Ok, so this is basically how this thread has evolved:
1. There's no issue with AF, works perfectly fine. You guys post some samples showing the supposed problem
2. Those samples show a problem indeed, but I have found no such thing with any of my lenses
3. Care to quantify the problem in EV terms? I'm just saying, but you guys are probably trying to use your K5 in pitch dark in a medieval cave (which btw shouldn't matter that much, since the AF is confirming focus anyway; if light is below what the AF can handle, why would the camera confirm focus without even hunting for a second?)
(4. Wait, I might have these problems too. Not too serious, though)
5. Yep, those EV values are a little on the verge of what the AF can handle, based on K5 specs
6. Wait, they aren't
7. Alright, so I have the problem too, and it's probably serious, but I trust Pentax to fix it, even though they have not shown the basic decency to
tell their customers that they know about the issue and are working on it (which even as we speak, we cannot be 100% sure of)
I find it a little disappointing that some people get so defensive and need over 200 posts in the thread to grudglingy admit that there is a problem. No one here is out to put Pentax or the K5 down for spurious reasons.
Other than this, the K5 is a great camera, and I really want to keep it, but I won't unless this serious problem is fixed. It's not a mere bug, and it's not minor.
Above all, I'd like Pentax to treat me as their partner (as Wheatfield suggested), and change their stupid policy of not communicating at all with their customers whenever there is a problem.
I've already shown my willingness to be their partner by shelling out the cash to buy their product above others from competitors, so let's see some reciprocity here.
I don't know which business/marketing school these guys got their MBAs or whatever qualifications in, it's disrespectful for your customers and
awful business practice, no matter how you view it. And please, enough with the "it's the way they do things in Japan, we must accept it". I don't care if a company is headqueartered in Japan, Albania or Minnesota, they need to understand that we are now living in a globalized world, so they have to manage their clients' expectations everywhere.
And it is fair to say that, generally speaking, most of us don't care that much that there is a problem (after all, it's a fact of life), as long as we're kept
informed in due time of the steps the company/service provider is taking to sort it out. I don't understand the kind of complacency that goes: "that's just the way they are, I don't care that they have not made an announcement, because traditionally they fix the issues anyway". Well, of course they do, otherwise they would be out of business. It doesn't change the fact that they should grow up as company and start
communicating with their clients in a mature way.
End of rant, sorry if I got too carried away.
Merry Christmas everybody!