Help! Bizarre problem with my beloved K5!

hsu1 · 12-23-2011, 08:40 PM

Guys, my beloved K5 is having issues, and I wanted to run it by you guys to see if anyone can help or even point me in the right direction as to what exactly is going on with the camera.

Basically, the mirror looks like it's locked up (like when it's in sensor cleaning mode), and the shutter looks like it's stuck in place. It's like it's stuck in some sort of permanent live view mode, but there's no live view picture on the back screen. The camera can still turns on and off, however is otherwise not operational. I can see and change the camera settings when you press "menu", but I can't change the aperture/shutter speed, take a picture, or get live view to work. In fact, there's no shutter speed displayed at all on the back and top LCD screens, and there's a mismatch in the aperture display (top says f8.0, but the back screen says f1.4). The interface has slowed right down to a crawl, meaning I can navigate through the settings menus but it'll "lag" for a few seconds before the screen will respond to each key press.

I've tried everything to fix the problem, but to no avail. I've removed the battery, changed the lens, removed/changed SD cards, reset to factory settings, formatted the SD card, swapped the battery - nothing. Everything is still stuck, even without power!

Has anyone heard of this problem before? This problem could not have come at a worse time at just before Christmas - was hoping to get a few snaps of the family since we don't all get together often during the rest of the year. SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!

D4rknezz · 12-23-2011, 09:01 PM

Dont think it would help but if you havent, update the firmware too? just in case it resets something at the more base level.

hsu1 · 12-23-2011, 10:02 PM

Thanks for the thought, but it's on 1.11.

I'm starting to suspect it's mechanical, but that wouldn't explain the extreme slowdown in the menu system? Truly stumped....

aleonx3 · 12-23-2011, 10:50 PM

I am equally puzzled based on what you described... do you have another battery to try? also, don't understand what you meant by saying the menu got stuck even without battery power - does the LCD screen still lit up? Even without the SD card, the camera should still start up... so, the first thing I would do is to ensure the battery is good.

Kunzite · 12-25-2011, 05:01 AM

I'm afraid it looks like a typical mechanical failure ("Everything is still stuck, even without power"). Something got stuck and the camera can't complete it's exposure cycle, sorry, a trip to the service centre is required.
About the slowdown, well, I rather see it as a side effect; the software was not designed to operate with the camera in such a state.

**Mallee Boy** · 12-25-2011, 10:09 PM

I had a mal function with my K5 and it was as a result of low charge batteries in the grip...so I would check out your battery, if you have access to another one, try that first and make sure it is fully charged.
Good luck.

hsu1 · 12-26-2011, 05:46 AM

Thanks guys. I don't have access to a spare battery just right now, but will give it a go when I return back home after the holiday break tomorrow. Failing that, I'm pretty much resigned to sending it back for repair - hopefully it's still under warranty, I can't remember clearly but I'm sure I picked it up around January 2011.

**TomB_tx** · 12-26-2011, 06:40 AM

I assume the K-5 still has mechanical sequence interlocks on the mechanisms, even with the electronic controls. All mechaical SLRs had such interlocks to be sure each action was complete before the next sequence would start: the mirror had to raise all the way and the lens stop down before the first shutter curtain would release, the second curtain released after the first moved the correct amount, the second curtain had to complete to trigger the mirror to return.
If the mirror is up, is the sensor visible, meaning the shutter is fully open? If so, the closing blades of the shutter haven't activated. On the early shutters the battery held the shutter open, so losing power would cause it to close. I don't know if the K-5 still uses this, but if so and it's open, it must be a mechanical jam.
If the shutter is closed while the mirror is up, either the shutter hasn't opened, or has closed and failed to trip the mirror to return.
Certainly sounds mechanical rather than power or electrical.

12-23-2011, 08:40 PM	#1
hsu1 New Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 16	Help! Bizarre problem with my beloved K5! Guys, my beloved K5 is having issues, and I wanted to run it by you guys to see if anyone can help or even point me in the right direction as to what exactly is going on with the camera. Basically, the mirror looks like it's locked up (like when it's in sensor cleaning mode), and the shutter looks like it's stuck in place. It's like it's stuck in some sort of permanent live view mode, but there's no live view picture on the back screen. The camera can still turns on and off, however is otherwise not operational. I can see and change the camera settings when you press "menu", but I can't change the aperture/shutter speed, take a picture, or get live view to work. In fact, there's no shutter speed displayed at all on the back and top LCD screens, and there's a mismatch in the aperture display (top says f8.0, but the back screen says f1.4). The interface has slowed right down to a crawl, meaning I can navigate through the settings menus but it'll "lag" for a few seconds before the screen will respond to each key press. I've tried everything to fix the problem, but to no avail. I've removed the battery, changed the lens, removed/changed SD cards, reset to factory settings, formatted the SD card, swapped the battery - nothing. Everything is still stuck, even without power! Has anyone heard of this problem before? This problem could not have come at a worse time at just before Christmas - was hoping to get a few snaps of the family since we don't all get together often during the rest of the year. SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!

12-25-2011, 10:09 PM	#6
Mallee Boy Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: South Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,904	check battery I had a mal function with my K5 and it was as a result of low charge batteries in the grip...so I would check out your battery, if you have access to another one, try that first and make sure it is fully charged. Good luck.

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12-23-2011, 09:01 PM	#2
D4rknezz Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,196	Dont think it would help but if you havent, update the firmware too? just in case it resets something at the more base level.

12-23-2011, 10:02 PM	#3
hsu1 New Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 16 Original Poster	Thanks for the thought, but it's on 1.11. I'm starting to suspect it's mechanical, but that wouldn't explain the extreme slowdown in the menu system? Truly stumped....

12-23-2011, 10:50 PM	#4
aleonx3 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Brampton, Ontario Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,996	I am equally puzzled based on what you described... do you have another battery to try? also, don't understand what you meant by saying the menu got stuck even without battery power - does the LCD screen still lit up? Even without the SD card, the camera should still start up... so, the first thing I would do is to ensure the battery is good.

12-25-2011, 05:01 AM	#5
Kunzite Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Romania Posts: 15,132	I'm afraid it looks like a typical mechanical failure ("Everything is still stuck, even without power"). Something got stuck and the camera can't complete it's exposure cycle, sorry, a trip to the service centre is required. About the slowdown, well, I rather see it as a side effect; the software was not designed to operate with the camera in such a state.

12-26-2011, 05:46 AM	#7
hsu1 New Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 16 Original Poster	Thanks guys. I don't have access to a spare battery just right now, but will give it a go when I return back home after the holiday break tomorrow. Failing that, I'm pretty much resigned to sending it back for repair - hopefully it's still under warranty, I can't remember clearly but I'm sure I picked it up around January 2011.

12-26-2011, 06:40 AM	#8
TomB_tx Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,446	I assume the K-5 still has mechanical sequence interlocks on the mechanisms, even with the electronic controls. All mechaical SLRs had such interlocks to be sure each action was complete before the next sequence would start: the mirror had to raise all the way and the lens stop down before the first shutter curtain would release, the second curtain released after the first moved the correct amount, the second curtain had to complete to trigger the mirror to return. If the mirror is up, is the sensor visible, meaning the shutter is fully open? If so, the closing blades of the shutter haven't activated. On the early shutters the battery held the shutter open, so losing power would cause it to close. I don't know if the K-5 still uses this, but if so and it's open, it must be a mechanical jam. If the shutter is closed while the mirror is up, either the shutter hasn't opened, or has closed and failed to trip the mirror to return. Certainly sounds mechanical rather than power or electrical.