[clackers]

70+ SDM conversions and thousands of posts. Also I freely share everything I know about SDM conversions with anyone who asks.

Yes, @Duves, Uncle has immaculate credentials ... he has contributed extensively to these forums, helping everybody, and just quietly ... kicks in cash to keep the site running, too.

Your bona fides?

[duves]

Every personal thing, provide know-how.
I have 270+ infrared DSLR conversions and the US company (lifepixel) are not available to provide the name of a German company from which they buy IR filters (Just by the way).

Most of you are not a problem for me.
Well, my compatriots can read it. And that's not good.

[scottike]

Thanks to everyone for the guidance in this thread. My K30 had developed the aperture solenoid failure, even with AA batteries, so I bought a busted *ist and salvaged the coils. The repair went off without a hitch and my K30 is back in action. There is no way I would have solved this issue without the community's help!

Now I'm on the lookout for failed K30/K50's on ebay so I can find a home for the second white solenoid

[photogem]

Thanks to everyone for the guidance in this thread. My K30 had developed the aperture solenoid failure, even with AA batteries, so I bought a busted *ist and salvaged the coils. The repair went off without a hitch and my K30 is back in action. There is no way I would have solved this issue without the community's help!

Your first aperture failures started some month ago in April, yes?
So you went for the AA solution which worked for a while but now failed.

Did you use a lot of live-view?
Photographers who do a lot of burst-shooting use usually live-view because the mirror is always open in LV and thus one achieves more shots.

What I'm after is if the question if this continuous release of the horseshoe of the solenoid during LV might add to the problem.
If one studies the way this horseshoe is moved and which forces work on it, it is clear, there is a strong force from the right side which will
tilt the horseshoe slightly. When it moves back into the inside of the housing of the solenoid, it will push against the left-side inner walls, create
more friction onto the plastic there. As I mentioned in previous posts: Investigating the difference of the green versus the white solenoid I noticed
more play with all green solenoids and a smoother sliding of the horseshoe within the housing. This was obvious to me with now quite a few white solenoids versus green solenoids. With the addition of a rougher surface of the material of some green solenoid-horseshoes (two had slight kind of corrosion) this could well be the cause of the problem: Basically cheaper materials plus less presice manufacturing.

Now I'm on the lookout for failed K30/K50's on ebay so I can find a home for the second white solenoid

Well, don't forget, the green solenoid sits also in the K500, K-S1, K-S2 and K70.
We have the first K70's failing in Germany! One person I know personally, but the choice was repair on warranty, which I understand. I even had offered to repair it for free because I could then present photos.

[scottike]

Correct, the issue started in April and the AA fix worked until a month ago. I use live view very infrequently. 98% of my photos are taken using the viewfinder. 15% of those are using burst mode. My shutter count was around 25,000. The green solenoid had noticeably greater magnetic force than the white I used to replace it. I suspect slightly different materials and magnetic circuit design to be the culprit.

[suraswami]

Your first aperture failures started some month ago in April, yes?
So you went for the AA solution which worked for a while but now failed.

Did you use a lot of live-view?
Photographers who do a lot of burst-shooting use usually live-view because the mirror is always open in LV and thus one achieves more shots.

What I'm after is if the question if this continuous release of the horseshoe of the solenoid during LV might add to the problem.
If one studies the way this horseshoe is moved and which forces work on it, it is clear, there is a strong force from the right side which will
tilt the horseshoe slightly. When it moves back into the inside of the housing of the solenoid, it will push against the left-side inner walls, create
more friction onto the plastic there. As I mentioned in previous posts: Investigating the difference of the green versus the white solenoid I noticed
more play with all green solenoids and a smoother sliding of the horseshoe within the housing. This was obvious to me with now quite a few white solenoids versus green solenoids. With the addition of a rougher surface of the material of some green solenoid-horseshoes (two had slight kind of corrosion) this could well be the cause of the problem: Basically cheaper materials plus less presice manufacturing.



Well, don't forget, the green solenoid sits also in the K500, K-S1, K-S2 and K70.
We have the first K70's failing in Germany! One person I know personally, but the choice was repair on warranty, which I understand. I even had offered to repair it for free because I could then present photos.

Even the K70 hmm. Not good. Ricoh should really fix this issue.

[caliscouser]

Even the K70 hmm. Not good. Ricoh should really fix this issue.

To have this continue over 3-4 generations of cameras is really disappointing.
A real shame because otherwise these were all arguably class-leading cameras for their time. I still love my K-30 to this day, it is a really excellent camera.

Then to have the user community do the engineering discovery to figure out what is happening and how to fix it only adds salt to the wounds.

C'mon Ricoh. We know you have limited resources, but really?

[UncleVanya]

Your first aperture failures started some month ago in April, yes?
So you went for the AA solution which worked for a while but now failed.

Did you use a lot of live-view?
Photographers who do a lot of burst-shooting use usually live-view because the mirror is always open in LV and thus one achieves more shots.

What I'm after is if the question if this continuous release of the horseshoe of the solenoid during LV might add to the problem.
If one studies the way this horseshoe is moved and which forces work on it, it is clear, there is a strong force from the right side which will
tilt the horseshoe slightly. When it moves back into the inside of the housing of the solenoid, it will push against the left-side inner walls, create
more friction onto the plastic there. As I mentioned in previous posts: Investigating the difference of the green versus the white solenoid I noticed
more play with all green solenoids and a smoother sliding of the horseshoe within the housing. This was obvious to me with now quite a few white solenoids versus green solenoids. With the addition of a rougher surface of the material of some green solenoid-horseshoes (two had slight kind of corrosion) this could well be the cause of the problem: Basically cheaper materials plus less presice manufacturing.



Well, don't forget, the green solenoid sits also in the K500, K-S1, K-S2 and K70.
We have the first K70's failing in Germany! One person I know personally, but the choice was repair on warranty, which I understand. I even had offered to repair it for free because I could then present photos.

I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure on the k30/k50 the mirror has to close and reopen with every shot in live view. This is why 2 sec self timer is recommended over live view for slow shutter speed shots when you are concerned with mirror induced shake.

[clackers]

slow shitter speed shots .

Ouch!

[The Squirrel Mafia]

Well, don't forget, the green solenoid sits also in the K500, K-S1, K-S2 and K70.
We have the first K70's failing in Germany! One person I know personally, but the choice was repair on warranty, which I understand. I even had offered to repair it for free because I could then present photos.

Hmmmm..... Interesting. I take it the same dark exposure issue?

[reh321]

Well, don't forget, the green solenoid sits also in the K500, K-S1, K-S2 and K70.
We have the first K70's failing in Germany! One person I know personally, but the choice was repair on warranty, which I understand. I even had offered to repair it for free because I could then present photos.

A failure this soon after release could simply be a case of "infant mortality" - some parts aren't right from the start, which is the primary reason for warranties.

When I asked about this at the K-70 section, Adam replied

Not sure if you can rely on this information- failure rates among the K-S1, K-S2, and K-70 are virtually unheard of alongside all of the K-50 incidents. This was supported by a survey we recently did.

If you have your heart set on the K-70, go for it, maybe wait a few months to see if you can get a deal, and opt for a 3 or 5-year third-party warranty to supplement the manufacturer's.

[UncleVanya]

I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure on the k30/k50 the mirror has to close and reopen with every shot in live view. This is why 2 sec self timer is recommended over live view for slow shitter speed shots when you are concerned with mirror induced shake.

Ouch!

WHOOOPS - Phone based typo! Good catch! I don't want to be a victim of that shake ever!

[MarkJerling]

Great post, thank you!

[photogem]

A failure this soon after release could simply be a case of "infant mortality" - some parts aren't right from the start, which is the primary reason for warranties.

It was the very typical fault which is similar to all the faults of the K30 up to the K-S2.
We do know for 100% that Ricoh replaces now the green solenoid, why should it be any different with the K-70?

When I asked about this at the K-70 section, Adam replied....

Not sure if you can rely on this information- failure rates among the K-S1, K-S2, and K-70 are virtually unheard of alongside all of the K-50 incidents. This was supported by a survey we recently did.

If you have your heart set on the K-70, go for it, maybe wait a few months to see if you can get a deal, and opt for a 3 or 5-year third-party warranty to supplement the manufacturer's.

I wish it would be true, but my strong guess is, that Pentax just did not notice early enough that it was this green solenoid.
This did not stop me to recommend a K-S1 to a good friend in need of a good but cheap DSLR, but I can help if it fails!

But users such as you should take into account, that one day one might have to purchase a white solenoid plus spend money for the repair (or DIY).
But hoping for "infant mortality" does not really help, at least with the K-S1 and K-S2 this kind of hope was as useless as hoping for a sunny day....
the track switches have been moved already into position!

The K-70 is yet too young and ... but... as it is still in production, one can hope (???) that Ricoh did learn and made sure this bloody little green gremlin is now replaced with a better one, hopefully (???) even not green anymore.

I love Pentax. I highly respect all the cameras with the green solenoid, all of them are great.
I don't think it was Ricoh's fault that the supplier delivered this green gremlin, but I hope (???) that Ricoh has learned meanwhile and fixed this
issue. The first two failures in Germany sadly point into a different direction!

[reh321]

It was the very typical fault which is similar to all the faults of the K30 up to the K-S2.
We do know for 100% that Ricoh replaces now the green solenoid, why should it be any different with the K-70?

I wish it would be true, but my strong guess is, that Pentax just did not notice early enough that it was this green solenoid.
This did not stop me to recommend a K-S1 to a good friend in need of a good but cheap DSLR, but I can help if it fails!

But users such as you should take into account, that one day one might have to purchase a white solenoid plus spend money for the repair (or DIY).
But hoping for "infant mortality" does not really help, at least with the K-S1 and K-S2 this kind of hope was as useless as hoping for a sunny day....
the track switches have been moved already into position!

The K-70 is yet too young and ... but... as it is still in production, one can hope (???) that Ricoh did learn and made sure this bloody little green gremlin is now replaced with a better one, hopefully (???) even not green anymore.

I love Pentax. I highly respect all the cameras with the green solenoid, all of them are great.
I don't think it was Ricoh's fault that the supplier delivered this green gremlin, but I hope (???) that Ricoh has learned meanwhile and fixed this
issue. The first two failures in Germany sadly point into a different direction!

My point was that initial failures do not mean that the K-70 will have issues commensurate with what is reported for K-30/50.

I've now had my K-30 for almost 28 months, shutter count = 2358. It still works correctly, and if it stops working correctly, I have several manual lenses ready to go, so potentially I could use it for some time to go. I had been thinking of getting a K-70, but obviously I have time to think this through, and this news just adds a voice of caution to the thinking.