[Gerdup]

Embarrassing wedding shoot!!
First time I combined my new K-3 with battery grip, Pentax smc DA* 16-50mm lens and Pentax AF-540FGZ flash. After about 10 shots fired the camera started freezing completely, you can swithch off the camera and the grip but the display still shows the last setting - just that nothing works at all.

First time it happened i waited about 10 seconds - after switching everything off, it came back on again. Second time the same. Third time it happened i waited about 2 minutes and had to remove the main battery before it could operate. All of this happened a few times.

All batteries were fully charged, both body and grip. The flash batteries was full. Camera was set on P and flash on normal (no red-eye etc) and flash on P-TTL.

I did the firmware update 1.10 two days before the wedding shoot - seems the mirror flop is gone at least as mine did the same when I was shooting wildlife in Kruger National Park.

Anyone else with the same problem??

[MarkJerling]

Embarrassing wedding shoot!!
First time I combined my new K-3 with battery grip, Pentax smc DA* 16-50mm lens and Pentax AF-540FGZ flash. After about 10 shots fired the camera started freezing completely, you can switch off the camera and the grip but the display still shows the last setting - just that nothing works at all.

First time it happened i waited about 10 seconds - after switching everything off, it came back on again. Second time the same. Third time it happened i waited about 2 minutes and had to remove the main battery before it could operate. All of this happened a few times.

All batteries were fully charged, both body and grip. The flash batteries was full. Camera was set on P and flash on normal (no red-eye etc) and flash on P-TTL.

I did the firmware update 1.10 two days before the wedding shoot - seems the mirror flop is gone at least as mine did the same when I was shooting wildlife in Kruger National Park.

Anyone else with the same problem??

I've had a similar thing happen with my K-5 a few times. In my case, it only happens with one particular lens, never any others. Have you been able to replicate the problem with another lens or without the flash?

[audiobomber]

When you have trouble like this, remove the battery to reset. Disappointing that it happened after V1.10.

[rawr]

Since this is a complex rig, there are a lot of variables here just in terms of the hardware:
- camera
- batteries
- flash
- lens
- battery grip.

Each variable may have independent issues of it's own (eg a shorting contact or voltage spike on the flash throwing the camera electronics out), or there may be a chain of linked interactions between the various bits of hardware (eg erratic battery on grip causing SDM motor on lens to freeze up causing camera to refuse to fire shutter).

Only real way to diagnose the issue is to progressively remove the variables until you find the point of failure. Or study enough reports of similar problems to find a pattern that matches your setup.

Not very helpful, sorry.

[stevebrot]

When you have trouble like this, remove the battery to reset. Disappointing that it happened after V1.10.

Me too. I have had mine freeze about five times since I got the camera in April and this last time, it happened while I was shooting. Press the shutter...nothing happens. Yes, I lost a couple of shots. I was hoping that a fix was slipped into v1.10.


Steve

[MarkJerling]

Me too. I have had mine freeze about five times since I got the camera in April and this last time, it happened while I was shooting. Press the shutter...nothing happens. Yes, I lost a couple of shots. I was hoping that a fix was slipped into v1.10.


Steve

While pulling the battery fixed the issue, I'm still trying to determine exactly what happens to cause it. In my case, as stated above, it only happens with one lens, my Sigma DG 70-300 macro. I've narrowed it down further: It occurs when I'm turning the zoom ring on the lens all the way to 300mm while, at the same time, shooting jpg high speed burst, i.e. in sporting situations, 7fps. Lock-up occurs randomly and rarely under those circumstances. I can only assume there's some power issue or a memory issue causing the problem.

It's bloody annoying though, when you miss the goal shot because your camera has just frozen! Still, life could be tougher, I suppose.

[Imageman]

I heard of a similar freezing issue but with a different camera so this is probably bunk. Ill throw it in for what its worth.


The issue was the battery grip. I didn't hear if there was a resolution.


I would centre testing on that item just to put it out of the loop, trying with and without grip.

[stevebrot]

I can only assume there's some power issue or a memory issue causing the problem.

Hard to say. I have only had it happen in simple, single-shot operation or when reviewing photos in playback mode. No grip, Pentax battery (less than 200 shots on full charge), 32 GB Lexar 32-bit class-10 UHS-I (1) XDHC.


Steve

[MarkJerling]

Hard to say. I have only had it happen in simple, single-shot operation or when reviewing photos in playback mode. No grip, Pentax battery (less than 200 shots on full charge), 32 GB Lexar 32-bit class-10 UHS-I (1) XDHC.


Steve

That's odd, indeed! I use a 16gb class-10 card.

[rawr]

I think the OP has suggested elsewhere in the forum that he is also investigating whether his SD card contributed to the problem. That may be a common element.

[stevebrot]

I think the OP has suggested elsewhere in the forum that he is also investigating whether his SD card contributed to the problem. That may be a common element.

Yep, the OP sort spammed this issue onto the site. If it is the SD card, we should be seeing an epidemic of frozen K-3s. My card is the one bundled by Adorama over several months.


Steve

[Uncle Jaque]

My K-100D locked up while shooting blossoms in the garden; Manual setting, 18-55 f3.5-5.6 SMC DA AL.
Got a shot that was under exposed; lowered f-stop and tried again; Orange "processing / recharging" light came on (no flash activated) and a little hourglass icon appeared on the LCD screen. Camera would not shut off - shutter would not release, and condition persisted for about an hour so it was obvious that it would eventually wear the batteries down before it "fixed" itself.
Could find no mention of this situation or icon in the manual.
Took a picture of the back of the camera with my little PENTAX Optio W80 while all this was going on.
Finally removed the 4 AA Energizer Rechargable NIMH batteries, waited a few seconds and replaced them.
Camera powered back up and seems to be functioning normally.
Apparently this "Re-Booted" the system and cleared the issue, whatever it was.
Have been using this camera for one year next month, and this is the first time it has ever frozen up like this.
Latest software update has been installed some time ago.
Another issue is that I recently purchaced a couple of 16GB SD cards and have been swapping them out a lot in between the K100D, the Optio W80, and the laptop PC. SD cards formatted in the 100D seem to work just fine in the Optio.

[Imageman]

What you have to remember is that cameras have not been produced for several years.


What we all now have, is computers that have a lens attached and a sensor and a card slot and batteries. These computers masquerade as cameras and function as cameras but theyr not cameras theyr computers.


Computers are prone to lockups and freezes.


Computers are mostly interrupt driven devices that stop functioning to perform internal tasks and sit in this interrupted state until the internal task completes. I cant see a reason for cameras not to be interrupt driven. The first non interrupt driven computer was the Apollo guidance system computer - mission fail and 3 deaths if they suffered a lockup.


Other non interrupt driven computers are guidance and approach systems for aeroplanes, and control systems for traffic lights. Anything that could result in death if it stops working is non interrupt driven. All other systems are interrupt driven. Cameras don't result in death if they freeze, so theyr interrupt driven.


With an interrupted computer if the internal task that spawned the interrupt doesn't complete the interrupt is never cancelled and the system or in this case the camera just sits there waiting for it to complete.


Smartphones are the same, as are computers,and car engine management systems as well. We have all had smartphones that just lockup, computers lockup as well, even cars have been known to lockup, leaving their occupants speeding down the freeway at 100 miles an hour without any possibility of slowing down. With cars a lockup can be life threatening, and the manufacturers still cant prevent it happening.


Expecting a modern "camera" to never lockup is I think simply hoping for something that cannot be.


If however a device is faulty in some way, and that includes memory card, attached lens, attached power grip, battery, all the things already mentioned, then this can cause an increased incidence of lockup. Isolating and replacing this faulty item will then reduce the lockups.


I know im not really contributing anything with these comments, but I thought it was useful to explain some background and provide some context.

[stevebrot]

Expecting a modern "camera" to never lockup is I think simply hoping for something that cannot be.

I would expect the opposite, at least based on my experience with my previous two digital cameras (Canon G2 and Pentax K10D). I have been using the Canon since 2002 and have never had a lock-up. The K10D, I purchased in 2007 and it functioned without a hick-up until I sold it just a few weeks ago.

Now, perhaps neither of those is a modern camera, but my expectation would be that the increased capabilities of my K-3 should not be accompanied by decreased stability. I will restate for emphasis. Stability is the issue here. Electronic devices that simply die periodically do so because of design flaws coupled with deficiencies in QA testing procedures. Simply put, the engineers made a boo boo and the QA crew's test cases were not broad or deep enough to catch the issue before the product went to market. Alternatively (perish the thought), the product went to market with the maker being fully aware of the flaw. This happens, I know, I write software and have seen flawed product released to production because of schedule and/or cost to remedy.

Either way, it would be my expectation that my K-3 should be robust for general operation and common tasks. I know the context and I also know the reasonable expectations for stability. Come to think about it, perhaps that is why I never moved into management...


Steve

[Imageman]

I have great sympathy for your point of view steve, and to some extent your right.


Victorian cars were notoriously unreliable, frequent breakdowns made even a 100 mile journey a nightmare. cars in the 1970s were very much more reliable and much more complex.


As complexity increased to modern day reliability increased and now cars are phenomenally reliable and phenomenally complex, so this agrees with your contention, as complexity increases reliability should increase.


I see the opposite happening too, greater complexity often means there are more things to break down, The most reliable devices are often the simplest.


Both arguments have merit.


But I come from a computer background and that colours my view ive seen huge unreliability in those devices, so im forced to take the jaundiced view and expect failures, as so much of the camera is now a computer.