounds suspiciously like what happened with my K-x (minus the battery drain issue - but that could be a quirk of the K-5 in this situation). In my situation, it was actually user error in that I managed to get crud into the shutter gears. My K-x was out of warranty so I poked it (the gear) with a small flathead screwdriver and then blasted the offending spot with compressed air. If your camera is still under warranty I wouldn't advise using my fix, but my camera has been working perfectly since I took the air to it. EDIT: I didn't take my camera apart, you can see the gear next to the mirror when you take the lens off the camera. It just took a small poke with the flathead to allow the camera to finish cycling the shutter. I'd average anywhere from a couple to a couple dozen shots between the shutter sticking (both open and closed) until I sprayed down the gear itself with the air. EDIT II: FWIW, I've shot well over 1,000 shots since I took the air to the camera without any problems. Did you swap lenses at all shortly before you had your problem? In my case I'm thinking I had lint or something stuck to the bottom of the lens I swapped over to in the dark and managed to crud up my camera that way.

09-11-2011, 11:04 AM - 1 Like	#20
StepOne Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Botosani Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 285	Make a short video, show your serial, camera, explain and show your problems there. Send a CD/DVD with camera also to Pentax Service. Don't "try" to make it work, if it failed, will fail again. Get it fixed or one that work for the price you paid for.

09-11-2011, 11:15 AM	#21
Frogfish Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Shanghai Posts: 4,490	This is identical to the problem I had ... the CPU has failed. Send it in for a replacement CPU.

09-11-2011, 11:25 AM	#22
aliasant Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Stockholm Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 634 Original Poster	Originally posted by Frogfish This is identical to the problem I had ... the CPU has failed. Send it in for a replacement CPU. Oh. ! !!! Great. Sort of How long did it take them to send yours back?

09-11-2011, 11:31 AM	#23
Frogfish Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Shanghai Posts: 4,490	Originally posted by aliasant Oh. ! !!! Great. Sort of How long did it take them to send yours back? 4 days. But then I live in Shanghai ... I guess that will vary from country to country.

09-11-2011, 12:01 PM	#24
aliasant Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Stockholm Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 634 Original Poster	Originally posted by Frogfish 4 days. But then I live in Shanghai ... I guess that will vary from country to country. Thank you. That is at least good news. Anything less then three weeks right now. I need time to code my software and set up my new website so 3 weeks would suit me well I think.

09-11-2011, 03:25 PM	#25
pamones Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Vermont Posts: 46	This is what exactly happened to me as well! Which resulted in my circuit board getting fried! Took CRIS over 6 weeks for them to repair the camera and get it back to me because the part was on back order. Good Luck!

09-11-2011, 04:49 PM	#26
snofox Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Fredericton New Brunswick Canada Photos: Albums Posts: 334	Originally posted by Wheatfield Tony, I truly do hope the Pentax works out for you, and I do sincerely apologize for giving you such a rough ride, both here and on DPReview. I was clinging to the hope that this wasn't yet another failure of the camera, that somehow it could be blamed on a user error. I'm sorry, I was wrong about you, and I am sorry because I was wrong about your camera. Wheatfield, in this and another post in a different thread, you have just restored yourself, in my view, as one of the most valued members of this Forum. Well done, man.

09-12-2011, 03:29 AM	#28
Frogfish Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Shanghai Posts: 4,490	Weird bokeh but I know Rupert & Otis are going to love this shot.

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09-12-2011, 11:20 AM	#30
psychdoc Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Bham Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 949	Originally posted by aliasant Thanx for the tip but I dont think it applies here. The battery is never drained. Its still full. Just that somehow when the mirror is trying to openup it cant and "reports" that it cant get enough juice and then the OPsys tells me theres no battery and shuts down. Something like that anyways. Weirder still. My camera now works again after about 4 hours resting. I havnt done anything. I just tried it once every hour and this time it worked. Mine is with CRIS for the EXACT same problem. Sudden shut down, battery says depleted, keep camera unused, then it works for a day or so and then same symptoms with different batteries. They said 4 weeks to repair. It has been over 2 weeks so far. No info on what the technician found... I have a K2000 as my 2nd camera. But for sports and dance that I have been shooting, its noisy and can't shoot very fast. I emailed CRIS and got this same reply twice: "The unit is currently assigned to the technician department awaiting repairs. Our approximate turn around time is 4 weeks from the date of receipt or approval" I then emailed them back today asking what the technician found and got this reply: "The unit is not yet assigned to a technician. The date is still about 4 weeks from the date of receipt". Ouch! They make is seem that someone is looking at it. I guess between being assigned to the technical dept and being assigned to the technician is a LONG line...