[Gray]

Ahh!@

I inserted a new battery into my K-5 and after two exposures... dreaded mirror flops.

Bought new 2011.09.07
s/n: 4053687
Manufacture date: 2011:05:28

I had had these with this camera very occasionally after inserting a new battery, but they seemed to go away after about 2 minutes or so and turning the camera off.
Not this time. The difference today was the ambient temp. which was quite warm (about 30 deg. C / 86 deg F), and seemed to make the problem last much longer. I had to take the camera indoors to let it cool down before it started operating normally again.

Strangely, I had contacted the Pentax rep in Cape Town about a month ago about the problem. He said he'd never heard of K-5 mirror flops/overrun, and neither had the Pentax/Cameratek service centre in Johannesburg (he had spoken to the service manager)! Which is very weird and doesn't fill me with great confidence.

Anyway tomorrow I'll begin the tedious process of getting it repaired.

Anyone had any experience with Cameratek in SA?

[sterretje]

I deal with CameraTek in Johannesburg and I'm quite happy. Not all of their employees are competent enough (still have to learn, I guess); I had a back focus issue with the FA31Ltd on a K10D. The technician put the camera in P mode and took a test shot and everything was OK; yeah, camera used f/11 But it was eventually sorted by the workshop manager who did the calibration himself.

I had a stained K5. Contacted my dealer who contacted Teltron (the local agent). They told me to take it to CameraTek who verified the problem (never heard of stained sensors either ) after which it got swapped; only took about 3 months as that was at the time that everybody was swapping their stained cameras. As my camera was still usable, Teltron told me to keep it till they could provide the new body.

I'm not sure if CameraTek will do this repair themselves.

Advise:
Get some prove from internet (there is a youtube video somewhere) and some references to threads on forums so they know that it's a known problem.
Take it to your dealer and let them contact Teltron; they seem flexible so they might do a swap. Teltron will still ask you to take it to CameraTek to verify. And the swap will probably go through CameraTek; that was what was supposed to happen with mine although my replacement was delivered on my doorstep by a Teltron employee (but I live around the corner of Teltron).

Will send you PM

[Gray]

Thanks for the advice, sterretje

Besides the internet evidence I can produce the mirror flops "on demand", so can show the problem first hand too.

I'll post my experiences and feedback here for future reference.

BTW, my first K-5 was sensor stained. Cameraland in Cape Town (where I bought it) swopped it immediately without contacting Teltron - good service.

[sterretje]

Besides the internet evidence I can produce the mirror flops "on demand", so can show the problem first hand too.

The point is to prove that it is a known problem. That way you might have a better chance on a swap instead of a repair.

[Darkwing]

I have dealt with Cameratek on a number of occasions, and although dealing with them can be painful, their work has always been of a high standard.

Good luck!

[Gray]

Well, two months after sending in my K-5 for repair, today I collected a replacement body from Cameratek in Cape Town.

The process leading to the replacement was long and tortured, and not pleasant at all. I won't bore everyone with the drama, except to say that, while I'm happy with the result, customer service from New Teltron, Pentax's agent in South Africa, is just about zero. I do not recommend them at all - to anyone.

I do recommend Cameratek though; they were much better with feedback direct from the workshop in Johannesburg and tried their best despite poor cooperation from Teltron.

Oh, and BTW, I like the K-5 so much I bought a second body!

[rawr]

It seems that the common factor in your mirror-flopping, and it's the same with many of the reports on the forum about the issue, seems to be using a freshly-charged battery.

Something about a freshly charged battery carrying a higher voltage load than it should due to the standard Pentax charger perhaps over-juicing the battery a bit. Many users have reported that the problem rarely occurs when batteries are allowed to rest for a while (a few hours, overnight etc).

Hasn't happened to me, just passing on the observation.