[lammie200]

Mine is also out by 2 increments to the left but it was manufactured in Dec 2010. I am in the USA. Has anyone that has sent their camera to CRIS for service gotten this fixed?

[Eriol]

I have just received a replacement for my 6 months old K-5 with serial #42..., and received a #436.. They changed because auto level could not be adjusted properly.

However, with new camera I have the same phenomenon, level is off by 1 step ...

[SpecialK]

Many cameras don't have this "function". I suggest just turning it off, forgetting about it, and learn where the level tool is in your editor.

I honestly don't agree with this. While you can get away with it at normal or long focal lengths, when you're shooting wide, you will introduce distortions to the perspective when you angle the camera differently which cannot be corrected with a simple rotation of the frame post-exposure. This is especially noticeable if you have a lot of straight lines in your composition, so there have been plenty of times when I've relied on my K-7's digital level to help me compose with the DA15, for instance. Before I figured out the offset for my particular camera's digital level, this lead to a lot of uncorrectably distorted images.

Disagree if you like, but your explanation makes zero sense. You rotate the entire image, not change the focal length or otherwise influence the geometry of the shot. Same as tilting your head slightly - it does not cause buildings to suddenly lean in.

Again, we are talking the rotation, not angling up or down, etc.

[Eriol]

@SpecialK - That's right, and I would agree to say that even without the auto level the K-5 still would be an excellent camera. But offering this feature makes the K-5 quite unique in its class. And Pentax advertises this feature in all its cameras that provide it, including the new K-30.

I will probably switch level indicator and auto level off, even though normally I would make use of it on many occasions. My cheap Samsung smartphone has a level indicator that worked out of the box, maybe I can make use of this ...

I talked to a colleague in my company, a semiconductor engineer, who said that this is most likely related to a hardware issue and probably a design or production error rather than a defect. He asked me whether this phenomenon occurs all the time, or differently depending on battery level or using original vs. third party battery, or working under different temparature conditions.

Probably there is no fix available because the problem occurs in many K-5 differently. However, it should be possible to add a function that sets the level to "0" by positioning the camera manually and pressing the "green button" ... Why does Pentax not offer this?

Eriol

[mikeSF]

i have yet to send mine in because i have yet to hear of a single person who had their camera fixed, only replaced, and i don't want to inherit any new problems, thank you. i have gotten used to counting three bars on the left as level.

[simico]

i have yet to send mine in because i have yet to hear of a single person who had their camera fixed, only replaced, and i don't want to inherit any new problems, thank you.

Same reason I didn't send it in. Too bad because I can't really hold the cam level, so an accurate e-level would be very good, especially when shooting in portrait orientation.

[Venturi]

I guess I got lucky? I just checked mine with a 2ft I-beam level and it's dead on true.

[kiwi_jono]

Well I have the same problem too. My relatively new (5 month old) K-5 is 3 - 4 bars to the left when the camera is level.

Apparently there is a way to get into Debug Menu for the K-5 now (or at least recent ones). See: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/170874-k-5-debug-mode-now-accessible.html

Sadly it appears there is NO level calibration / adjustment available :-(

The level is a useful functionality - I guess I will just have to get used to composing with 3 bars to the left. A pity I won't be able to use the auto levelling feature.

[gaweidert]

I finally gave up on mine and got a screen with a micro prism, split screen and composition lines in it. Plus the software that came with the camera allows you to rotate the image to compensate for the errors introduced by the auto leveling feature. It's really too bad as it is a great idea poorly executed.

[Fl_Gulfer]

I doubt there is a perfectly working digital camera in the world. my sensor cleaning function has never worked but a blast of air can fix that. This is my second K-5 and I'll never sell it , But I will buy a new model when it comes out.

[mikeSF]

I doubt there is a perfectly working digital camera in the world. my sensor cleaning function has never worked but a blast of air can fix that. This is my second K-5 and I'll never sell it , But I will buy a new model when it comes out.

agreed. the K5 is an amazing camera and though i would've liked for that feature to work perfectly, i can still use it and it is a feature i never had on my K20, K10, *istD...

[D1N0]

I turned this of, because is was out of calibration, but it is still about half a degree off. When out of calibration, how does it know what is neutral?

[enzo887]

Hey there. Where is this feature hidden in the menu? I cannot find it anywhere. Thank you!