[KansasHorizons.com]

Last night the K-5 decided to start shorting out. I had had this happen once before so briefly that I wrote it off as nothing serious, too bad as it was still under warranty then.

I was on manual shooting for longer low light exposures when my 10 second shots became longer, Took a look and it was at 20 seconds. I tried switching back and it wouldn't go or if it went somewhere it would jump around from 4 to 20 seconds. I really needed to finish some shots so I switched to bulb. Bulb would kick out at about 4 seconds. Turning it off did nothing. It took a battery removal to get it to stop.

Any ideas? Anyone had similar problems?

[vonBaloney]

Not quite following, but sounds like that might just be the noise reduction (dark frame subtraction) which is used for long exposures and is normal. Essentially it doubles your shutter open duration.

[Philoslothical]

I tried switching back and it wouldn't go or if it went somewhere it would jump around from 4 to 20 seconds.

This part makes it sound like the typical e-dial issue, which is common with the K-r and some other models. There could be something gunking it up, or excess lubricant on the e-dial mechanism causing it to skip. Would it kick you out of bulb mode if you rolled the wheel yourself during a shot? I've never attempted that.

The fix is normally a squirt of clean drying contact cleaner (the kind without any added lubricants), followed by rolling the wheel for a few minutes in each direction. Since the K-5 is weather sealed, I don't know if it would be that easy, but that's the process for other models, and it nearly always works.

[KansasHorizons.com]

Not quite following, but sounds like that might just be the noise reduction (dark frame subtraction) which is used for long exposures and is normal. Essentially it doubles your shutter open duration.

Nope, it is actually changing the times on the display as well as actual shutter times. Not to mention it is off.

This part makes it sound like the typical e-dial issue, which is common with the K-r and some other models. There could be something gunking it up, or excess lubricant on the e-dial mechanism causing it to skip. Would it kick you out of bulb mode if you rolled the wheel yourself during a shot? I've never attempted that.

The fix is normally a squirt of clean drying contact cleaner (the kind without any added lubricants), followed by rolling the wheel for a few minutes in each direction. Since the K-5 is weather sealed, I don't know if it would be that easy, but that's the process for other models, and it nearly always works.

I can't imagine how taking the battery out would have solved a "gunked" up short. I am thinking it ends up being an electronic issue. I would imagine bulb is automatically kicked out as a norm if you switched from bulb.

[rawr]

If it's an electronic issue, do you have a good second battery handy? You could just have a dud battery.

[KansasHorizons.com]

If it's an electronic issue, do you have a good second battery handy? You could just have a dud battery.

I have the battery grip with it set to use battery first. I removed it from the grip first to resolve the problem and it did not. I never thought until this moment to try using the dial on it to see if it was still affected but I am pretty sure it would have still malfunctioned.

[Jodokast96]

One problem users of the grip have seen is they are hitting the dials on the grip and not even noticing it. Try turning the grip off or removing it and see if it replicates.

[rawr]

FWIW, from my own experience, if you have a 3rd party grip, the grip and body don't always play nice together. Not only the switches, but the battery metering and associated circuitry too have sometimes caused weirdness. My cheap grip stays in the cupboard now.

[KansasHorizons.com]

Update:

After sending it in 2 months ago the first parts shipment was somehow missing the parts needed from Japan. They were due in again about now since they only ship every two weeks (was my understanding) and today I find they shipped it, but upon looking at what was done I found this in red below has been added. It is too late to call today and see what happened.

As I had spoken to Pentax before my time had ran out and the problems were well known they did honor the warranty which was really helpful. I do recommend you never count on that to all to always get the 2 year extended warranty with your camera or as soon as they are available to avoid any issues. The initial estimate was $480 for the repair.

I am guessing I am getting someone else's older returned camera?

Received 6/14/2012
With Estimator 6/15/2012
Requires attention 6/20/2012
In Repair 6/20/2012
Parts Hold 6/22/2012
Parts Hold Back Order 6/27/2012
Requires attention 8/10/2012
Repair Completed 8/10/2012
Ship 8/10/2012

ESTIMATE TO REPLACE IMAGING SENSOR PCB
REPLACE E-DIAL UNITS
ADJUST TO MANUFACTURERS SPECIFICATIONS
GENERAL CHECK AND CLEAN
REPAIR COMES WITH A 90 DAY SERVICE WARRANTY
YOUR PENTAX PRODUCT HAS BEEN REPLACED UNDER THE TERMS OF YOUR ORIGINAL
MANUFACTURER'S WARRANTY WITH A PENTAX PRODUCT OF EQUAL OR GREATER VALUE
REPLACED SEE
NEW SERIAL # 4002xxx
OLD SERIAL # 4005xxx