Camera display not registering and some photos are blacked out

stephybethk · 01-09-2018, 10:17 AM

I have a K-3 with a Pentax 18-135 mm lens for my work. I've had it since last April and am using it to take photos of artifacts inside a hood. The following problem has only happened to me once or twice in the last few months. I haven't changed any settings since I started, and I have taken thousands of photos with this camera.

Today when I tried to take a photo with the digital display on, rather than showing what the lens was pointed at, it was blacked out with flashing red readouts along the bottom--exactly what you see when you forget to take the lens cap off. (The cap was not on). Sometimes I could turn the display off and back on, and it would go back to normal, other times it would not. This would also happen sometimes when I switched between the playback mode and camera, also when I turned the camera off and back on. I haven't been able to discern a pattern of when it works properly and does not.

After a little while I stopped using the digital display altogether and continued photographing, which helped for a little bit, but then it starting saving blank, blacked out photos. Now the frequency of both of these problems has increased, and I'm unable to take photos consistently.

I've turn the camera off/on, taken out the battery (it's been fully charged while this has happened), updated the firmware, checked for dust, cleaned the lens and camera, and reset to factory settings. None of these actions have changed anything.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I thought I'd check around to see if there's a simple fix before anything else. Thanks.

Ole · 01-09-2018, 02:13 PM

My first thought is that mirror lock-up shooting is engaged although resetting to factory settings should have cleared that.

After turning on the camera, press the up button on the four way controller. This opens up the drive mode screen.
Make sure that the left-most icon (single frame shooting) is selected.

My second thought is that the camera is set to manual exposure with the shutter speed and F-stops set to their smallest values (like 1/8000s and F22).

sys3175 · 01-11-2018, 11:15 AM

Ok, let's sort this out: for some reason you get unexposed or severely underexposed photos.
1st check: switch on the camera, press the red button marked LV just on the right of the viewfinder. You should see what you're pointing the camera at on the LCD display.
If not, the shutter might stay closed or the mirror doesn't swing up. You could check if they move correctly by selecting Sensor Cleaning, then Mirror Up from the last page of the wrench menu, take off the lens before and look into the camera: do you see the sensor? (Leave this mode by turning off the camera).

After checking this, report back so that we can see more clearly what's going on.

stephybethk · 01-26-2018, 12:53 PM

Thanks everyone for the help. I tried out the suggestions, which helped me narrow down the issue.

I ended up taking it to a camera repair shop to have someone look at it. He said something was either wrong with the shutter or the sensor. He said it seemed to be getting stuck (I don't know enough about camera hardware to be more articulate). I had to send it back to the factory to have it repaired, which they've done promptly.

01-09-2018, 10:17 AM	#1
stephybethk New Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 2	Camera display not registering and some photos are blacked out I have a K-3 with a Pentax 18-135 mm lens for my work. I've had it since last April and am using it to take photos of artifacts inside a hood. The following problem has only happened to me once or twice in the last few months. I haven't changed any settings since I started, and I have taken thousands of photos with this camera. Today when I tried to take a photo with the digital display on, rather than showing what the lens was pointed at, it was blacked out with flashing red readouts along the bottom--exactly what you see when you forget to take the lens cap off. (The cap was not on). Sometimes I could turn the display off and back on, and it would go back to normal, other times it would not. This would also happen sometimes when I switched between the playback mode and camera, also when I turned the camera off and back on. I haven't been able to discern a pattern of when it works properly and does not. After a little while I stopped using the digital display altogether and continued photographing, which helped for a little bit, but then it starting saving blank, blacked out photos. Now the frequency of both of these problems has increased, and I'm unable to take photos consistently. I've turn the camera off/on, taken out the battery (it's been fully charged while this has happened), updated the firmware, checked for dust, cleaned the lens and camera, and reset to factory settings. None of these actions have changed anything. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I thought I'd check around to see if there's a simple fix before anything else. Thanks.

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01-09-2018, 02:13 PM	#2
Ole Administrator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,409	My first thought is that mirror lock-up shooting is engaged although resetting to factory settings should have cleared that. After turning on the camera, press the up button on the four way controller. This opens up the drive mode screen. Make sure that the left-most icon (single frame shooting) is selected. My second thought is that the camera is set to manual exposure with the shutter speed and F-stops set to their smallest values (like 1/8000s and F22).

01-11-2018, 11:15 AM	#3
sys3175 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 50	Ok, let's sort this out: for some reason you get unexposed or severely underexposed photos. 1st check: switch on the camera, press the red button marked LV just on the right of the viewfinder. You should see what you're pointing the camera at on the LCD display. If not, the shutter might stay closed or the mirror doesn't swing up. You could check if they move correctly by selecting Sensor Cleaning, then Mirror Up from the last page of the wrench menu, take off the lens before and look into the camera: do you see the sensor? (Leave this mode by turning off the camera). After checking this, report back so that we can see more clearly what's going on.

01-26-2018, 12:53 PM	#4
stephybethk New Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 2 Original Poster	Thanks everyone for the help. I tried out the suggestions, which helped me narrow down the issue. I ended up taking it to a camera repair shop to have someone look at it. He said something was either wrong with the shutter or the sensor. He said it seemed to be getting stuck (I don't know enough about camera hardware to be more articulate). I had to send it back to the factory to have it repaired, which they've done promptly.