[JohnM]

So I have been loving my Pentax K5 IIs since buying it back in December. About 2 weeks ago I was using it on a birthday party/surprise wedding shoot (don't ask) and the strangest thing happened: after having changed lenses and going to shoot, I discovered that the viewfinder and top LCD displays were no longer showing me the EV comp information. It was showing me the symbol, but not the +.3 -.3 numbering that is usually there when using the front dial. (which is how I have it set up when in AV mode)

That was really odd. Then it seemed that it was not adjusting the EV at all. I could not see a difference from one shot to the next with an adjustment. I tried using the EV button on top, but it was not doing anything. It would not work. Then I noticed that my auto ISO was no longer working, and was stuck on one setting.

Then the autofocus on my DA*50-135 decided to stop working. It had been sent in for the SDM focus problem 9 months after purchase a couple of years before, and had been fine for the most part ever since. Had to go to manual focus for that.

I tried turning it on and off, no luck. I removed my grip and battery, no luck. I removed the lens and put a wide angle lens on, and the auto focus started working again. I had to switch to manual mode using manual focus for a while to lock it down in one spot. I reinstalled the DA* 50-135 and the auto focus was back. Then a few minutes later I tried going back to AV and found that the display was working again.

So for at least 10-15 minutes I could not get my camera to behave very well, and then it changed its mind and seemed fine.

It all happened again for a brief time at another shoot last week, but again mysteriously resolved itself.

Both shoots were hundreds of shots, the first one was just over 900 frames taken.

I have a number of wedding and other shoots coming up this month, so I don't have time to send this off for warranty repair right now. I have my old GX10 as a backup body though I am loathe to use it if I don't have to. If this thing starts acting up again however I I'll have no choice.

SO, the question to you fellow Pentax users is simple: what do you think is going on here? Is my body flakey? Dd my lens start this? Anyone else have something like this before? I would love to hear theories...

I have another question regarding remaining shot counts on camera, but will ask that in a separate post.

Thanks in advance.

[k5astro]

Sounds like dirty contacts at the lens mount. Try cleaning with a q-tip.