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08-26-2012, 04:22 PM   #391
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QuoteOriginally posted by jimr-pdx Quote
Mine also took seven months to appear and seems not to be the those described as hard-core. I've plenty of warranty plus a 2-year extension, but I'll watch the clock as I ascertain if anything else should be checked. I've had the camera freeze on me maybe twice, so that hasn't given me any patterns to work on. I did have a couple of odd HDR results during the first multi-flop time span but I've used HDR so seldom it could be me that needs adjusting.
Just that it is frustrating all that hi-tech stuff with all DSLR's.

Gone are the days of the "mechanical"-only SLR's !

JP

08-26-2012, 04:59 PM   #392
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QuoteOriginally posted by jpzk Quote
Just that it is frustrating all that hi-tech stuff with all DSLR's.

Gone are the days of the "mechanical"-only SLR's !

JP
Ah, but I remember the old frustrations: filters to change colour balance, maybe four ISO settings (and only if you change film rolls!), features like a motor drive or interval timer that I was sure that I'd never own - even video! - now sitting pretty inside my K-5. It's both pain and pleasure, yes the ratio changes all the time but both are present.
09-03-2012, 03:17 PM   #393
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UPDATE on mirror flop:

Bad news: it started again today and this time it was definitely the "hard core" type of flop !

Camera is packed and ready to go, first thing in the morning.
After the "battery depleted", now this ...

JP
09-12-2012, 04:11 PM   #394
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UDATE ON MIRROR FLOP REPAIR

Believe it or not, I have my K5 back only after 6 days and that includes the time it took to ship, repair and sent back to me !!!
This was at Pentax Canada, Mississauga, Ontario -- from Québec, Canada and back.

I have this below to report as "repair", but I find it strange that this was the actual cause of a mirror flop !!
Whether it has been fixed for good, no idea, but I tested a few shots this evening before it got too dark and it seems to be good.
So, the repair "list":

- release button assembly
- cleaned and adjusted
- rewrite CPU flash data
- and then .... in a little corner in very small print, get this : "re-do repair" - apparently they had to redo some repair job from the previous repair which was involving a "battery depleted" issue.
At that time (first repair for the "depleted battery"), the following was done:
- mirror motor assembly
- release SW
-digital miscellaneous

I am hoping that this will be it since I had this K5 repaired twice in 2 and a half months only.

JP

09-13-2012, 08:41 AM   #395
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QuoteOriginally posted by jpzk Quote
Believe it or not, I have my K5 back only after 6 days and that includes the time it took to ship, repair and sent back to me !!!
This was at Pentax Canada, Mississauga, Ontario -- from Québec, Canada and back. ...

JP
Bonjour,

Sorry to read about your problem(s), but Six days is just "WOW" for me. Sent my K-5 in due to flash becoming inoperative and return period is 4 to 6 weeks ... 2 weeks have already done by ... oh well, such is life in France.

Salut,
John
09-13-2012, 10:51 AM   #396
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QuoteOriginally posted by jpzk Quote
So, the repair "list":

- release button assembly
- cleaned and adjusted
- rewrite CPU flash data
- and then .... in a little corner in very small print, get this : "re-do repair" - apparently they had to redo some repair job from the previous repair which was involving a "battery depleted" issue.
At that time (first repair for the "depleted battery"), the following was done:
- mirror motor assembly
- release SW
-digital miscellaneous
Interesting, ours also exhibited the "hardcore" variety of the mirror flop. When we received it back the repair order seemed to indicate the only things that were done were a clean and adjustment and an update to the latest firmware. I suspect they did a little more than that, as it's so far so good!
09-13-2012, 08:06 PM   #397
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jean Poitiers Quote
Bonjour,

Sorry to read about your problem(s), but Six days is just "WOW" for me. Sent my K-5 in due to flash becoming inoperative and return period is 4 to 6 weeks ... 2 weeks have already done by ... oh well, such is life in France.

Salut,
John
Salut John !

Yes it was extremely quick !
What I did though is telling them, in a detailed explanation of the problem(s), that I was going away across the St Lawrence River for the annual bird of prey migration and that I MUST have the camera back as soon as possible ... and they did fix it fast.
So, I'll be going across the ol' river this weekend, bringing all the needed gear, including my K5!

Seems that things run a little slower in Europe but that could be the way of life out there?

Cheers.

JP

09-13-2012, 08:08 PM   #398
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QuoteOriginally posted by polachekphotography Quote
Interesting, ours also exhibited the "hardcore" variety of the mirror flop. When we received it back the repair order seemed to indicate the only things that were done were a clean and adjustment and an update to the latest firmware. I suspect they did a little more than that, as it's so far so good!
Hmmm ... maybe that was just it: some foreign material in the release button assembly and they cleaned it out? No way to tell for sure.
But they could well have replaced a few parts ... check the return slip, it could show it.

JP
05-02-2013, 10:38 AM   #399
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jim Radcliffe Quote
Like many here I have recently begun to experience the "Runaway Mirror Flops" with my K5. At first I thought this was a heat related problem as it just recently began while I was using the K5 in 90 to 102 degree outside temperatures.

After reading a number of posts here and in other forums which suggested it might be a battery related issue I decided to run a test on my K5 and was able to "force" the mirror flops to occur. Here is what I did.

I have three genuine Pentax batteries. One of them was left half discharged and the other two were fully charged overnight in preperation for testing this morning.

The outisde temperature during this test was 85 degrees this morning at 7:30AM.

I began shooting with the battery that was half discharged. I shot over 25 frames using that battery without a single mirror flop. I had the DA* 50-135mm mounted as this was the same lens I had mounted when the issues began several weeks ago.

I then removed the battery and placed one of the fully charged batteries in the camera and shot 3 frames before the camera's mirror began to flop. It flopped when I did a half press of the shutter and it also flopped when I pressed the AF button on the back of the camera. I then removed the fully charged battery and put the half charged battery back in the camera and continued to shoot without a single mirror flop.

I then removed that battery and placed my second fully charged battery in the camera and began to shoot again.. four shots into this process the mirror flops began again. I took that battery out and replaced it with the half charged battery and began shooting again...20 frames and not a single mirror flop.

I then decided to switch the lens to see if that might have had some connection to the mirror flops. I mounted the 43 Ltd and continued to shoot with the half discharged battery... no mirror flops.

I then removed the half discharged battery and replaced it with one of the two fully charged batteries and almost immediately the mirror flops began with the 43 Ltd. mounted on the camera. I pulled that battery and put the half discharged battery back in the camera.. 10 frames and no mirror flops. I then put the second fully charged battery in the camera, shot two frames and the mirror flops began again.

To me this seems to suggest that the issue is related to either the voltage output of the fully charged batteries or a voltage regulating component in the K5 itself.

The serial numbers of the batteries which caused the flops are: 201101 and 201012. The half discharged battery serial number is: 201011.

The two extra batteries I purchased (201011 and 201012) both came from B&H. My gut tells me that if I fully charged the half discharged battery that it would also cause the camera to mirror flop. I will charge it fully tonight and see if that occurs.

The more confusing issue is that the mirror flops did not begin until 5 months after I purchased the K5. This leads me to believe that some component in the camera is beginning to fail in some way and makes itself known ONLY when a fully charged battery is being used. This is in line with others saying that the camera finally "settles down" and operates properly. It seems that once the battery discharges a bit after a full charge the issue goes away.

Note that the mirror flops have never occured until the last month of use and I have been using the camera a lot since I purchased it in March of 2011.

To me, the test I ran this morning with half discharged and fully charged batteries is a clear indication that there is an issue with voltage regulation within the camera itself and this is causing the mirror flops. At no time does the camera ever actually take a picture during the mirror flops.

I feel good that I was finally able to actually force the camera to malfunction in this manner and hope that Pentax will look into this problem.
same problem with me
i hahe k5 + 3party grip and third party battery. when battery no metter original (genius) pentax or thirdparty , battery same problem with full charged. but i put full charged battery in grip and ther's no floping ????? interestind thing
so i think that it is problem with voltage of battery
anny suggestions how to resolve this problem??
tnx
05-02-2013, 10:39 AM   #400
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jim Radcliffe Quote
Like many here I have recently begun to experience the "Runaway Mirror Flops" with my K5. At first I thought this was a heat related problem as it just recently began while I was using the K5 in 90 to 102 degree outside temperatures.

After reading a number of posts here and in other forums which suggested it might be a battery related issue I decided to run a test on my K5 and was able to "force" the mirror flops to occur. Here is what I did.

I have three genuine Pentax batteries. One of them was left half discharged and the other two were fully charged overnight in preperation for testing this morning.

The outisde temperature during this test was 85 degrees this morning at 7:30AM.

I began shooting with the battery that was half discharged. I shot over 25 frames using that battery without a single mirror flop. I had the DA* 50-135mm mounted as this was the same lens I had mounted when the issues began several weeks ago.

I then removed the battery and placed one of the fully charged batteries in the camera and shot 3 frames before the camera's mirror began to flop. It flopped when I did a half press of the shutter and it also flopped when I pressed the AF button on the back of the camera. I then removed the fully charged battery and put the half charged battery back in the camera and continued to shoot without a single mirror flop.

I then removed that battery and placed my second fully charged battery in the camera and began to shoot again.. four shots into this process the mirror flops began again. I took that battery out and replaced it with the half charged battery and began shooting again...20 frames and not a single mirror flop.

I then decided to switch the lens to see if that might have had some connection to the mirror flops. I mounted the 43 Ltd and continued to shoot with the half discharged battery... no mirror flops.

I then removed the half discharged battery and replaced it with one of the two fully charged batteries and almost immediately the mirror flops began with the 43 Ltd. mounted on the camera. I pulled that battery and put the half discharged battery back in the camera.. 10 frames and no mirror flops. I then put the second fully charged battery in the camera, shot two frames and the mirror flops began again.

To me this seems to suggest that the issue is related to either the voltage output of the fully charged batteries or a voltage regulating component in the K5 itself.

The serial numbers of the batteries which caused the flops are: 201101 and 201012. The half discharged battery serial number is: 201011.

The two extra batteries I purchased (201011 and 201012) both came from B&H. My gut tells me that if I fully charged the half discharged battery that it would also cause the camera to mirror flop. I will charge it fully tonight and see if that occurs.

The more confusing issue is that the mirror flops did not begin until 5 months after I purchased the K5. This leads me to believe that some component in the camera is beginning to fail in some way and makes itself known ONLY when a fully charged battery is being used. This is in line with others saying that the camera finally "settles down" and operates properly. It seems that once the battery discharges a bit after a full charge the issue goes away.

Note that the mirror flops have never occured until the last month of use and I have been using the camera a lot since I purchased it in March of 2011.

To me, the test I ran this morning with half discharged and fully charged batteries is a clear indication that there is an issue with voltage regulation within the camera itself and this is causing the mirror flops. At no time does the camera ever actually take a picture during the mirror flops.

I feel good that I was finally able to actually force the camera to malfunction in this manner and hope that Pentax will look into this problem.
same problem with me
i hahe k5 + 3party grip and third party battery. when battery no metter original (genius) pentax or thirdparty , battery same problem with full charged. but i put full charged battery in grip and ther's no floping ????? interestind thing
so i think that it is problem with voltage of battery
anny suggestions how to resolve this problem??
tnx
05-03-2013, 02:48 AM   #401
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I had that issue and had my K-5 replaced twice under warranty. Im effectively on my third K-5.
If yours is out of warranty I would be pushing for a warranty service regardless as it could be a very expensive fix.
08-07-2014, 03:17 PM   #402
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K5 Mirror Flops- Smoking Gun Found

I might be having the same problem as this. Can you please explain what you mean when you say mirror flops? Thanks!
08-08-2014, 10:41 AM   #403
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QuoteOriginally posted by barbgellner Quote
I might be having the same problem as this. Can you please explain what you mean when you say mirror flops? Thanks!
Hi,

I bought one of the first K5s produced. I used it for about a month and all was fine. While on an assignment outside in hot weather the camera started "flopping," for lack of a better word. What happens is the mirror flips up and down, sometimes repeatedly while the button is down, and no photo is taken. Changing batteries did not fix it, nothing fixed it as long as the camera was hot. I started researching and found that this is common, and sometimes the problem goes away when the camera is cool. Mine did, all was fine….most of the time. I let it go for a few weeks, until it did it again when outside in the sun.

At the time I was concerned and decided to send it in for repair (CRIS). I was actually hoping they replace it with a new camera, but no, they repaired it. I am glad, because they also upgraded a bunch of other things that was also identified on the first generation K5's, such as dust under the display, lens release button falling off, etc. Since then the camera has been fine, not once failing to operate as new. CRIS described the problem as "mirror over run." I do not know what they did to fix it, no parts were listed.

If your camera is old it may be time to upgrade it, maybe use this as an excuse to get a new K3. If mine fails again, that is what I will do. Here are a couple of videos on youtube that describes it.
and

Wayne
08-08-2014, 10:48 AM   #404
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Is there possibly any connection between these problems and humidity? I had a laptop computer once that always worked fine in Denver (where it is quite dry) but if I ever went on vacation to a humid place the keyboard would start typing by itself until the machine had been on a while and heated up. (Or I went where there was air conditioning.) Moisture somewhere making a contact where there shouldn't have been one...
08-08-2014, 04:10 PM   #405
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Maybe. When my K5 started it was typical Saint Louis summer weather, close to 100 degrees with 90 plus humidity. I was outside about 4 hours before the camera started acting up. Back home it worked fine the next day. But, CRIS fixed it, it has never done it since, and it has been used like this many times since. My though (WAG) is that a plastic peace in the mirror mechanism started slipping on a shaft, but I don't know. Others have said the main board fails, even firmware problems.
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