[seventysixersfan]

This has only happened to me once, but last weekend, when I was using my K-01 with smc-F 35-70mm zoom attached and trying to autofocus on a subject, the LCD screen "freaked out" on me-- thin colored vertical lines appeared on the screen, sort of like an old television set with really bad antenna reception. I couldn't power off the camera by toggling the on/off switch-- it just stayed on even though the power switch was set to off. The only thing that worked was removing the battery; once I did that, reinserted it, and turned it back on, the LCD returned to normal. I haven't been able to duplicate the problem (nor do I really want to) but I was curious if any other K-01 user has experienced this (or other DSLR camera users who use LiveView)

[jatrax]

I have not on the k-01 but that sounds very similar to an issue with my cell phone. Vertical purple lines on the LCD and only pulling the battery fixed it. Weird.

[mrNewt]

Never seen that on my K-01... that's weird... :/
Are you using the Pentax battery or something else?

[manishved]

Has happened on several camera - even with the K3 last weekend....

[seventysixersfan]

Has happened on several camera - even with the K3 last weekend....

That makes me feel a bit better that it can happen to even the new flagship camera. Hopefully it's an isolated or very infrequent occurrence. I'm pretty sure I was using the genuine Pentax battery but there's a possibility it was my generic one in there (brand is Watson or Pearstone I think).

[mrNewt]

That makes me feel a bit better that it can happen to even the new flagship camera. Hopefully it's an isolated or very infrequent occurrence. I'm pretty sure I was using the genuine Pentax battery but there's a possibility it was my generic one in there (brand is Watson or Pearstone I think).

Make a mental note... next time it happens (hopefully won't be a next time) check and see what battery are you using and if the battery is fully charged.

The flickering might happen because of power fluctuations from the battery... that being either a "poor" battery or a battery going bad.
In worse conditions could be bad capacitors or capacitors about to go bad... they are not filtering the power from battery properly...

[seventysixersfan]

Make a mental note... next time it happens (hopefully won't be a next time) check and see what battery are you usinig and if the battery is fully powered. The flickering might happen because of power fluctuations from the battery... that being either a "poor" battery or a battery going bad. In worse conditions could just be bad capacitors or capacitors about to go bad... they are not filtering the power from battery properly...

Great suggestion, I will definitely do that. It's a new generic battery but I suppose there's always a chance it could be faulty. Maybe this will teach me to use genuine Pentax batteries? Or maybe it has nothing to do with the battery brand? I will keep track of the behavior.

[seventysixersfan]

For the record, my generic battery is the Wasabi brand sold on Amazon that I know many Forum users have purchased and are happy with.

Amazon.com: Wasabi Power Battery for Pentax D-LI90 and Pentax 645D, K-01, K-3, K-5, K-5 II, K-5 IIs, K-7: Camera & Photo

It is only $15 compared to $40 or $50 for the Pentax OEM battery.

In a negative 1-star review, the customer stated:
"On first use the camera operating system crashed after shooting a few shots. I removed the battery, reinserted the Wasabi, turned the camera back on and everything was fine. Called Pentax customer service and they told me to consider sending the camera in for inspection if it happened again. Set the Wasabi aside and went back to the Pentax battery. The camera has not crashed since (about 7 months) with continuous use of the Pentax battery. Day before yesterday the Pentax battery was near empty so I decided to keep shooting with the Wasabi installed. After 10 exposures the operating system crashed. Need I say more. "

I don't know if I experienced the same thing as far as an OS crash but it does sound a little similar. Anyway, I will have to do more testing with both my Wasabi battery and the OEM one.

[mrNewt]

Great suggestion, I will definitely do that. It's a new generic battery but I suppose there's always a chance it could be faulty. Maybe this will teach me to use genuine Pentax batteries? Or maybe it has nothing to do with the battery brand? I will keep track of the behavior.

I don't think is such a huge risk using off brand batteries - as long it is sort of a known brand... and it is for your camera.

Keep in mind that Pentax doesn't make the actual batteries either. Someone else makes them and stamps them with their logo and info.
Quality control might be better, but even batteries branded Pentax could go bad OR BE bad.

[seventysixersfan]

Great, thanks for your insight! Really appreciate it.

[manishved]

Great suggestion, I will definitely do that. It's a new generic battery but I suppose there's always a chance it could be faulty. Maybe this will teach me to use genuine Pentax batteries? Or maybe it has nothing to do with the battery brand? I will keep track of the behavior.

I was using my brand new K3 with the brand new and fully charged battery that came with it....

[nomadkng]

the NSA may have tapped your camera and could be using it to monitor you.

if they can do it with iphones, they can do it with anything