[Class A]

If you are really worried and it is preventing you from buying more Pentax glass, search the Internet for other manufacturer forums and see if their cameras have issues too.

+1

Another thing I would suggest is buying actual Pentax glass instead of something else. That's kind of the point of using one system over another.

With all due respect, that's nonsense.
Why not use the great legacy Voigtlander, Zeiss, Cosina, etc. glass availble in K-mount? Some Tamron and Sigma lenses are not only cheaper than Pentax lenses but also optically better.

No doubt Pentax makes some very good lenses -- some of them are world class -- but it would be stupid to restrict one's choice to Pentax lenses only.

Good reasons for choosing a system would be

• how well you can handle a particular body.
• the availability of good / affordable glass for the respective mount.
• flash system and other such secondary considerations.

The question of how well one would do by selecting only from the lenses of the manufacturer is not a good one to ask.

[sjwaldron]

+1
With all due respect, that's nonsense.

No, it's my opinion. Just like your list is. Besides lenses I consider handling as you mentioned.

[rfortson]

why would it just happen to a small batch.

Many reasons, really. Here are a few off the top of my head (based on my knowledge of engineering and manufacturing):
- they sourced the faulty part from many different vendors, and one vendor had a "bad" run
- the faulty part comes from one vendor, and that vendor had a bad run one week
- the assembly at the Pentax factory had a bad run

Products are rarely made on one long, continuous production run, especially all the components that go into higher assemblies like cameras. Pentax manufacturing orders parts in stages so they can be assembled at one time. That means the parts manufacturers run batches of one product, and then sometimes run other products, then go back to the original product, and so on. If there's a bad run, sometimes it may not be caught until later.

Of course, it could also be a design flaw, but if that was the case we'd be hearing more about it. It's highly likely it's just a bad part run. That stinks if it's YOU with the bad part, but I don't think it's a reason to avoid a great camera. All brands suffer problems.

[garyk]

Just got mine back today. Hoping the shutter problem is fixed. But testing it even in fair light reveled the dreaded AF issues. Hummm.
Testing it against the Canon 7D. In very good light I can tell no difference but when the light fades a little the 7D is spot on every time.
Really if they could get a handle on that it would really make my day.
Oh well.

[Rin]

Many reasons, really. Here are a few off the top of my head (based on my knowledge of engineering and manufacturing):
- they sourced the faulty part from many different vendors, and one vendor had a "bad" run
- the faulty part comes from one vendor, and that vendor had a bad run one week
- the assembly at the Pentax factory had a bad run

Products are rarely made on one long, continuous production run, especially all the components that go into higher assemblies like cameras. Pentax manufacturing orders parts in stages so they can be assembled at one time. That means the parts manufacturers run batches of one product, and then sometimes run other products, then go back to the original product, and so on. If there's a bad run, sometimes it may not be caught until later.

Of course, it could also be a design flaw, but if that was the case we'd be hearing more about it. It's highly likely it's just a bad part run. That stinks if it's YOU with the bad part, but I don't think it's a reason to avoid a great camera. All brands suffer problems.

normally i can understand such problems, but this type of hardware should have build tolerances within to overcome such problems.

[macTak]

No problems here with mine. Sorry to hear about those who have to deal with this issue.

[geezer52]

normally i can understand such problems, but this type of hardware should have build tolerances within to overcome such problems.

If as suspected the problem is a bad circuit board then I don't think "tolerances" would necessarily play a part. That is what does tolerance play if there's are bad solder points, or if there are simply "bad" resistors, capacitors, or transistors etc?

Doesn't it seem that those folks experiencing the problem all bought their K5s at roughly the same time since the beginning of the year. Might be useful to try and isolate a time frame or see if the problem continues with more recently manufactured examples.

[Rin]

If as suspected the problem is a bad circuit board then I don't think "tolerances" would necessarily play a part. That is what does tolerance play if there's are bad solder points, or if there are simply "bad" resistors, capacitors, or transistors etc?

Doesn't it seem that those folks experiencing the problem all bought their K5s at roughly the same time since the beginning of the year. Might be useful to try and isolate a time frame or see if the problem continues with more recently manufactured examples.

normally electronic hardware has certain tolerances to survive a little overcurrent or undercurrent. Load on transistors etc. If a camera starts to malfunction because of freshly charged batteries and it wears the camera down, then i am worried that i will eventually happen to every K5. Till now i mostly hear that it happens after 3 or 4 months. But this is the moment where most users got their K5, just right after the changing of camera bodies because of the sensor stains.

Mine still didnt act up but i dont use it as heavily as most users here who made 10 times more shots with it.

[geezer52]

Mine still didnt act up but i dont use it as heavily as most users here who made 10 times more shots with it.

I see your main point but the tolerances you describe are a matter of design, this problem sounds like properly designed parts (because they function properly initially) that are failing over time which suggests either a manufacturing problem or bad components. As described earlier I would tend to think of a supplier having a bad run - how large a batch tbd.

[henriqueperon]

Levei hoje minha K5 para a autorizada aqui no Brazil, mas não tenho garantia aqui.
A cortina trava muito, ontem travou cerca de 15 vezes em 400 fotos, a camera já tem cerca de 25000 fotos, um absurdo.
Minha K10tem 80000 fotos e nunca deu qualquer problema.

Espero que a Pentax se manifeste sobre o assunto.

Henrique Peron

[Tony3d]

I called CRIS today to ask them about the mirror overrun. They told me they have only seen a handful come in. I find that rather hard to believe.

[Wheatfield]

I called CRIS today to ask them about the mirror overrun. They told me they have only seen a handful come in. I find that rather hard to believe.

Why?

....

[Tony3d]

Why?

....

Just seems I'm reading a lot about it on different sites now.

[Rupert]

Take some time....add them all up.... then divide by the number with no problem. You will have a very small fraction before you. Most likely a bad shipment of circuit boards.......or a shipment with "some" bad circuit boards. Does any other camera maker have this kind of problem from time to time? All of them.
Until (and if) we learn otherwise, this is not a widespread occurrence.....just widely announced. If it keeps someone from buying a K5, the loss is theirs. This is a great camera.
Regards

[Tony3d]

My K5 should be delivered in the next couple hours or so.