[kodai84]

My K-30 has recently developed a strange problem. Often the FIRST photo I take when the camera's not been used in a day or so will be very dark (but not totally black, just very underexposed). The EXIF settings show everything set properly. All subsequent photos taken during the same shoot, reguardless of whether the camera's turned off and back on between shots makes no difference, are normal! I haven't noticed the pbm. being mode-specific, though I normally shoot in Av or TAv modes, no Liveview. I've had it happen with both of the rechargable batteries I use, one the orig. Pentax and the other an off-brand. Any ideas? The camera's still perfectly usable, but now I have to make sure I fire off a throw-away shot when beginning a new shooting day, which is annoying. I've long had the latest firmware, v1.06 and no other issues.

[Painter]

Perhaps slow aperture blades on your lens. What lens is it?

[kodai84]

I had it happen yesterday with my Tamron 90mm Macro, and today on my 40mm Pentax DA limited (pancake).

[link81]

does it happen if you shoot wide open? or only if stopped down?
if you close the aperture all the way and hit the DOF button, does the lens stop down fast? or is it somewhat sluggish?
hows the battery? fully charged? try a different battery?

[stevebrot]

There are some known issues regarding K-30 and underexposure that are traceable to the aperture control mechanism. If your camera is still under warranty, you should contact Ricoh/Pentax.


Steve

[narual]

Maybe some of the letters got stuck inside the camera. Or should that be "mbe sm of the ltrs gt stk in the cmra?"

[kodai84]

I've now had a chance to experiment and duplicate this problem. If the camera's relatively "cool" (hasn't been on in a while and it's not hot weather), the 1st shot actually will stop the lens (any lens) all the way down, ie. f22 regardless of the aperture setting. I determined this by pointing the camera at my face and observing the action of the lens-blades. Subsequent shots will stop down properly. If I press the "optical preview" button to check DOF (which manually stops the lens down and back before the 1st shot, the problem is prevented. This is very annoying when whipping out the camera to take a single quick shot of something only to have it dark and having to snap a second one! It therefore does not appear to be mechanical (in which case the blades should either be stuck OPEN or FAIL to close down enough resulting in an OVERexposed shot). I tried cleaning the contacts on the camera that interface with the lens, with no change. I also observe the same failure pressing the "optical preview" button (1st press - f22, subsequent press f-[whatever set]). (pressing the "op" button once before shooting "counts" as that "1st shot", saving a wasted exposure)! Either way, the "op" button stops the lens down equally quickly and smoothly each time.

---

Last edited by kodai84; 09-30-2014 at 09:32 PM.

[CRStew]

I'm having a perhaps similar issue, only I am getting the very dark images the majority of the time when shooting using the viewfinder. Switching to the LCD screen capture with no other changes and the pics come out as expected..