Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
04-18-2014, 11:37 PM - 1 Like   #136
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Long Island, NY
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 593
Original Poster
You just sound insane now.

04-19-2014, 06:00 AM - 1 Like   #137
Veteran Member




Join Date: Feb 2010
Photos: Albums
Posts: 337
Your experience of rippling malfunctions (first the shutter motor, then the artifacts, then the loose rubber (seal) is exactly why the K-3 sample that came to me was sent back. It malfunctioned right out of the box, within five minutes producing two instances of uncontrollable shutter. After the 1.03 firmware update, the focus seemed to be losing clarity with fixed primes. With confirmed similar malfunctions found on this forum, there was no other choice but to return it to Ricoh.

If this happens to offend someone, the facts outweigh the sentiments of Pentax brand loyalty, which I have never experienced product failures like this in almost four decades of using that brand.

Best Regards,

Rite ..



QuoteOriginally posted by mamethot Quote
I first experienced the machine gun effect yesterday after 4100 shots. Nothing particular about the shooting environment. Single frame shooting drive mode, Av f8, iso100. AF.s.

Lens was a tamron 17-50 2.8

It lasted approximately 5 seconds then stopped at the same time I opened the battery compartment.

The I restarted the camera and took my first image with it:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lPu6H2DMOBIMMX0UUSCKJ-4OBvOZfsZ7vm6dhj...eat=directlink

That's right, that's a monster blob of whatever right on the sensor.

Not only that, there was also a tiny piece of whatever (plastic, rubber?) that I could see in the viewfinder. That I can't get a picture of, but it looks like a small piece of plastic.

The camera is going to Henry's at this very moment. SN 4830449
04-19-2014, 07:15 AM   #138
Veteran Member




Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 327
We had to return our first K3 also. The AF was never correct with any lens(we have over 20 of them). It also did the mirror flap until you remove the battery tango. The second one has once did a long shutter release then went unresponsive and required a battery removal to fix. That was with firmware 1.02. It works fine now, but to be fair we have never used the functions many here have that caused the flapping issue. Say what you will about the K5II series that it was just a rehash of the K5, etc, but it has pretty much each bug exorcised in that version.<br />
<br />
David
04-20-2014, 11:55 AM   #139
Forum Member
Joeberrio's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Medellín
Posts: 74
Yesterday 19 April I spend my for first time

I was taking some macros when the camera began with its "crazy mirror"

Settings camera:
2 SD cards (Sony 32gb Class 10 and Samsung 16gb Class 10)
M mode and Manual Focus on tripod
Shake reduction Off
AF.S and RAW format
Temperature 22ºC
Firmware version 1.03

Purchase date: February 25, 2014
Serial Number 4910258

04-20-2014, 05:58 PM   #140
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Fallon Nevada
Photos: Albums
Posts: 504
QuoteOriginally posted by DRabbit Quote
Ray: Because people keep adding their two cents which contain questions or accusations, and then I try to get it back on track, which I'm obviously failing at doing. LOL

All of you with questions and accusations and let's pile on DangRabbit mentality… why don't you start a new thread just for that purpose. Or use one of the others I nicely requested at the beginning of the thread that you use?
You do not seem to be getting the point, so let me try one more time:

You had a problem with your K3s.

You tested them to death and they still showed the problem.

You spoke to Pentax about it, but did not send the cameras in for service because you decided that they could not fix them because they did not know what was wrong. Just how would Pentax could tell you what was wrong with your cameras via email and over the phone I am not sure.

You returned your k3s and bought 2 K5II bodies.

You started your internet crusade, ultimately threatening Pentax that you were going to publish your diatribe if they did not respond, even though it seems that you have received a full refund for your K3s. BTW, Pentax owes you nothing at this point as you no longer own a K3.

You continued to post your story over and over and over and over and over here and at DPReview, long after you no longer had a K3.

You started this thread and asked that people simply report if they have the problem, but then you continue to break your own rules for this thread and re-hash your story even though you no longer have a K3, but others are not supposed to post anything but new reports, just you.

You order others to not respond but you keep responding to detractors here and also to those that report a problem. Since you no longer have a K3, by your own rules, you cannot report a new incident of the K3 mirror flap and therefore should not be adding anything to this thread.

No one here can fix whatever was wrong with your cameras, and anyone who has the problem can take advantage of the warranty period or return the camera just as you did. Had you simply stopped where I put the little cool smiley above, I do not think you would be seeing the reactions you have seen.

The best way for Pentax to get the message, AND be able to figure out the root cause of the problem is for cameras to be returned for service for the problem, or if the circumstances permit, back to the vendor for exchange or refund. This costs them money and at the same time gets cameras that do fail into the hands of the Engineers and Technicians who CAN figure out the root cause of the problem.

Your continued obsession with this makes you look like an internet nutjob, which we have experienced before, both here and at DPReview, and trust me, you do not want to Rabbit to be synonymous with RiceHigh and Barry Fitzgerald....

Ray
04-20-2014, 11:54 PM   #141
Veteran Member




Join Date: Feb 2010
Photos: Albums
Posts: 337
QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You started this thread and asked that people simply report if they have the problem, but then you continue to break your own rules for this thread and re-hash your story even though you no longer have a K3, but others are not supposed to post anything but new reports, just you.

You order others to not respond but you keep responding to detractors here and also to those that report a problem. Since you no longer have a K3, by your own rules, you cannot report a new incident of the K3 mirror flap and therefore should not be adding anything to this thread.

Ray
------------------------------------------------------------------

For the sake of the conversation (of identifying the K-3 mirror defect), this thread has been successful. It should not be limited to 'one-time' posts, since some of those have questions that need answering, and are best answered (or confirmed) by those experiencing the same issues.

The OP probably could have reworded the 'restriction' with instead of just replying with the error description, to leaving it open for answers and enable more information in attempting to clear up questions by those affected.

It has over 12,000 hits, so it is safe to say the OP has achieved their goal of informing anyone wanting more information about the issue
with what they were looking for.

I see nothing wrong with that.

Rite ..
04-21-2014, 12:28 AM - 2 Likes   #142
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Long Island, NY
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 593
Original Poster
I will answer the following points to clear up any confusion.

Then from here on out, I will not be answering any more arguers inside of this thread.

I will keep track of the reports and update the original post numbers when new reports come in, and I will reply to legitimate questions about the issue itself, but I will no longer respond to people who cannot seem to follow a simple request, or who lack reading comprehension. Especially when those same people tell me over and over that I've posted all over the internet about this problem, but still don't seem to know the story, lash out at me, and then pat themselves on the back for it, as if they've actually achieved something.

- - - - -

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You do not seem to be getting the point, so let me try one more time:
You had a problem with your K3s.
I had the problem with one K3 first, the one I bought in November...

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You tested them to death and they still showed the problem.
I didn't test them to death. I used the first K3 for my job, along with a K5-II, and a K-01. The K3 started to exhibited the mirror-flap issue within the first month of ownership. I had two contacts at Pentax because of an issue with my K5 that was in for repair, so I utilized those same contacts to let them know of my problem with the K3.

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You spoke to Pentax about it, but did not send the cameras in for service because you decided that they could not fix them because they did not know what was wrong. Just how would Pentax could tell you what was wrong with your cameras via email and over the phone I am not sure.
In the first month of ownership with K3 #1 I had the mirror-flap problem and talked to Pentax about it. They did not ask me to send it in, but asked me a series of questions, all of which I answered. The specialist I spoke with on the phone suggested that maybe it was battery related, and offered to send me a new battery (I didn't think it would help, but was willing to give it a try). It did not solve the problem.

This went on for quite a while... them asking me to try something, or me suggesting that maybe it might be something else. Each time this kind of conversation took place, where I would suggests something to them, or them to me, it then had to be "tested". And by "tested" I mean I waited until the next photoshoot I had (I have regular photo shoots 1-3 times per week), and proceeded to use the camera as intended, and then report back to them when I had the problem. I'd report by email and phone, and even took video of it occurring.

In the midst of all this, I was also dealing with the holidays, my mother having emergency surgery and me having to care for her, and going to photoshoots for work.

So each time the occurrence happened, or another "test" occurred, it may have been a few days, or week. I couldn't always get back to Pentax instantly, nor did they always get back to me instantly. All the communication went back and forth until February, when it was finally decided I should exchange the K3 #1 for a new K3. Even the communication for that took some time, and by the end of February I was able to get K3 #2.

The first photoshoot with the second K3 resulted in crazy mirror-flapping.

I used the camera for a little while longer, reporting back to Pentax and still trying different things suggested by them and, by that point, some people online. No matter conditions, settings, SD cards, batteries, etc... the problem would continue to occur with K3 #2...

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You returned your k3s and bought 2 K5II bodies.
...So by the end of March I finally decided, along with Pentax, to just return it, and use the store-credit for something else.


QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You started your internet crusade, ultimately threatening Pentax that you were going to publish your diatribe if they did not respond, even though it seems that you have received a full refund for your K3s. BTW, Pentax owes you nothing at this point as you no longer own a K3.
You continued to post your story over and over and over and over and over here and at DPReview, long after you no longer had a K3.
And see above. K3 #2 was returned the end of March.... and I decided to get two K5-IIs bodies.

There was no internet crusade. LOL. I started a couple of threads here and on DPR. I didn't start twenty of them. I didn't start ten of them. I think I started exactly three on DPR over the course of 3 months, and two here...

Initially, in February, I posted asking other's if they had experienced it, mostly to see if I was alone and if others had suggestions on what might be causing it. My goal was to keep the K3 because I liked it so much in every other way. I posted a thread here, and on DPReview about the same time. That was when I still had body #1.

I also did some searching around, to see if others were having the problem, partially because I remembered a similar issue with the original K5 when it came out.

In the life of that thread I got some replies and several PMs and someone suggested along the way to try to get everyone to report inside one thread, to see how many were dealing with the issue. That seemed like a pretty logical idea, so I went ahead and did that. Hence this thread... thread number two here on the issue. I started that thread over a month later.

Similar pattern on DPR. Since I've been a member of both places for a long time, I sought input from both places. It was never a crusade, especially since I'm still a Pentax owner.

I never said Pentax sucks. I never said I hated Pentax. I never called them an evil corporation. I gave them the benefit of the doubt at every turn in my process, and even started that article stating the Pentax took care of me personally. In that article I talked about how reliable and solid the K5-II and K5-IIs bodies have been. I even mentioned how much I like the K-01. LOL

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You started this thread and asked that people simply report if they have the problem, but then you continue to break your own rules for this thread and re-hash your story even though you no longer have a K3, but others are not supposed to post anything but new reports, just you.
Because of people like you who have nothing better to do than question every single word that comes out of my mouth and accuse me of having some agenda against Pentax, which I absolutely have a right to respond to. The only other types of posts inside this thread are reports of the issue and an occasional update. It seems to me, you couldn't follow the simple request/rule from the beginning, but you expect me to just be silent about it.

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
You order others to not respond but you keep responding to detractors here and also to those that report a problem. Since you no longer have a K3, by your own rules, you cannot report a new incident of the K3 mirror flap and therefore should not be adding anything to this thread.
I keep "responding to detractors" -- why are detractors even here to begin with? There are LOTS of other threads to play detractor in. There's a whole forum to start your own griping "I hate DRabbit" post if you like. If you or anyone else is going to mischaracterize my story, or attack what I say, I have a right to reply.

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
No one here can fix whatever was wrong with your cameras and anyone who has the problem can take advantage of the warranty period or return the camera just as you did. Had you simply stopped where I put the little cool smiley above, I do not think you would be seeing the reactions you have seen.
I can't return something under warranty when Pentax tells me over the phone and by email that they have no idea what is wrong. Neither can the others when they call and they are told "we can't reproduce the problem" or "we've never heard of that". If I'm remembering correctly, one guy has had his camera in for over a month already. Another sent it in and when it was returned, nothing had been done but to update the firmware. (and the problem has been reported, and personally confirmed, with all instances of firmwares).

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
The best way for Pentax to get the message, AND be able to figure out the root cause of the problem is for cameras to be returned for service for the problem, or if the circumstances permit, back to the vendor for exchange or refund. This costs them money and at the same time gets cameras that do fail into the hands of the Engineers and Technicians who CAN figure out the root cause of the problem.
And on this point I absolutely agree with you... which is why I was SHOCKED they never requested either of my K3 bodies back, when they knew with certainty that I had two different bodies that had the problem. I'll even give them a pass on the first body, because maybe they wanted to believe it was a fluke. But after the second body had the same issue right away, why wouldn't they offer me the exchange, as they did, AND request that body come back to them to investigate further? (rhetorical question).

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Pulley Quote
Your continued obsession with this makes you look like an internet nutjob, which we have experienced before, both here and at DPReview, and trust me, you do not want to Rabbit to be synonymous with RiceHigh and Barry Fitzgerald....
I've been very level-headed and patient throughout this whole thing. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just playing fan-boy sticking up for Pentax at all costs, nothing more. I'm not obsessed. I'm just not the type to drop the issue just because it doesn't effect me personally anymore. There are others who have had the problem and we all want to see it get fixed.

You say I have not dog in this fight, and you are absolutely right, in the sense that I got the credit for my K3s and was able to buy something else.... FROM PENTAX. Which means I actually care about seeing them solve the problem. I don't want to be afraid to buy a Pentax camera in the future. I don't want others to be afraid to buy a Pentax. Matter of fact, I'd love to buy another K3, but I'd like to know first that I won't have the same issue crop up again. I'd like to know their top tier cameras (other than the 645Z) are reliable.


And one last thing about me publishing an article. I've written reviews for Steve Huff's site before. Pentax absolutely knew that right from back in October, before I owned a K3. I didn't threaten them. I did absolutely tell them I wanted to be able to write a GOOD review for any of their products I choose to use, which it not at all an unreasonable thing to say. I've written positive reviews about their products before. Their CEO featured a video of mine on his own blog a few years ago. But I'm not one of their hired marketing people. I'm not a shill for them. And if I have the experience of bad reliability in one of their products (or any camera company's), I am certainly going to share it.

I'm not going to do that to be spiteful or exercise resentment. I do it because other's have the right to know. And I was more than reasonable in my assessing two K3 bodies over the course of five months. I certainly gave them plenty of time to figure out the problem. I even asked them a week before publishing the article if they had fixed it yet, and their answer was that they hadn't heard anything [from Japan] yet, and that "any solution would have to be engineered and tested before a solution can be offered"... which in its best light, indicated that the solution to the problem isn't going to come the next day... and in its worst, that they're not working on the problem at all. There's a few other interpretations as well, but none leave me feeling warm and fuzzy.

From here on out, I will not be answering any more arguers inside of this thread.
I will provide any updates when necessary, and I will keep the original post updated.


Last edited by DRabbit; 04-21-2014 at 12:56 AM.
04-21-2014, 02:07 AM   #143
New Member




Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: London.
Posts: 11
After more tests and time lapse shooting the camera didn't flop again, but who's to say it won't happen in the future. The problem is how many K3 owners use or care about time lapse shooting, burst shoot or haven't tried it yet. The poll needs to be fine tuned to get any answers and the overall trend.
04-21-2014, 11:41 AM - 3 Likes   #144
Veteran Member
yorik's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Scotts Valley, CA
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 991
Hi Amy,

I have been following this thread quietly for a while and while I can't speak for everyone, if I had to guess, I would say that most people find the thread useful, informative and not `anti-Pentax' - much like the majority of SDM-failure threads out there.

Thank you for persisting.

YK

P.S. Apologies in advance in case this post generates another round of grousing from the thread's detractors.
04-21-2014, 12:30 PM   #145
New Member




Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 3
Same here ...

If I got that right you want people who have had this issue to post their experience? I dunno but here is mine.

Got the K-3 for a few days and I was shooting some timelapse in Video Mode (M) at 1/30s, f5.6, iso200 in 10 second Intervals and I set it to shoot for 30 minutes in 4K, battery almost full and sandisk 16gb 45mb/s. firmware 1.00 (and with the 18-135mm KitLens if that helps)

After 20 minutes it started to burst. Thankfully I had been aware that this glitch exists so I was kind of expecting it. I shut down the camera immediately (no reaction) and took out the battery really quick for shutters sake. I have shot some more timelapses before and after this glitch appeared with similar settings and nothing happened.

Gonna look to the store as soon as possible and ask for advice.

Even though this 'hype' about the glitch is hurting Pentax's image and scares a LOT of people away from the K-3, I think it is good that many of K-3 owners are informed about the glitch so they can react quickly kinda knowing what the frick the camera is doing there which saves time and shutterlife. I hope Pentax solves this issue via software Update.
04-22-2014, 08:25 AM   #146
Junior Member




Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 39
Had this happen to me for the first time earlier this month.
Modelling shoot held on 2014 04 08
About 300 shots into the session when the mirror flap occured.
As I had read this thread previously, I recognised it for what it was. The camera would not stop mirror flapping and turning it off did nothing. It only stopped when I pulled the battery. No photos where taken during the mirror flap.
Waited a few seconds and put the battery back in and got through the rest of the shoot with no further issues.

Details from what I remember are as follows.
Shooting mode was manual.
Drive mode was single shot.
Lense was the FA77mm.
Battery (offical pentax battery) was freshly charged before the shoot.
Two 16gb sandisk extreme pro sd cards.
Weather was nothing unusual say mid 20 degrees c.
And for what it is worth my K3 is now pushing 20,000 shutter actuations.

It certainly alarmed the model to hear the camera all of a sudden start firing off at max fps (:

Cheers
04-22-2014, 09:16 AM   #147
Senior Member
karro's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Riga
Photos: Albums
Posts: 245
[offtopic=on]
did you manage to extend the session into "damsel in distress" direction, too?
[offtopic=off]
04-22-2014, 09:40 AM   #148
Junior Member




Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 45
Mirror flap does not happen with mirrorless..... LOL!!!!

But seriously, the only thing I should be interested in is (and may be some of the administrators or moderators here could then tell us):
Does Pentax (sorry Ricoh!) meanwhile acknowledge the problem of mirror flapping or not? And if yes, are they meanwhile working on it?
May be it is naive of me to think a camera manufactorer should officially recognize a obvious and serious problem, but still it would be nice to get (may be once) some notice
the problem is analized and solved.
"Pentax" is not a religion I think, but I have the feeling that who ever has a critical mind here, or rises up issues some "believers" or others who have the controll here don't like, gets a real rude mouth full.... How ever, I have myself a bit experience in marketing, it is always better, if there is a problem, to stand to it and fix it! And this could also be communicated - in a proper way. Thank you!
04-22-2014, 10:58 AM - 1 Like   #149
Pentaxian




Join Date: Jan 2013
Photos: Albums
Posts: 639
QuoteOriginally posted by WaveDancer Quote
Mirror flap does not happen with mirrorless..... LOL!!!!

But seriously, the only thing I should be interested in is (and may be some of the administrators or moderators here could then tell us):
Does Pentax (sorry Ricoh!) meanwhile acknowledge the problem of mirror flapping or not? And if yes, are they meanwhile working on it?
May be it is naive of me to think a camera manufactorer should officially recognize a obvious and serious problem, but still it would be nice to get (may be once) some notice
the problem is analized and solved.
"Pentax" is not a religion I think, but I have the feeling that who ever has a critical mind here, or rises up issues some "believers" or others who have the controll here don't like, gets a real rude mouth full.... How ever, I have myself a bit experience in marketing, it is always better, if there is a problem, to stand to it and fix it! And this could also be communicated - in a proper way. Thank you!
I am sure that Pentax is aware of this by now. Even if all the service centers around the world fail to communicate this issue to Pentax HQ, they will get the message.
They won't give notice however, just like always, this will be fixed in silence.
A thread like this will mainly be useful to us Pentax shooters, preparing us for when it happens. It will have little to no use at all in getting the issue acknowledged or fixed: that will happen anyway, and in silence, as always...

Chris
04-22-2014, 11:08 AM - 1 Like   #150
Junior Member




Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 45
QuoteOriginally posted by Chris Mak Quote
I am sure that Pentax is aware of this by now. Even if all the service centers around the world fail to communicate this issue to Pentax HQ, they will get the message.
They won't give notice however, just like always, this will be fixed in silence.
A thread like this will mainly be useful to us Pentax shooters, preparing us for when it happens. It will have little to no use at all in getting the issue acknowledged or fixed: that will happen anyway, and in silence, as always...

Chris
You are most probably right....
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
adapter, batteries, battery, body, camera, conclusion, crazy-ass mirror sickness, dslr, frame, grip, issue, k-3, k3, kiss, mirror, mirror sickness mirror, pentax, pentax k-3, post, shots, sickness, temperature, time, time lapse, view, voltage
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
K-3 failure - couldn't stop the mirror flapping up and down Photodana Pentax K-3 & K-3 II 26 06-11-2014 03:19 PM
Help - Pentax K2 Mirror Lockup replacement barbosas Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 6 11-06-2013 08:09 AM
Mirror lockup O'Brien 860 Pentax K-30 & K-50 23 07-14-2013 05:16 PM
Pentax MX mirror lockup lever mod? asaru Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 4 12-24-2012 07:45 AM
mirror lockup Andrew Crouch Pentax K-5 & K-5 II 5 12-13-2012 04:42 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 11:36 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top