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01-25-2011, 01:09 PM   #31
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Doc, I've only had a few freezes with my cam before sending it in to Pentax for it's sensor stains, and they were truly random. I had no set pattern and could not reproduce the crashes. I was not in AF-C nor high speed, a few of the crashes were even while accessing menus or viewing pics.

01-25-2011, 01:17 PM   #32
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QuoteOriginally posted by ve2vfd Quote
Doc, I've only had a few freezes with my cam before sending it in to Pentax for it's sensor stains, and they were truly random.
Well...l suppose you could see what happens with your camera when you get it back. But it looks like you only sent it for the sensor stain. So they would not be evaluating your camera for freezing problems. I am going to shoot as much pics as I can this weekend and if it crashes I am calling pentax for possible repair. Darn! I have gotten attached to this camera otherwise.
01-25-2011, 02:09 PM   #33
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QuoteOriginally posted by ve2vfd Quote
I doubt it has anything to do with a hot sensor as all of my crashes/freezes happened at totally random times, not always when shooting pics either (sometimes after turning the camera on and navigating thru menus)

My personal opinion (and of course it's only an opinion!) is that it's nothing more than sloppy programming simply randomly crashing on us (blue screen of death anyone?).

The funny thing is that I've had a K110d, a K100d and a K20d for years and not one of them has EVER frozen or crashed on me.

Pat
I agree, but since this is not a cheap "device" I'm a bit concerned
01-26-2011, 01:12 PM   #34
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I too have had problems with my K5 freezing. Over a period of 40 days I had 6 incidents with 2 bodies, 2 lens, 4 SD cards and firmware version 1.01 and 1.02. Something I believe that has not been reported before is that if an SD card is inserted while the camera is frozen it results in the SD access lamp on the back of the camera flashing. I also have some comments on the possible causes of the failure:

Low battery: All my incidents bar 1 occurred with the rechargeable battery showing strength 3. The other occasion when the battery was showing strength 2

Static: Two of my incidents occurred in drizzle (rain). My understanding is that this would limit the build up of static charge.

Sensor heating: On one occasion the camera froze on starting to shoot a video. On this occasion I did not remove the battery but left the camera for about 30 minutes to see if the fault would clear itself. The camera became very warm.

01-26-2011, 05:13 PM   #35
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For the last few days I had been trying to replicate the K5 freezing on AF-C Hi cont shooting mode. I could not. However I shot some video for the first time for just a few minutes, turned off the video mode and went to cont shooting mode and the camera froze. I had to take the battery out and put it back again.

After that I shot cont for a while and the camera did not freeze again...This makes me wonder if this is some kind of memory issue. But some people had had the camera freeze outside of cont shooting...Strange...I took the k5 on a cruise previously and took more than a thousand pictures without any problem but I had not used cont hi shooting mode at anytime then.
01-26-2011, 06:46 PM   #36
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I have had the K-5 to crash a few times when removing the memory card. At this time the camera would be switched off of course. The SD card slot is a bit tricky in that one must let the spring to pop the card out or else it tends to get stuck some 5-10mm out. When this happens the thing to do is push the card back in and try popping out again. However, at this point it sometimes happens that the card pops back out instead of locking into place so that the access light flashes. The access light may remain on, the top display might display some garbage, and while the camera can be turned on after putting the memory card back in it won't turn off with the power switch, the back display stays lit. The only way to get back to normal is removing the battery. I would recall that this happened with firmware 1.01 as well as the current 1.02.
01-27-2011, 01:05 PM   #37
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Just a thought. I ran the camera for 20 days on firmware version 1.00 without seeing any freezing problems. Has anybody seen the problem with firmware version 1.00 and good battery charge?

01-31-2011, 08:55 PM   #38
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QuoteOriginally posted by _NiallS Quote
Just a thought. I ran the camera for 20 days on firmware version 1.00 without seeing any freezing problems. Has anybody seen the problem with firmware version 1.00 and good battery charge?
My freezing issues on my first k5 body was with the latest firmware, NOT 1.00. Very interesting. Mine froze maybe 10-15 times in one day (a 15 hours day of shooting ringette with no longer than 10 minute breaks every several hours). I have done two portrait sessions and a couple sports shoots - it only freezes so far with the sports.
02-01-2011, 05:09 AM   #39
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Mine froze once within a week of purchasing it. After that I did not see the problem for a a long time until I started shooting sports. My K5 had sensor stains on it too. I mailed it to Pentax yesterday and attached a note re: freezing as they suggested.

But prior to that there was my son's school basketball game yesterday that I was shooting. I thought I would try one last time to see if it would freeze again. 1st quarter: no problem. 2nd quarter: no problem and I am thinking, hey, maybe its not too bad...

10 seconds left in the 2nd quarter and bam! It freezes. I do a battery pull and the camera wakes up. 3rd quarter: no problem. 4th quarter: no problem. The camera has frozen 'only' once the last 2 basketball games. Prior to that it was about 4 times a game. [I shoot only once a week for sports; just my kids; not sure how often it would be if I shot sports regularly...] The only difference between when it was freezing multiple times to now when it freezes less is the newest firmware. The battery has been showing as full whenever it has frozen.

I am waiting to see what will happen when I get the camera back. I was not very bothered by the sensor stain issue as I never shoot that kind of apertures. But the freezing is a practical problem. I can live with the freezing if it only occurs once-in-a-blue-moon as I am aware that cameras are mini computers nowadays. Reminds me of my Windows Phone from Samsung that would freeze all the time. With the Droid that I have, I have yet to see a freeze since I got it last year...Hopefully this is a software issue that can be fixed with firmware as the freezing is the only thing that I have had a real problem with as far as the K5 is concerned and if I were not shooting sports/AF-C Hi I probably would never have even seen it.
02-01-2011, 09:07 AM   #40
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QuoteOriginally posted by Shandie Quote
My freezing issues on my first k5 body was with the latest firmware, NOT 1.00. Very interesting. Mine froze maybe 10-15 times in one day (a 15 hours day of shooting ringette with no longer than 10 minute breaks every several hours). I have done two portrait sessions and a couple sports shoots - it only freezes so far with the sports.
My first K-5 was received on Oct 15 (V. 1.00) and had a few lockups. Since then I have had many lockups with and w/o grip, with different batteries (original and 3rd party), different environments.

But once the battery is low enough to freeze during a shot, I can replicate the freeze just by pulling and reinserting that same battery and within a couple frames it will refreeze. So my issue is soly related to the charge level of the battery, not the Mode, tempreture or fps rate. Whereas my K20D will finish the shot and then indicate battery depleted, my K-5 has NEVER done that and when it indicates less than 1/2 charge its about to start freezing.

Hope this helps others decide where their issue lies.
02-06-2011, 07:08 PM   #41
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Want to report that my K5 had continuous problems locking-up today. AF-C & High continuous shooting. Happened 6 times. Full battery, no grip. This had never ever happened on the K7.

The sensor stain issue wasn't a huge deal since there was/is a solution - return the body & get one stain-free. No biggie - all camera makers have issues. Then I notice the FF problems and now this. If Pentax doesn't produce a firmware update in the next month I'm bailing. Not in the mood for drama - just want to take pics.

Edit: Well - I'm not going to bail. This is the only system I like for the price. Feel like a stubborn Olympus owner.

Last edited by MrPetkus; 02-06-2011 at 07:22 PM.
02-06-2011, 08:44 PM   #42
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QuoteOriginally posted by MrPetkus Quote
Want to report that my K5 had continuous problems locking-up today. AF-C & High continuous shooting. Happened 6 times. Full battery, no grip. This had never ever happened on the K7.
My K5 is with Pentax Service. Stain plus freezing issue. Will see if they address the freezing issue. I was told to add a note regarding the freezing problems when I sent it in.
However, since I did not have the K5, I used my K2000 to take basketball shots. NO FREEZING. However, it is a slow camera and the AF-C was not fun to shoot on it. Plus I could not shoot at the high iso's I was used to...

There have not been as much complaint about freezing as with other issues. I wonder if there is anyone out there who is shooting AF-C, Hi cont shooting who is NOT having freezing issues. It would be good to know if they just send me a replacement camera that the new one could be ok.
02-06-2011, 09:49 PM   #43
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QuoteOriginally posted by psychdoc Quote
There have not been as much complaint about freezing as with other issues. I wonder if there is anyone out there who is shooting AF-C, Hi cont shooting who is NOT having freezing issues. It would be good to know if they just send me a replacement camera that the new one could be ok.
I can reproduce the freeze easily once it starts. All I need is a battery about 1/4 charged according to the graphic and regardless of shooting mode (AF-C, manual, 7fps, single) it will freeze almost every shot once the battery is low enough. However I can use that same battery to preview and chimp long after the freeze. With mine it is not related to AF-C, only low battery.
COM'ON firmware 1.03!
02-07-2011, 09:36 AM   #44
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I played around with a 1/4 charged battery last night to determine which modes could reliably reproduce the problem. I tried different SD cards to ensure it wasn't defective under duress (clearing cache).

For my K5 it has to be AF-C and:
1) Hi-speed continuous
2) 5-shot bracketed

Like someone else mentioned this issue is a dual-edged sword - while this never happened on the K7, the K7 was never able to track AF-C so fast and accurately.


QuoteOriginally posted by imtheguy Quote
I can reproduce the freeze easily once it starts. All I need is a battery about 1/4 charged according to the graphic and regardless of shooting mode (AF-C, manual, 7fps, single) it will freeze almost every shot once the battery is low enough. However I can use that same battery to preview and chimp long after the freeze. With mine it is not related to AF-C, only low battery.
COM'ON firmware 1.03!
02-08-2011, 07:48 PM   #45
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QuoteOriginally posted by MrPetkus Quote
I played around with a 1/4 charged battery last night to determine which modes could reliably reproduce the problem. I tried different SD cards to ensure it wasn't defective under duress (clearing cache).

For my K5 it has to be AF-C and:
1) Hi-speed continuous
2) 5-shot bracketed

Like someone else mentioned this issue is a dual-edged sword - while this never happened on the K7, the K7 was never able to track AF-C so fast and accurately.

Sorry to say I am joining the group...have used my K5 for about 2 months now and never a problem. Out with the 35 macro today and the first shot attempted, the camera froze while trying to focus on a leaf bud. Battery full, AF-S; Removed battery and the focus motor whined loudly, but did nothing. No shutter release. Had another lens, so switched and it was fine. When I got home, I re-inserted the 35 macro and it worked fine.
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