[Na Horuk]

K-5IIs or K-3 or even K-70! If you are in the western world there are big sales coming soon, due to the holidays. You can look for a deal or to buy a used camera from somebody else who found a deal.

You can have it repaired - the shop will usually take it in for a certain fee and give you an estimate on the cost. Then you can decide (if you decide not to repair, they still keep the first fee) when you have more info.
Repairing the K-30 should not be prohibitively expensive, but it might take a long time in some cases. Decide what your needs are and good luck

[robgski]

My first car had...

Car? easy life!!! We'd have killed for a car, 15 kids in my family, crack o' dawn dad would have us up with a beating, mum would feed us pea gravel, then is was out the door where dad would see us off to school. He was the bus driver, and he'd harness us to an old bus chassis and we'd drag him around the village picking up the other kids. It was tough at first, but about three years into it, he got wheel put on, and that was better.

[Des]

Car? easy life!!! We'd have killed for a car, 15 kids in my family, crack o' dawn dad would have us up with a beating, mum would feed us pea gravel, then is was out the door where dad would see us off to school. He was the bus driver, and he'd harness us to an old bus chassis and we'd drag him around the village picking up the other kids. It was tough at first, but about three years into it, he got wheel put on, and that was better.

---------- Post added 11-29-16 at 10:02 AM ----------

Repairing your K30 is the least expensive solution

You can have it repaired - the shop will usually take it in for a certain fee and give you an estimate on the cost.

I have seen a figure of $US225 mentioned ( https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/6-pentax-dslr-discussion/311054-fix-apert...r-failure.html ). Sound about right?

I suspect a lot of people don't get it done because they worry that the replacement will fail too. And you could get a second-hand K-5 for around the same money.

[iheiramo]

Had a same decision to be made about a month ago. Calculated that the third road would be most cost effective and went full manual. Manual legacy lenses are quite affordable.

[StLDave]

Just a small update, been researching on different upgrade options and fell for the k70. Was about to pull the trigger and ended up doing a little more research on the mechanism and others experiences.
One photographer commented they would switch to hi burst and run 8 to 10 frames.
Sure enough, took another 20 to 30 images and they all came out perfectly exposed.
We will see how long it lasts but fingers crossed I may be able to limp along during the holiday season.
Thank you again everyone for your comments and advise.
David

[MarkJerling]

Just a small update, been researching on different upgrade options and fell for the k70. Was about to pull the trigger and ended up doing a little more research on the mechanism and others experiences.
One photographer commented they would switch to hi burst and run 8 to 10 frames.
Sure enough, took another 20 to 30 images and they all came out perfectly exposed.
We will see how long it lasts but fingers crossed I may be able to limp along during the holiday season.
Thank you again everyone for your comments and advise.
David

Saw that post. Good to hear it's working for you too.

[reh321]

Unfortunately, this thread {now posted in its correct section} is not readily seen from this section
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/189-repairs-warranty-service/334112-k30-a...-repaired.html
It talks about a place which repairs the aperture block issue for $100 - a common problem leads to a cottage industry solution.

[StLDave]

Unfortunately the 'quick fix' was minimal. After 2 hours same issue appeared and the fix didnt result in proper exposure.
K70 here I come