K-5 shutter does not release

lubibubi · 03-03-2013, 02:20 PM

Hi Guys,

Had this problem yesterday and wanted to run it by you all to see if there is an obvious fix/issue?!

Basically, when I pressed the shutter button, it made a sound like a slow muted shutter sound but did not take a pic. the battery indicator then said empty, the LCD said Battery Depleted, then the camera shut down.

I tried this several times with fully charged batts.

The camera would only state the battery was depleted after pressing the shutter release. Otherwise the batt indicator would show as full.

After trying everything with the settings, including restoring default settings and 'hard resets', I found that by pressing the live view button twice (first press showed a completely black screen) resolved the problem and now all is fine.

Anyone have some advice on what I should do?

Hi! I had exactly the same problem yesterday. I have my k5 for 11 months now and my shutter count is at 8400 and then this happens. I have one month of waranty left, so what to do? From this morning camera works fine. I turn it off yesterday and turn on this morning and it works now. I dont know what to do. Any idea? Should i send it back?

Thanks

Na Horuk · 03-03-2013, 05:26 PM

Well it might just be connected to the battery running out. You can try charging the battery and leaving it outside of the camera overnight, that might stabilize it a little bit. You can also try using a different battery.
On the other hand, you might want to write a letter about this problem to the store where you bought the camera, just so you have a written document. I understand you might be worried, and I hope its nothing serious, but just in case you will need to deal with the warranty, its good to have correspondence with the store and their reply. That way you can make the claim that the problem happened during the warranty period and you have written text to back it up. But check your local warranty laws/rules.
Also, maybe the store allows to buy additional warranty (some stores allow this, but you have to buy it before the initial warranty runs out).
But, you know, it sounds like the mirror got stuck in between the motions because of the depleted battery and just needed the right kind of nudge to get it back in place and this will never happen again. As long as its not the mirror flop problem. Check some threads on that to verify.

lubibubi · 03-04-2013, 12:06 AM

Thanks for reply!

I am worried, because battery is original from Pentax and it was about one third empty, because i made about 150 pics already. Then I changed it with ansman, which I have on reserve (fully charged a month ago), but the problem stayed the same. I dont know why camera worked the next day. I will consider your sugestions, thank you.

Have a nice day!

ChrisJ · 03-05-2013, 05:00 AM - **1 Like**

Sounds like a battery problem. Pressing the shutter demands current from the battery, it sounds like your battery can't supply it.

May be your charger is not fully charging the battery, if it happens with all your batteries this could well be the reason, try using the Pentax charger which has always worked fine for me.

The battery indicator on all digital cameras just measures the voltage across the battery, the voltage across the battery only starts to drop when it is approaching fully discharge, one segment down is an amber warning that the battery is about to be depleted, not that there is 2/3rds of the charge left in it, if it shows just the last segment it means that the battery is about to run out imminently.

Batteries are the most stressed component in a digital camera, they only have a certain life, they are always the first component to fail. Lithium Ion batteries will self discharge relatively quickly when stored, after a month the battery will no longer be fully charged.

Batteries benefit from cycling, they don't reach full capacity until they have had a few charge/discharge cycles, a brand new battery will only accept about 2/3rds charge until the cells are fully formed, around half a dozen charge/discharge cycles. If possible always fully discharge the battery then immediately re-charge during the cell forming stage (and after). I would think that your second battery would need charging again after a month, easy to check place it on charge and time how long it takes for the light to go out. I would bet that it would be an hour or so after a month, indicating that the battery has self-discharged to some extent.

All DSLR cameras are like a row of dominoes you press the shutter and that releases the mirror which mechanically swings out of the way, the mirror releases the first shutter curtain the first curtain when it has reached the bottom of it's travel, starts the shutter timer, the shutter timer releases the second curtain and the second curtain triggers the re-set which winds the mechanism back up again ready for the next time, if the battery dies during this sequence then the camera is stuck, mid-sequence, then you have to take the battery out, wait a few seconds, to allow any stored charges to dissipate then, when you put in a fresh battery the camera goes into a 'cold' re-set which re-sets the mechanism(s) back to the start position. Probably the reason why your camera worked the next day.

Chris

lubibubi · 03-05-2013, 10:42 AM

Thank you very much for your reply and information!

StephenHampshire · 03-05-2013, 11:23 AM

Originally posted by ChrisJ

Sounds like a battery problem. Pressing the shutter demands current from the battery, it sounds like your battery can't supply it.

May be your charger is not fully charging the battery, if it happens with all your batteries this could well be the reason, try using the Pentax charger which has always worked fine for me.

The battery indicator on all digital cameras just measures the voltage across the battery, the voltage across the battery only starts to drop when it is approaching fully discharge, one segment down is an amber warning that the battery is about to be depleted, not that there is 2/3rds of the charge left in it, if it shows just the last segment it means that the battery is about to run out imminently.

Batteries are the most stressed component in a digital camera, they only have a certain life, they are always the first component to fail. Lithium Ion batteries will self discharge relatively quickly when stored, after a month the battery will no longer be fully charged.

Batteries benefit from cycling, they don't reach full capacity until they have had a few charge/discharge cycles, a brand new battery will only accept about 2/3rds charge until the cells are fully formed, around half a dozen charge/discharge cycles. If possible always fully discharge the battery then immediately re-charge during the cell forming stage (and after). I would think that your second battery would need charging again after a month, easy to check place it on charge and time how long it takes for the light to go out. I would bet that it would be an hour or so after a month, indicating that the battery has self-discharged to some extent.

All DSLR cameras are like a row of dominoes you press the shutter and that releases the mirror which mechanically swings out of the way, the mirror releases the first shutter curtain the first curtain when it has reached the bottom of it's travel, starts the shutter timer, the shutter timer releases the second curtain and the second curtain triggers the re-set which winds the mechanism back up again ready for the next time, if the battery dies during this sequence then the camera is stuck, mid-sequence, then you have to take the battery out, wait a few seconds, to allow any stored charges to dissipate then, when you put in a fresh battery the camera goes into a 'cold' re-set which re-sets the mechanism(s) back to the start position. Probably the reason why your camera worked the next day.

Chris

Sorry to disagree with Chris, but I think this is the well documented problem of mirror motor malfunction./ sticking mirror. The motor tries to move the mirror, can't, pulls a huge current off the battery whilst it tries (hence the temporary battery depleted message) A smart tap to the body can often jolt the mirror enough to release it. Of course turning the camera over and popping out the battery has the same effect, hence it appears that the problem is the battery.. I had my K5 repaired under warranty (took 1 week) The problem showed up on mine with increasing regularity, first once every 3000 shots or so, then every 1000, then every 200 etc..... you get the picture!

lubibubi · 03-18-2013, 02:02 AM

Hi!

I got my k5 back from the servis. They say that everything is alright. They made over 200 hundred shots and there is no evidence that anything is wrong. They said that the problem is probably in the wrong memory card.

I am very happy that camera works, but I only have 3 weeks of warranty left and offcourse there is no way to buy any extra year of warranty in our country.

Thank you all for your responses, I hope your answers are all wrong and the servis is right! I also hope that StephenHampshires scenario doesnt happen to me!

johnwdavisjr · 04-12-2014, 09:47 PM

Had the same problem yesterday. Moved the mirror by hand and plopped it down and worked fine after.

03-03-2013, 02:20 PM	#1
lubibubi New Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 5	K-5 shutter does not release Hi Guys, Had this problem yesterday and wanted to run it by you all to see if there is an obvious fix/issue?! Basically, when I pressed the shutter button, it made a sound like a slow muted shutter sound but did not take a pic. the battery indicator then said empty, the LCD said Battery Depleted, then the camera shut down. I tried this several times with fully charged batts. The camera would only state the battery was depleted after pressing the shutter release. Otherwise the batt indicator would show as full. After trying everything with the settings, including restoring default settings and 'hard resets', I found that by pressing the live view button twice (first press showed a completely black screen) resolved the problem and now all is fine. Anyone have some advice on what I should do? Hi! I had exactly the same problem yesterday. I have my k5 for 11 months now and my shutter count is at 8400 and then this happens. I have one month of waranty left, so what to do? From this morning camera works fine. I turn it off yesterday and turn on this morning and it works now. I dont know what to do. Any idea? Should i send it back? Thanks

03-18-2013, 02:02 AM	#7
lubibubi New Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 5 Original Poster	After servis Hi! I got my k5 back from the servis. They say that everything is alright. They made over 200 hundred shots and there is no evidence that anything is wrong. They said that the problem is probably in the wrong memory card. I am very happy that camera works, but I only have 3 weeks of warranty left and offcourse there is no way to buy any extra year of warranty in our country. Thank you all for your responses, I hope your answers are all wrong and the servis is right! I also hope that StephenHampshires scenario doesnt happen to me!

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03-03-2013, 05:26 PM	#2
Na Horuk Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Slovenia, probably Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,186	Well it might just be connected to the battery running out. You can try charging the battery and leaving it outside of the camera overnight, that might stabilize it a little bit. You can also try using a different battery. On the other hand, you might want to write a letter about this problem to the store where you bought the camera, just so you have a written document. I understand you might be worried, and I hope its nothing serious, but just in case you will need to deal with the warranty, its good to have correspondence with the store and their reply. That way you can make the claim that the problem happened during the warranty period and you have written text to back it up. But check your local warranty laws/rules. Also, maybe the store allows to buy additional warranty (some stores allow this, but you have to buy it before the initial warranty runs out). But, you know, it sounds like the mirror got stuck in between the motions because of the depleted battery and just needed the right kind of nudge to get it back in place and this will never happen again. As long as its not the mirror flop problem. Check some threads on that to verify.

03-04-2013, 12:06 AM	#3
lubibubi New Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 5 Original Poster	Thanks for reply! I am worried, because battery is original from Pentax and it was about one third empty, because i made about 150 pics already. Then I changed it with ansman, which I have on reserve (fully charged a month ago), but the problem stayed the same. I dont know why camera worked the next day. I will consider your sugestions, thank you. Have a nice day!

03-05-2013, 05:00 AM - 1 Like	#4
ChrisJ Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Eckington, Derbyshire UK Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 316	Sounds like a battery problem. Pressing the shutter demands current from the battery, it sounds like your battery can't supply it. May be your charger is not fully charging the battery, if it happens with all your batteries this could well be the reason, try using the Pentax charger which has always worked fine for me. The battery indicator on all digital cameras just measures the voltage across the battery, the voltage across the battery only starts to drop when it is approaching fully discharge, one segment down is an amber warning that the battery is about to be depleted, not that there is 2/3rds of the charge left in it, if it shows just the last segment it means that the battery is about to run out imminently. Batteries are the most stressed component in a digital camera, they only have a certain life, they are always the first component to fail. Lithium Ion batteries will self discharge relatively quickly when stored, after a month the battery will no longer be fully charged. Batteries benefit from cycling, they don't reach full capacity until they have had a few charge/discharge cycles, a brand new battery will only accept about 2/3rds charge until the cells are fully formed, around half a dozen charge/discharge cycles. If possible always fully discharge the battery then immediately re-charge during the cell forming stage (and after). I would think that your second battery would need charging again after a month, easy to check place it on charge and time how long it takes for the light to go out. I would bet that it would be an hour or so after a month, indicating that the battery has self-discharged to some extent. All DSLR cameras are like a row of dominoes you press the shutter and that releases the mirror which mechanically swings out of the way, the mirror releases the first shutter curtain the first curtain when it has reached the bottom of it's travel, starts the shutter timer, the shutter timer releases the second curtain and the second curtain triggers the re-set which winds the mechanism back up again ready for the next time, if the battery dies during this sequence then the camera is stuck, mid-sequence, then you have to take the battery out, wait a few seconds, to allow any stored charges to dissipate then, when you put in a fresh battery the camera goes into a 'cold' re-set which re-sets the mechanism(s) back to the start position. Probably the reason why your camera worked the next day. Chris

03-05-2013, 10:42 AM	#5
lubibubi New Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 5 Original Poster	Thank you very much for your reply and information!

03-05-2013, 11:23 AM	#6
StephenHampshire Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Winchester Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,523	Originally posted by ChrisJ Sounds like a battery problem. Pressing the shutter demands current from the battery, it sounds like your battery can't supply it. May be your charger is not fully charging the battery, if it happens with all your batteries this could well be the reason, try using the Pentax charger which has always worked fine for me. The battery indicator on all digital cameras just measures the voltage across the battery, the voltage across the battery only starts to drop when it is approaching fully discharge, one segment down is an amber warning that the battery is about to be depleted, not that there is 2/3rds of the charge left in it, if it shows just the last segment it means that the battery is about to run out imminently. Batteries are the most stressed component in a digital camera, they only have a certain life, they are always the first component to fail. Lithium Ion batteries will self discharge relatively quickly when stored, after a month the battery will no longer be fully charged. Batteries benefit from cycling, they don't reach full capacity until they have had a few charge/discharge cycles, a brand new battery will only accept about 2/3rds charge until the cells are fully formed, around half a dozen charge/discharge cycles. If possible always fully discharge the battery then immediately re-charge during the cell forming stage (and after). I would think that your second battery would need charging again after a month, easy to check place it on charge and time how long it takes for the light to go out. I would bet that it would be an hour or so after a month, indicating that the battery has self-discharged to some extent. All DSLR cameras are like a row of dominoes you press the shutter and that releases the mirror which mechanically swings out of the way, the mirror releases the first shutter curtain the first curtain when it has reached the bottom of it's travel, starts the shutter timer, the shutter timer releases the second curtain and the second curtain triggers the re-set which winds the mechanism back up again ready for the next time, if the battery dies during this sequence then the camera is stuck, mid-sequence, then you have to take the battery out, wait a few seconds, to allow any stored charges to dissipate then, when you put in a fresh battery the camera goes into a 'cold' re-set which re-sets the mechanism(s) back to the start position. Probably the reason why your camera worked the next day. Chris Sorry to disagree with Chris, but I think this is the well documented problem of mirror motor malfunction./ sticking mirror. The motor tries to move the mirror, can't, pulls a huge current off the battery whilst it tries (hence the temporary battery depleted message) A smart tap to the body can often jolt the mirror enough to release it. Of course turning the camera over and popping out the battery has the same effect, hence it appears that the problem is the battery.. I had my K5 repaired under warranty (took 1 week) The problem showed up on mine with increasing regularity, first once every 3000 shots or so, then every 1000, then every 200 etc..... you get the picture!

04-12-2014, 09:47 PM	#8
johnwdavisjr Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 39	Had the same problem yesterday. Moved the mirror by hand and plopped it down and worked fine after.