[fergo]

Hi Everyone! First post ever at the forum, I thought this could be a relevant one.
I am the proud owner of a K5, My K5, a camera that has been absurdelly mistreated. The fact it is still up and running to me is unbelievable.
Something like a year and a half ago, being myself mannager at a brewery store and taking some pictures of beer being poured, the inevitable happened, getting some nice splash of Scotish beer on my camera. Strike 1. But it kept on working, after that, of course I stopped doing what i was doing and did some serious cleaning on the camera. The only regret I still have from that day is that the On/Off/DoF command is kind of rough, but spraying some 70/30 alcohol fixes it right away. I wonder what kind of a yeast will I ever find if the machine is opened.
The bar closed its doors during pandemics, things change, and time passes. I decide to spend some time in patagonia.
There I am, happy as hell with the pure and dark sky, a 200mm f2.5 pentax and a cheap tripod. Strike 2.
I will spare the details on how, but I did got to grab the machine at the very moment it was impacting the ground (goalkeeper style). The dammage was considerable, the whole mount was hanging just from a bunch of wires, it felt as a dismembered body at that moment. But the operation table was there, a screwdriver was by hand, and screwing back the mount was possible. The scars and glitches that I got after this are not little nor insignificant.
Backfocus on some lenses. 50mm 1.2 has becomed a macro. I will not get nothing more than 1m or so. But some other lenses keep working great.
Menu`s malfunctioning. If I select to edit a raw image the camera will freeze, If it had the chance to do a Windows 98 blue screen I bet it would.
Later on, taking photos in a difficult enviroment, it hits the mountain`s stone wall, right on the left side of the pentaprism. Byebye selector wheel. If I happened to change mode, which I almost dont, I will require the assistance of a pen and some thai food eating skills in order to maniobrate the inner pins. But hey, It still works. Strike 3
Sometimes it also keeps running the mirror up motor like crazy, but what the hell, if you give it a tap with the palm of your hand on the battery compartment, it gets into possition. Strike 4

Camera is still up and running, a couple of scars and glitches, but it kind of ressembles the owner.
A couple of pics, fresh pics. Unbelievably, from that beaten up camera.
Colours are funky, `cause the show was funky.

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[bkpix]

Ha! Nice tale of a well used camera. I'm rough on my two K-5s also, but not to that degree. The nice thing is you can always replace them for just a couple hundred US$, and sell your trashed version on eBay.

Good tip about the alcohol. I need to try that myself.

[JensE]

My K-5 has also taken a lot of beating (and bathing) and is still going strong - nowadays in the hands of my son at similarly funky shows and lots of events that involve a lot of beer.

Good tip about the alcohol. I need to try that myself.

My K-1 is less of an alcoholic, but has a sweet tooth: It needs a rinse with water every now and then in and around the mode dial ever since I decided to help with honey extraction and take documentary shots as well, years ago ...

[AstroDave]

I wonder what kind of a yeast will I ever find if the machine is opened.

Your alcohol cleaning should take care of that!?

Camera is still up and running, a couple of scars and glitches, but it kind of ressembles the owner.
A couple of pics, fresh pics. Unbelievably, from that beaten up camera.

We need a shot of your camera (and the owner?)!

[UncleVanya]

Hi Everyone! First post ever at the forum, I thought this could be a relevant one.
I am the proud owner of a K5, My K5, a camera that has been absurdelly mistreated. The fact it is still up and running to me is unbelievable.

Perhaps it’s time for a new companion to your absurdly stubborn injured k-5.