[MalusLupo]

I got a pentax Q off ebay with the problem, powers on, but then powers right back off with in a second or two.

Been trouble shooting it, got new batteries, charged them and what not and it still does it. BUT I have been reading this forum and others and found my problem seems to not fit the norm.

My Q does remember its date and time between power cycles and battery changes. And it also takes photos just fine. It just wont stay powered on.

Update: I ended up selling the Q I had, and got a Q7 with a weak internal battery but it works wonderfully. I love shooting it and am glad I stuck with the Q series, Still also going to hopefully end up with a Qs1.

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Last edited by MalusLupo; 09-26-2022 at 05:49 PM.

[Elias Paniki]

have you tried another lens? I find odd times the Q shuts down if I don't get a snug fit on the lens. Does the battery indicator say it's full every time? (you're not shooting in like -20deg are you)

[MalusLupo]

have you tried another lens? I find odd times the Q shuts down if I don't get a snug fit on the lens. Does the battery indicator say it's full every time? (you're not shooting in like -20deg are you)

Sadly I do not currently have a second lens to try. I do have a lens adaptor for Pentax 110 and it also shuts down with that on. The battery does always read full, and the recharger confirms that, (even a battery that has been in for a hour and many power cycles recharges in minutes so didn't loss much power.) No temp is normal room temp right now, 76f or there abouts.

[reh321]

I got a pentax Q off ebay with the problem, powers on, but then powers right back off with in a second or two.

Been trouble shooting it, got new batteries, charged them and what not and it still does it. BUT I have been reading this forum and others and found my problem seems to not fit the norm.

My Q does remember its date and time between power cycles and battery changes. And it also takes photos just fine. It just wont stay powered on.

If it is a longer time period {1,3,5 minutes}, it could be the power saving feature at work.

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Last edited by reh321; 12-27-2022 at 03:26 AM.

[MalusLupo]

If it is a longer time period {1,3,5 minutes}, it could be the power saving feature at work.

Hmm its always seconds.

[17dew]

My Q turns on and right back off if the SD card door is open. Maybe a bad switch on the door? Maybe try fiddling with the door a bit. Just a thought.

[MalusLupo]

My Q turns on and right back off if the SD card door is open. Maybe a bad switch on the door? Maybe try fiddling with the door a bit. Just a thought.

Hmm I wish I could edit my first post. This is a good idea but this is not the case, with the door open the screen never turns on and a photo could not be taken. With it closed it fully loads and takes photos, as long as I am fast enough. Unless the switch is broken much further in then I am willing to explore, loss connections and the like. I hope its not that bad.

I am waiting on both a second lens, and cable, to see if I can fix the problem with ether.

[reh321]

Hmm I wish I could edit my first post. This is a good idea but this is not the case, with the door open the screen never turns on and a photo could not be taken. With it closed it fully loads and takes photos, as long as I am fast enough. Unless the switch is broken much further in then I am willing to explore, loss connections and the like. I hope its not that bad.

I am waiting on both a second lens, and cable, to see if I can fix the problem with ether.

I got a Q-S1 because “my Q-7 was showing its age”. For example, sometimes I would press and press the button before it turned on. I don’t want to discourage you, but your problem could be similar. I looked at them until I found one with ‘a low shutter count’ - a proxy for usage. I did find one that actually had a count around 100 in the description - also found out that merchants are unwilling to go to the warehouse and collect data they hadn’t collected initially; my theory is that they box them up for shipment once they have collected all the data they think is important.

[MalusLupo]

I got a Q-S1 because “my Q-7 was showing its age”. For example, sometimes I would press and press the button before it turned on. I don’t want to discourage you, but your problem could be similar. I looked at them until I found one with ‘a low shutter count’ - a proxy for usage. I did find one that actually had a count around 100 in the description - also found out that merchants are unwilling to go to the warehouse and collect data they hadn’t collected initially; my theory is that they box them up for shipment once they have collected all the data they think is important.

It very well could be. But I am not sure because beside the fact that it turns its self off, its very responsive, auto focuses and shoots very fast, when Its on for long enough to half press and full press the button. Saves images pretty fast, and reacts to all inputs pretty fast. I guess I can wait tell the cord and second lens comes and if nothing seems to fix it look into getting a newer Q model that is fully working.

[MalusLupo]

well I might have to call the camera a loss, Got a prime 01 lens and it still turns off, got it to take a few pictures in the seconds between turning on and auto turning back off tho and they turned out pretty good, focused and every thing. And the clock is still set and all, so I am at a loss for what could be wrong with it.

[reh321]

well I might have to call the camera a loss, Got a prime 01 lens and it still turns off, got it to take a few pictures in the seconds between turning on and auto turning back off tho and they turned out pretty good, focused and every thing. And the clock is still set and all, so I am at a loss for what could be wrong with it.

This is a very strange situation. Frankly, the “Q” is built like a ‘throw away’ camera. You could either purchase a new K-70 or a ‘low mileage’ Q-7/Q-S1; I know the latter are out there, although you may have to wait. Most dealers I’ve encountered are unwilling to check on ‘shutter count’, but sometimes one will be advertised that way. About a year ago I purchased a Q-S1 advertised with a count below 200, and about the time my 06 lens stopped focusing this past summer, eBay told me about a 2-lens kit with a shutter count around 1000.

[Bob 256]

I'm not familiar with the Q but you mentioned charging the batteries. Does it take non-rechargeable batteries. If so try them and see if you still have the issue. I had a digital camera with this issue some time back (a lower cost point and shoot), but unfortunately ended up tossing it, so sorry if it comes to that for you.

[reh321]

I'm not familiar with the Q but you mentioned charging the batteries. Does it take non-rechargeable batteries. If so try them and see if you still have the issue. I had a digital camera with this issue some time back (a lower cost point and shoot), but unfortunately ended up tossing it, so sorry if it comes to that for you.

Oh no, they are rechargeable only.
More Pentaxians should become familiar with it.
Perhaps some would prefer to ignore it because it is MILC, but it is a fine camera.
Pentax originally aimed it at younger women, and internalized its lower success as “MILC is not for us” rather than “needs viewfinder” as Canon and Sony did with similar cameras of the same era.
In fact using the K-30 was easy for me, because the controls were simply a more complex version of what the Q-7 has,

[MalusLupo]

This is a very strange situation. Frankly, the “Q” is built like a ‘throw away’ camera. You could either purchase a new K-70 or a ‘low mileage’ Q-7/Q-S1; I know the latter are out there, although you may have to wait. Most dealers I’ve encountered are unwilling to check on ‘shutter count’, but sometimes one will be advertised that way. About a year ago I purchased a Q-S1 advertised with a count below 200, and about the time my 06 lens stopped focusing this past summer, eBay told me about a 2-lens kit with a shutter count around 1000.

Sorry I should have updated the post

Thank you, I ended up with a Q7 and love it! I am going to hopefully get a Q S1 some day but for now I have my Q7 and lots of film stuff I am shooting.

---------- Post added 09-26-22 at 05:52 PM ----------

I'm not familiar with the Q but you mentioned charging the batteries. Does it take non-rechargeable batteries. If so try them and see if you still have the issue. I had a digital camera with this issue some time back (a lower cost point and shoot), but unfortunately ended up tossing it, so sorry if it comes to that for you.

There really nice cameras, but are known for battery problems. 12 mp but beautiful color. There as said by reh321 a rechargable battery only. You can get newer after market batteries but that didn't help.

---------- Post added 09-26-22 at 05:56 PM ----------

Oh no, they are rechargeable only.
More Pentaxians should become familiar with it.
Perhaps some would prefer to ignore it because it is MILC, but it is a fine camera.
Pentax originally aimed it at younger women, and internalized its lower success as “MILC is not for us” rather than “needs viewfinder” as Canon and Sony did with similar cameras of the same era.
In fact using the K-30 was easy for me, because the controls were simply a more complex version of what the Q-7 has,

Sorry I should have posted an update! I ended up with a Q7 with a minor battery problem but nothing that makes it unusable. Date reset thing. I love shooting it.

I looked at newer model Pantex, but even with buying a limited edition model and paying to have it imported from Japan I still paid less then a used k30 and I was limited by budget and a wish to shoot something small both form factor and image size. Not sure why its just kinda my thing xD

[barondla]

As my Avatar shows, I now own three “Q”s. I purchased a yellow/black Q-7 in Dec 2014, and for the longest time, it was my only “Q”. I originally purchased it as camera for ‘birding’ , as a way of getting real ‘length’ from K-mount lenses, but it proved itself when a general purpose camera was needed, but a lightweight camera was called for. Then, about a year ago, I had some problems; at first I thought that camera ‘was showing its age’, so I purchased a Q-S1. It didn’t always respond to my pressing the power button; in retrospect, the 06 lens was the biggest problem. After seeing a posting here about the 06 lens, I decided that it was actually the 06 lens that was ‘showing its age’, and that very day eBay advertised a ‘low mileage’ 2-lens Q-7 kit, so I purchased it too. I have put the yellow/black Q-7 and gold/white Q-S1 in the closet, and right now will use only the silver/black Q-7.

I recommend taking the other Q out for a shoot once in a while. Firing them up every so often reforms capacitors and helps keep the cameras working.
Thanks,
barondla