[stevebrot]

should send it to Pentax before the warranty period is over?

Your camera suffers from a known defect that is easily remedied at minimal cost. That defect will affect resale value and should be disclosed if you ever choose to sell the camera. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.


Steve

[BigMackCam]

does anyone think that this could be/become a real problem and that I should send it to Pentax before the warranty period is over?
Or should I just not bother since it (the "burst") stops on its own ?

I agree with Steve. As it's in warranty, make good use of that and have the camera factory-altered. You'll feel better about using it, and if you should ever sell it, it's a point in the camera's favour

[jpzk]

Your camera suffers from a known defect that is easily remedied at minimal cost. That defect will affect resale value and should be disclosed if you ever choose to sell the camera. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.


Steve

I agree with Steve. As it's in warranty, make good use of that and have the camera factory-altered. You'll feel better about using it, and if you should ever sell it, it's a point in the camera's favour

Thank you guys!
I'll do that ... lucky for me I still have my trusty "old" K5 while the K3 will be away!

Cheers!

[BigMackCam]

I'll do that ... lucky for me I still have my trusty "old" K5 while the K3 will be away!

I love the K-5. I'd intended to retire mine almost exactly a year ago, but I still shoot it alongside the K-3 almost daily. It has stood the test of time far better than me!!

[jpzk]

I love the K-5. I'd intended to retire mine almost exactly a year ago, but I still shoot it alongside the K-3 almost daily. It has stood the test of time far better than me!!

Yep!
That K5 sure has been a real workhorse for me too and still ticking after nearly 90,000 clicks!

[audiobomber]

Yep!
That K5 sure has been a real workhorse for me too and still ticking after nearly 90,000 clicks!

Mine was total crap, could not focus in artificial light, even after the firmware upgrade that was supposed to fix it.

[BigMackCam]

I remember reading something about that, but it has never been a problem for me. Having said that, most of my K-5 photography has been in natural light or under regular domestic lighting...

[audiobomber]

I remember reading something about that, but it has never been a problem for me. Having said that, most of my K-5 photography has been in natural light or under regular domestic lighting...

Regular domestic, i.e. tungsten lighting, was the worst, causing severe front focus. Results vs. my K20D and K-x are here:
Browser no longer supported
or here, in case the above doesn't work:
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/100586096103361553535/album/AF1QipO58kdd...CLf74sWxotSUfA

Focus in natural light was normal.

[BigMackCam]

Interesting. So is it consistent or random in nature?

[audiobomber]

Interesting. So is it consistent or random in nature?

Consistent and severe in tungsten, normal in natural light.

Some K-5's had this tungsten light issue and returning the body for service did not help. Some K-5's were helped by a firmware update, but the K-5 still has a reputation for inferior AF performance. AF improvement was the main reason for the K-5 II release (improved AF in coloured light, f2.8 sensor and focus tracking).

I would never recommend a K-5 to anyone who uses auto-focus lenses. It should never have been released, they should have gone straight to the K-5 II. The K-5 tarnished Pentax's reputation thanks to its autofocus woes. I blame greedy Hoya.

[BigMackCam]

Consistent and severe in tungsten, normal in natural light.

Some K-5's had this tungsten light issue and returning the body for service did not help. Some K-5's were helped by a firmware update, but the K-5 still has a reputation for inferior AF performance. AF improvement was the main reason for the K-5 II release (improved AF in coloured light, f2.8 sensor and focus tracking).

I would never recommend a K-5 to anyone who uses auto-focus lenses. It should never have been released, they should have gone straight to the K-5 II. The K-5 tarnished Pentax's reputation thanks to its autofocus woes. I blame greedy Hoya.

Wow. Well, I can only speak as I find. My old K-5 has given me years of trouble-free service, including AF with some fairly fast lenses. I've not experienced the problems you mention, but haven't done much tungsten-lit photography with it. These days, I use mine primarily with old manual-focus glass, and it's good for that. Occasionally gets confused with white balance, more than the K-3, but otherwise it performs extremely well... for me

[pichaser]

Pentax has been my choice since the 80's. My K-3 functioned well for 24000+ actuations and now back from Precision It has worked well for 1000+ more. Yes I am addicted hopelessly to its magic so please keep me enthralled eternally.

Crazy mirror flapping is back for my K3!! I had one incident about a month ago and have since installed the latest firmware only to have the worst bout of mirror flapping yet. Is there any hope? In previous posts I mentioned the problems the fix on warranty by precision camera repair and now the most severe made my bird photography impossible.

[audiobomber]

The firmware upgrade worked for me. I had three severe bouts of mirror flap previously. After the software upgrade, I had some strange symptoms a few times in the past couple of years, i.e. sounded like rapid flapping but stopped in a second.

[pichaser]

Today all crazy mirror flapping has vanished. Not using the factory battery grip D-BG5 seems to have made the difference between my k3 acting up and working like new. During several trouble free outings my battery grip loaded with 6 Duracell AA 's that were not replaced but after replacing them with 6 new Duracell AA's my K3 went bonkers? I tested the new Duracells and made sure they were new. I am lucky for how long this time? My firmware v 1.30 was installed in December 2016. Explanations are only important to me if my camera works.