[apeman]

No stains on mine, fired off many frames from F11 - F22, all clean, except that this camera resolves so much fine detail that I want to re-finish my walls!

Serial# 382407X
Purchased today in Metro Vancouver.

Hopefully the AA filter stain issue was just a small # of early production units.

[noons]

I was about to order one from an over seas online retailer and i asked them to check my camera for stains before shipping it to save postage in the event they found stains, and they found them Its the last one anywhere till new batches arrive next year.

WerTicus I just contacted Ryda (whom I placed an order with last week), and they said they'll contact me as soon as the product arrives with them, for me to tell them how to test the sensor for stains - not bad customer service I must say.. especially for an online retailer!

[ve2vfd]

Well, with 103 people checking in and over 60% of respondents having stained sensors I think Pentax is going to have some serious damage control to do.

If anyone has connections or contacts with Pentax people I guess it's time to start getting in touch with them.

I'll probably email the Pentax Canada folks in the days to come, but thats going to be useless as they've never answered or even acknowledged my emails when I had questions. Hope you guys have better luck...

Pat

[Abstract]

I am now part of this club, one very visible spot on the upper left corner.

Serial:3889468

Starts at F8 and onwards.

---

Last edited by Abstract; 12-07-2010 at 12:06 AM.

[janneman]

This is such a BS. Sorry guys.
First, all the sensors of all the existing cameras have stains/dust/whatever.
The highest used f stop is usually f11, nothing seen there.
And most of all, please show me those amazing photos affected by that colossal
issue because all I can see right now here is complains and BS, no pictures
what so ever. If your photography is so amazing and your absolutely perfect photos
suffer because of a few darker spots seen only at f22, please show us all
those great pictures, we'd love to see them.

PLease toake a look at all excellent macro shots by Pentax shooters and you will realize why f11-f22 does matter....

[Abstract]

PLease toake a look at all excellent macro shots by Pentax shooters and you will realize why f11-f22 does matter....

Also I can clearly see it at F8.... :ugh:

[janneman]

I am now part of this club, one very visible spot on the upper left corner.

That looks more like normal dus to me. And sometimes there ics this annoying dust particle that cannot easily be blown away, or even wiped away...
I do suffer in one of my cameras from a piece of fibre stuck near the edge, now way to remove it.

[pentaxdude]

I spent over 3 hours testing the k5 at all apertures using photo paper as a backgrounnd.Even cropped at 200% I could not see any flaws in the sensor.

[Erik]

I am now part of this club, one very visible spot on the upper left corner.

Serial:3889468

Starts at F8 and onwards.

This is dust.

[Abstract]

This is dust.

Well then, thats great news if true, can I ask whats the best way of removing it? I tried the in camera dust remover....

[Erik]

Well then, thats great news if true, can I ask whats the best way of removing it? I tried the in camera dust remover....

Try running the dust remover ten times in a row or so, if it still isn't gone:





To contribute to the topic, I did a quick test this morning on my K-5 and it looks pretty okay so far, there were a bunch of spots but I think they were all dust. Need to try a bit of cleaning and check again, but I think (hope!) mine is good.

[bonovox]

Problem with a thread like this is that people quote the poll results as being indicative of overall results - i.e. more than 60% of K-5's suffer from this problem. The reality is that it is far fewer - with those experiencing no problems unlikely to bother reading a thread like this, and therefore not being adequately represented in these stats.

Eg. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1538131&p=49#r980

[Erik]

Problem with a thread like this is that people quote the poll results as being indicative of overall results - i.e. more than 60% of K-5's suffer from this problem. The reality is that it is far fewer - with those experiencing no problems unlikely to bother reading a thread like this, and therefore not being adequately represented in these stats.

Also, I reckon a significant portion of that 60% is actually just people who can't tell the difference between particularly annoying dust spots and stains. No offense intended to anyone, but whenever the Internet works up this level of hysteria, folks tend to want to see things that aren't there just to join the "me too!" club.

[Bramela]

Fully agree, Erik. Well said.

I have a K5 and I did respond to this (regretfully), but I firmly believe that this has degenerated into some hysteria.
Not for one minute am I saying that respondents are all wrong. But I believe that any dust, of any description is (in many cases) being misinterpreted, and I include myself in that.,

As for the percentages of the poll, speaking personally, I dismiss as totally misleading as a true indication.

[janneman]

Also, I reckon a significant portion of that 60% is actually just people who can't tell the difference between particularly annoying dust spots ....

Yep, there is even dust that will stick, no matter how hard you blow or wipe or use dust removal... And I have found over the years that more often than not, if you cntinue shooting youwill fine that after a while that annoying particle is indeed gone...

But there is no denying that there is an issue here. And an issue many will not often octive but a real "nono" for the macro shooters.

As for the percentages of the poll, speaking personally, I dismiss as totally misleading as a true indication.

"true"and "indication" is somewhat confusing here....
"true"as in "pentax, we have a problem" is 100% true, "true" as in percentage is not true....
"indication" suggests that there might be a problem but we know that there are bodies out there which do have a problem so no need for an indication...

PS, given the results of the poll by now I think we can assume that less than half of the K-5 bodies will show this problem, but with my "en of year purchasing luck", I am quite sure mine will have it..