Originally posted by geezer52 It might not make a difference to the end user but it does matter. The K5 is a stellar design that had the potential to be a phenomenal success. If well implemented it could have turned Pentax's fortunes around and made them a real player. And Ricoh could have been taking over a thriving camera line but instead has to start a salvage operation. Yes Pentax (read Hoya) dropped the ball QC-wise and Ricoh will have to make a concerted effort to restore prestige to the Pentax nameplate and make it a viable alternative for future camera buyers. Saying the other brands have their own problems is no consolation because their size allows them to absorb many mis-steps, fix the problems, or simply move on. A smaller player like Pentax does not have the same luxury and relies on things like a consistent reputation for superior design, quality and value. The Pentax lineup is small, their P&S offerings are also-rans. If the K5 gets widely perceived as a quality black-hole then instead of saving Pentax, it could kill it. I still have faith, mainly in Ricoh, and have no intention of bailing out. But it's hard not to sympathize with users experiencing the many varied problems.
Pentax can not afford to be simply me-too about quality.
Agreed - squirrels and blind faith doesn't counter real world problems, just tries to ignore them.
A quick search seems the K5 is the first to have this issue, but anywhere I've seen a post about 'lens button fell | fall' there has always been someone else chiming in with the same problem. One user chimed in with his trash/delete button falling off.
As I think Wheatfield mentioned, it's not like the lens release is a 'new complicated feature' - the k5 re-used the K7 body, and lens releases have had decades of 'practice to make perfect.' It would be great if anyone had both a K7 and K5 diagram or picture to compare, but I doubt the K5 (very simple) release mechanism is changed from the K7 'design,' as there is no reason to do so cost-wise - no new functionality, no improvements, so I'm betting this was a bean counter issue, and a sub-standard strength retaining ring was used to save a few cents. Perhaps they went from a metal retaining ring to a plastic one? Either way, it's the equivalent of a steering wheel falling off, or a seatbelt failing to latch a few months after purchase - these things are so standardized and simple at this point there is no reason for such a failure to occur. In software, this is a regression - which of course happens occasionally, but rarely do you go and re-design or 'fix what wasn't broken and was reliable.' Re-design of mechanical items also isn't inexpensive, just more reason to believe they retained as much of the K7 (which itself likely retained mechanisms like buttons, shutter, as much as possible from preceding cameras, including the lens release, making it seem most plausible it's a material/quality issue versus a design one.
If the change was simply a cost saving measure, it's likely that they've reduced reliability to save a few cents per unit, or even that the change to a different material or retainer wasn't known to them, but it saved a few cents for whomever did the assembly. It seems more likely that given enough time, a failure will likely be seen.
By itself, this would be surprising, to manage to break something quite simple, where they had a solid, known reliable item in the K7 mechanism. Added to the other list of potential problems that people have experienced, one is left with a general picture of either bean counters are cutting costs in places they shouldn't be (quality control, possibly choosing cheaper components or assembly/manufacturing methods and/or facilities), someone contracted by Pentax is doing similar (meaning a material or assembly change could have happened without their knowledge, which may be possible in the case of the Sony sensor stains), or both of the above.
If anyone can provide part diagrams or pics comparing K5 to K7, that might be enlightening, as well as knowing if the part numbers between the two are identical for the retaining clip. It would also be interesting to see if Pentax creates a new part number for a revised (call it 'fixed') lens release pin retainer or entire assembly.
Just one more potential issue to keep sight of checking - stains, mirror flop, losing the ability to remove a lens..any of which effectively give you a very expensive paperweight. Hope for the best, but get an extended warrantee.
For those that think some people are being harsh, just google for the problem - common statements are "I've owned a half dozen DSLRs, and have never had any buttons fall off of any of them..until now" = not exactly great for reputation or expanding a market. Ensuring the problems are addressed, and believed by existing as well as new potential owners, is fairly important.