[stevebrot]

I purchased the K-50 in October 2014, the repair was completed in May 2017.

It sounds like they did the aperture block replacement as preventative. That was good of them. By 2017, the issue was definitely known and pretty well characterized, with the K-70 already released the summer before.


Steve

[edri]

I wish success to the Pentax user who filed this lawsuit. It's a problem that Ricoh has ignored for too long, as if it didn't exist. I am surprised that this lawsuit was not filed sooner rather than later, but better later than never

I noticed this problem even with the old K100D Super, but it only happens after it has not been used for a long time and only for the first 2-3 frames.

[stevebrot]

What was an expected lifespan for a dslr back in 2013?

They are five year items for business tax depreciation, about the same as a PC or laptop.


Steve

[D1N0]

I thought you were supposed to start a suit at some specific court in Texas in order to win a case against foreign corporations.

[ffking]

The problems are:
Ricoh USA does not deal in cameras. They sell office equipment.
Ricoh Imaging USA, the distributor, would not have been privy to engineering details
Evidence from the time indicated that since most failures occurred out of warranty, neither the manufacturer nor Ricoh Imaging USA were aware of the scope of the problem until more than a year after the release of the K-50. What's more, the actual point of failure was difficult to determine due to lack of failed parts making their way back via the warranty route.
The "problematic" design has a long history of high durability dating back almost four decades. All evidence points to a possible supply chain issue.
The actual etiology for the aperture control block failure remains elusive despite significant effort from within the Pentax user community.
Evidence for the K-70 having pervasive issues with aperture control remains elusive.
Proving intent would require internal documentation at Ricoh Imaging USA indicating knowledge of and decision to sell known defective goods at or after Dec 2014. The problem again is lack of data that continues to this date. The actual incidence remains unknown.
The start date of Dec 2014 would exclude almost all original K-30 purchases and as much as half the K-50 sales. (K-50 debuted May 2013)
Ricoh Imaging USA was very good at extending warranty provisions for K-50 cameras with aperture control issues, some as late as three to four months after expiration.

I wonder if Ricoh USA are looking for legal representation

[Wheatfield]

I'm reminded that every time I boil the kettle for a cup of tea, the water is well over 200 F. I'd be frankly surprised if someone handed me lukewarm cup of coffee or tea.

Water boils at 212F, A “hot” cup of tea or coffee is probably in the 170F range. If you have an instant read thermometer, it wouldn’t be hard to check what you find is a “hot cup of tea or coffee. They were holding the beverage at 205F or thereabouts, apparently hot enough to cause some fairly serious injury. They were holding it that hot because it increased it’s storage time, not because that is a reasonable serving temperature.

[Serkevan]

Water boils at 212F, A “hot” cup of tea or coffee is probably in the 170F range. If you have an instant read thermometer, it wouldn’t be hard to check what you find is a “hot cup of tea or coffee. They were holding the beverage at 205F or thereabouts, apparently hot enough to cause some fairly serious injury. They were holding it that hot because it increased it’s storage time, not because that is a reasonable serving temperature.

This article Calculating the Optimum Temperature for Serving Hot Beverages - PubMed shows that ideal serving temperature is 135 ºF - Slightly under 60 ºC, which is in line with what I would expect. My Nespresso Vertuo pours at ~65ºC and I need to wait for a fair bit.


If anyone served me coffee at more than 90 ºC I'd be fuming - anything over 70ºC gets drastically more dangerous and I doubt anyone would be able to actually drink the coffee served at that temperature. I have zero sympathy for McD.

[aslyfox]

I thought you were supposed to start a suit at some specific court in Texas in order to win a case against foreign corporations.

" forum shopping " is not allowed

[ThorSanchez]

In the coffee one, at least, the company was found partially negligent because the temperature they kept their coffee at, while the best for giving it maximum storage time, was excessively hot as a temperature for serving it at. The lady in question was found partly negligent as well.

I don't know if they've change anything, or much. To this day if I go to McDonalds and get a cup of coffee it's going to be 15-20 minutes before it's cooled to the point where it's drinkable. And the coffee isn't that good, so I try to go elsewhere.

---------- Post added 06-29-20 at 07:53 AM ----------

I'm reminded that every time I boil the kettle for a cup of tea, the water is well over 200 F. I'd be frankly surprised if someone handed me lukewarm cup of coffee or tea.

Coffee needs just shy of boiling temperature to extract the flavor compounds from the grounds. But when you drink it, it's going to be considerably cooler than that. 200 will burn the crap out of your tongue. Or apparently other body parts, as well.

[SSGGeezer]

By the time anything is offered and accepted, the Legal teams on the winning side get the lions share of any settlement. Then there are admin fees , advertising for more class members, the end result is usually a check for $3.67 or some such ridiculous number. If you bought something that becomes part of a class action and they have records showing you were a customer and you didn't opt out, you have probably have gotten one of these small checks that are probably not worth the trip to the bank to deposit them.

[Dipsoid]

Perhaps, but to my mind it's like sticking your hand in a blender then suing the manufacturer because the blades were unnecessarily sharp.

Except it's really not. You're not served a battery-powered blender with exposed blades and no safety features in a drive through that could easily drop in your lap. The temperature McDonald's served their coffee at was incredibly unsafe and the injuries the poor woman recieved were horrible.

[Larrymc]

Except it's really not. You're not served a battery-powered blender with exposed blades and no safety features in a drive through that could easily drop in your lap. The temperature McDonald's served their coffee at was incredibly unsafe and the injuries the poor woman recieved were horrible.

Someone with a modicum of common sense would not put a steaming cup of coffee between their legs and then try to remove the lid with one hand. Common sense would also dictate that you shouldn't drive and text either but I see people doing it all the time.......it seems that common sense is spread very thin these days.

As for the camera issue, I never read which camera she owned and when she bought it. If the camera was a K-30 or K-50 why did she wait so long to file the lawsuit?

[Serkevan]

Someone with a modicum of common sense would not put a steaming cup of coffee between their legs and then try to remove the lid with one hand. Common sense would also dictate that you shouldn't drive and text either but I see people doing it all the time.......it seems that common sense is spread very thin these days.

As for the camera issue, I never read which camera she owned and when she bought it. If the camera was a K-30 or K-50 why did she wait so long to file the lawsuit?

Common sense would also dictate that an accident with coffee pouring over someone was a matter of when and not if, and turning coffee into a fireball was a very bad decision. With that logic we wouldn't have seatbelts.

As for the cameras, well, I'm certainly not a lawyer so I have no idea about how the entire kerfuffle will turn out, but the solenoid issue should have been dealt with in a swifter way for sure.

[D1N0]

Don't drink and drive

[bxf]

Someone with a modicum of common sense would not put a steaming cup of coffee between their legs and then try to remove the lid with one hand. Common sense would also dictate that you shouldn't drive and text either but I see people doing it all the time.......it seems that common sense is spread very thin these days.

Common sense would also dictate that an accident with coffee pouring over someone was a matter of when and not if, and turning coffee into a fireball was a very bad decision.

I can see merit in both sides of the debate, which, I suppose, is the reason the court ruling was that each party was partially responsible. That was a reasonable conclusion, I'd say.