[westmill]

Having just bought the K5
I was Making test shots and loading them onto my laptop when all of a sudden the veiwer died !
I could not veiw pics on camera or use info or the menu ! It was Totaly dead..... Frightned me silly lol
I found turning the camera off and back on again bought it back to life. I managed to get it do this sumhow about 3 times !
Any ideas what could cause this anyone ?
I think it came with 1.3 driver and I upgraded to 1.11 the night before. Is it poss the program could be corrupted ?
Another prob I had was the camera wouldnt allow me to switch to RAW and was stuck in jpg mode ?
I think its poss that I had accedently had a jpg program running though, as when I turned it off... Bingo.... got my RAW back.
If thats the case, Im dumbfounded that, that is even possable. Thats just poor design ! Given the alternative I hope its poor design lol
I love the camera in genral, and since sorting out the focus problems with the tamron 17-50 2.8 It has given me the finest sharpest pics
Ive ever seen on an APSC camera. To top it off... simply wonderful to work with files in both CS4 and Nikon NX
These seemingly small things are making me wonder about the reliability of it though. It matters not a jot to me how good the performance
of it is if its not reliable it no more than a very expensive paper weight to me.
So I would be eternaly grateful if anyone can get rid of my fears !

[felixkh]

Viewer as in EVF or the LCD screen? Need to know how you are loading into your laptop as you cannot view when transferring files from camera to laptop. There is no other jpg program that runs in the camera, unless you are talking about the laptop and in which case will not affect your switching to RAW

[procyon]

It's a bit hard to understand from your description what exactly malfunctioned?
The title is "Screen probs", but then you say "the viewer died"?
Did something happen on the computer or on the camera?
Were you trying to browse pictures on the camera at the same time you were downloading them to the computer?
That is something I can honestly say I have never even tried to do(but I guess it might be a corner case where things can happen).
I always download pictures by using a card reader as it is much faster.

[westmill]

Sorry.... Im talking LCD screen on back of camera here !
The pics were downloaded to my laptop from the card. The camera was malfunctioning after inserting the card back into the camera.
When I turned the camera on, LCD failure... Totaly The top screen was lit up and opperational though. I even took a pic, but couldnt bring it up
for veiw on camera. Neither would the info button work or menu screen. I turned the camera off and back on... all was well !
It did this, each and every time I removed the card and back again. Since then, to be honnest ive downloaded direct from the camera to be safe, but
obviously that cant continue.

As for the problem of the camera taking my RAW option away from me......
I cant remember which program was running, but it was some thing like HDR or watever. All I know is when I turned it off My Raw option came back !
My conclusion to that is faulty camera or very bad design. I guess the question here is simply, are there programs on the camera that, while they are
on, stops you from using RAW. Im well aware that lots of the features are for use in jpg only but which one or ones actually take away RAW option.

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Last edited by westmill; 01-04-2012 at 06:34 AM.

[sterretje]

As for the problem of the camera taking my RAW option away from me......
I cant remember which program was running, but it was some thing like HDR or watever. All I know is when I turned it off My Raw option came back !
My conclusion to that is faulty camera or very bad design. I guess the question here is simply, are there programs on the camera that, while they are
on, stops you from using RAW. Im well aware that lots of the features are for use in jpg only but which one or ones actually take away RAW option.

Maybe time to read the manual ?

[westmill]

Maybe time to read the manual ?

If only I had thought of that lol
I cant see anything, that explains whats happenning.

[rtpguy]

Are you shutting the camera off before removing/re-inserting your sd card?

[westmill]

Yes !

[westmill]

Yikes ! Have I bought a pig in a poke then ?
I shall have to now consider sending the camara back to WEX photographic.
Back to Pentax or Nikon thoughts now occuring in my brain box !!!!!!

[jbinpg]

1) LCD failure - This happens if the camera senses that the SD card is not inserted correctly. Try another card.

2) No RAW - Occurs if a) you are in HDR mode which is jpg only or b) you are in Green mode.

Stick with your K-5. It is a great camera.

Jack

[westmill]

1) LCD failure - This happens if the camera senses that the SD card is not inserted correctly. Try another card.

2) No RAW - Occurs if a) you are in HDR mode which is jpg only or b) you are in Green mode.

Stick with your K-5. It is a great camera.

Jack

Thanks for that Jack ! I will have a look at that. Makes sense to me matey

WOW ! Jack...... who loves ya baby lol
It seems that if any of the programs are running, designed for shooting in jpg, raw option is simply removed.
You would expect to be able switch to raw anytime. Thats a rather bad design fault.
At least it shows my camera isnt faulty though.
Forearmed is forwarned though as they say !!!!!!
I often do the horse race courses where Im switching between Raw n jpg. Raw for the races and jpg for the presantation pics
for the owners. I have to present a pic to race horse owners between each and every race. The raws are developed at the end of the day for the press. mmmmmm ok... Solution.... Im going buy another K5... Simples.
Ive changed SD card..... Sorted !!!!!
I must admit.... I hate the flimsy SD cards.Exposed elements etc. Why on earth didnt they use CF
Its a 30mb 16 gig Sandisk. mmmmm bought off ebay.... Makes you wonder if its genuine !
If your ever in my area.... I owe you a pint !

[jbinpg]

Your jpg/RAW problem is easily fixed by shooting RAW+ which gives you one of each for every shot. The disadvantage here is that it more rapidly consumes card space. You can also customize the front RAW/Fx button to easily toggle between one or the other file format if you so desire. The K-5 may seem an impenetrable maze upon first usage but it is actually quite intuitive with many features once you get some experience with it.

Jack

[westmill]

Your jpg/RAW problem is easily fixed by shooting RAW+ which gives you one of each for every shot. The disadvantage here is that it more rapidly consumes card space. You can also customize the front RAW/Fx button to easily toggle between one or the other file format if you so desire. The K-5 may seem an impenetrable maze upon first usage but it is actually quite intuitive with many features once you get some experience with it.

Jack

I often have to work so quickly. You know what its like under pressure. You find yourself in jpg and you need raw and brain freeze lol
Ive worked with Nikon D300 for so long... simple rugged reliable work horse. Does what it ses on the box.
The K5 has better meter though, and I am blown away with the quality. the last two races I was at 3200 asa.
Pentax will make a huge differance here. Im now getting the confidence with pentax to do a full system swap.
I also hate using two systems, as of course you get so used to one then have to then familarise yourself with whichever other.
So plan now is 3 k5 bodies couple of primes and a fast zoom.
A pentax love afair is on the cards now lol
Pentax should make a camera same as the 300 with the pentax sensor and meter etc ! Boy ! would it be popular !!!!
Thank you ever so much. truly appreciated !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[westmill]

If i was shooting jpg, it means that i would have to go through all settings, turning them off one by one, before the camera will allow me switch to RAW.
That is, no matter how you look at it, an enourmous flaw. I guess its not a huge problem for most, but it can be to a working pro.
Oh well... I shall do my bit to put pentax back on the pro circuit lol

[felixkh]

Great that you found the way to correct it. One thing about the SD card. Do not use any cheap bran but getr the well known brands instead like Sandisk. Go for the Ultra II or the Extreme and they should be able to gt you going without any problems.