[howieb101]

Well, for those who say not to send a defective camera back under warranty I would say, how do you think Ricoh can address the issue? Even if they can`t isolate the issue immediately, the more cameras they have to analyse the better.

Disclaimer: I do not own a K3 but will eventually.

[awaldram]

Just for your general amusement, let me share more news on my broken K3 saga.

The camera was sent back again on 16th May, on the understanding I would get a new one. I got this answer today (27th May):

"exactly, your K3 not work correctly. We have to send it to PENTAX for repair and i’am sorry but i done a mistake because we can’t change it, i thought your order was recent but not, the product is not new and i can’t change it by another product. We send your K3 to Pentax and we indicate to do fast repair."

To which I answered:

"Well this is very dissapointing. The K3 "not new" is a camera that I bought in 14th January 2014 and stopped working on 1st March 2014. When does the camera become "not new"? As far as I am concerned the camera is "very new". Today, 27th May, I am still without the camera. What I would like is to have a new camera replaced, or otherwise I would like to return the camera and have my money back. Is that possible please? Can you check with Pentax or Ricoh if this can be done? I cannot think of Cannon, or Nikon or Fuji treating customers like this."

I think that it is only a camera, so why get upset? But next camera I will buy, in choosing the brand, I will surely check very carefully what post-delivery support is provided and its reputation in my area of the world, because it can be much more important than any supposedly technical or handling advantage.

Not sure about french consumer law or service ettiquette

In the UK
manafacturer DOA (dead on arrival) is normally 7-14 day region, you retailer may allow slightly more.
Once you accept a repair you equipment may be repaired with 2nd hand parts and you no lnger entitled to a replacment.

Though at all times you only expected to allow 'reasonable' time for the manafacturer to repair your issues you are then entitled to a full refund.

The way I look at it is would 12 strangers agree Pentax/retailer were being unreasonable
If you think they woudl then go for it and insist on a refund.

[K David]

My K-R has mirror flap issues with a third-party battery. Moral of the story seems to be: Buy a $5 battery for your DSLR and get $5 battery results.

[DRabbit]

Well, for those who say not to send a defective camera back under warranty I would say, how do you think Ricoh can address the issue? Even if they can`t isolate the issue immediately, the more cameras they have to analyse the better.

Of course your suggestion makes sense, but it's not exactly the most "customer-friendly" policy to use your base as a bunch of test subjects to figure out the problem, especially when... 1) Pentax isn't exactly known for fast repair and... 2) expecting a customer to be without their new K3 for possibly months while they work out the problem isn't exactly a fair practice.

I would suggest that a sampling of cameras is enough. They knew they definitively had two defective bodies with the K3s I owned. Request those back upon my return (which they never did). With a selection of other users willing, issue K5-II loaners and get a handful of other K3s back that you know have the problem, and have them go straight to Japan, for testing and resolving.

My K-R has mirror flap issues with a third-party battery. Moral of the story seems to be: Buy a $5 battery for your DSLR and get $5 battery results.

You need to actually read this thread instead of just replying with useless information. Not everyone with the K3 mirror-flap problem is using a third party battery... actually, pretty far from it. It's occurred to K3 owners using a variety of power sources including: genuine pentax batteries, the genuine pentax grip, the AC adaptor, and third party batteries. With all the problems I had, I never once used a third-party battery. For my Pentax gear, I don't even own a third-party battery. The fact I have never used a third-party battery is actually stated right in my very first post in this thread.

[K David]

You need to actually read this thread instead of just replying with useless information.

You need to actually assume I read the whole thread. You need to actually assume I elected to only respond to a single item in lieu of a 20-page thread with hundreds of individual comments.

[DRabbit]

You need to actually assume I read the whole thread. You need to actually assume I elected to only respond to a single item in lieu of a 20-page thread with hundreds of individual comments.

How about just reading the very first post in the thread. That might have been helpful to you.

[K David]

How about just reading the very first post in the thread. That might have been helpful to you.

I've followed this thread since you opened it in March. I have a K-3 and a K-R, the latter of which has flappy mirror. So the idea that the K-3 bodies could have the same issue concerns me because I hate dealing with the K-R when the mirror goes crazy. I apologize for posting in your thread. I'll just unsubscribe now.

[DRabbit]

You don't have to apologize K David... it's just that your reply stating "Moral of the story seems to be: Buy a $5 battery for your DSLR and get $5 battery results" seems to blame a bunch of users for using 3rd party batteries, when almost right from the very beginning (with the K3) it was ruled out as being the cause of the issue. We all wish is were that simple.

[aurans]

I have had a 2nd encounter with the runaway mirror syndrome. It occurred on the sixth day of my first week with the K-3 Premium Silver Edition. The first encounter occurred on day 2.
The temp was 61F Dew point of 32F
Firmware updated to 1.03.
K-3 and without battery grip. The camera was programed in interval movie record mode at 2 sec intervals in full HD with live view.
Photos were taken for about 70 min before the mirror flapping began.
Turning the off switch stopped it after a few seconds.
The gear used in the camera set up was new Pentax branded equipment except for a SanDisk card in slot #1
Pentax Li-Ion battery D-LI90
Pentax OFC-1 16GB FluCard for Pentax K3
SanDisk 8GB SDHC memory card
HD PENTAX DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8 ED WR


Arrangements had already been made to have the camera exchanged, at the retailer where it was bought, on the next business day. The store manager was aware of the problem since he owned one and had experienced the problem but had not replaced it, hoping a solution would be found before the warranty period was up. At the store a video taken while the mirror was flapping was shown to each of the employees. The store buyer was going to take the issue up with the area Pentax Rep.


RICOH IMAGING was contacted through http://www.us.ricoh-imaging.com/support live chat with the understanding that the episode would be forwarded to corporate in Japan.


The Digital Product Support Specialists at the Product Information Department at 1-800-234-0276 were also made aware of the incident.


This forum had previously made me aware of the issue, which is why it was bought locally rather than at a less expensive internet discounter.

[JeffAHayes]

Not sure about french consumer law or service ettiquette

In the UK
manafacturer DOA (dead on arrival) is normally 7-14 day region, you retailer may allow slightly more.
Once you accept a repair you equipment may be repaired with 2nd hand parts and you no lnger entitled to a replacment.

Though at all times you only expected to allow 'reasonable' time for the manafacturer to repair your issues you are then entitled to a full refund.

The way I look at it is would 12 strangers agree Pentax/retailer were being unreasonable
If you think they woudl then go for it and insist on a refund.

Count me as Stranger No. 1.

Based on the fact that his new camera became essentially unusable within 6 weeks and has been in for repairs more than once since then without adequate results, and he was PROMISED a new replacement for a camera under warranty that was barely more than a month old when it went haywire, I believe he SHOULD get a new replacement, while Ricoh figures out where they screwed up.

I haven't had this issue (yet). Then again, I haven't attempted time-lapse photography yet, either. Right now, however, I can't get my LCD screen to light up UNLESS I hit LIVE VIEW or the MENU button. It won't light up so I can view all my settings while I'm shooting. Both my batteries are low, and my battery grip is screwed on a bit tight (I'm going to have to get some "grippy rubber" or something to loosen it) so maybe it's just low batteries, I hope. I wanted to remove the grip just now to see what my serial number is, to see if its within the range of those indicated to have issues.

At any rate, the camera has worked fine, so far, and I still think the K-3 is a great camera. But it's obvious there are some issues for at least some of the cameras -- possibly some problems in QC at the factory. It irks me when ANY manufacturer releases an ENTIRE BATCH of products that have the same problem -- especially when they then DRAG THEIR HEELS fixing the problem and trying to mollify customer dissatisfaction. Does Ricoh NOT know that the K-3 is likely the LAST, BEST HOPE for Pentax to remain a VIABLE DSLR brand? By NOT doing everything possible to address these issues POST HASTE and give K-3 customers EVERY CONSIDERATION, Ricoh is shooting the Pentax brand IN THE FOOT! At this time when smartphones are already causing a MASSIVE DECLINE in the sales of DSLRs, Ricoh CANNOT AFFORD to take this approach!
Jeff

[WaveDancer]

I was yesterday at my retailer's place in Switzerland (I know the guy since 35 years) and talked to him about buying a new video and foto-equipment for my SE-Asia and Pacific expeditions, starting next year (I have 4 choices, the K3, the Nikon D7100 or D610 and the Fujifilm X-T1 - the X-100s comes anyway with me). He told me straight away he could not recommend right now the K3 with clear conscience, since they cause to many problems, although he admits, if they should manage to resolve all the issues, not just the mirrorflapping, in a considerable time (say until the Photokina in Germany end of September?) and together with the WR lens-setup, it could be one of the best APS-C and most complete cameras available for outdoor and travel fotographers. They should take more time for testing and offer a proper customer oriented service! May be all there resources went into the new 645Z or are they any way not interested in the K3 and work on something complete new to come out soon? Some times miracles happen....

[normhead]

Of course your retailer didn't tell you how many he's sold and how many problems his customers have encountered, compared to other cameras. SO you're left not knowing if he just doesn't want for some other reason he doesn't want to sell you a K-3. Maybe he does higher volumes and gets a better margin out of other bodies. Maybe he finds it a pain to bring in Pentax stock because of the low volume of sales. Who knows what's going on there. You only know what he says. OK, even say he's right. Why wouldn't he explain how he made this decision.

I've talked to many salesmen at various stores and I've not heard this kind of thing from any of them. So, as much as I'd like to pay a lot of attention to that, sorry. Equally telling is his statement that he may recommend them if they improve by Photokina, and just how would he know? Sounds like a dealer who's absolutely full of himself to me. My advice would be, if the guy won't recommend Pentax, find a dealer who will. You don't know whether it's Pentax, or it's just him.

Just from my dealings with dealers here in Canada, I'm guessing there's a pretty good chance he's full of himself and not much else. Otherwise he could have recommended a K5Iis.

[WaveDancer]

Wow! Not a miracle, but a "Pentaxian" who obviously feels disturbed in his comfort or honour, what ever. I did somehow expect this mouthfull! And how quick and easy a super, super intelligent guy judges on people he doesn't know.... How ever I had a good laugh. The "retailer" I was refering is a good friend of mine, a professional fotographer, world-traveller, author and owner of a chain of fotoshops and they sell all brands. What I wanted to say is, if people who realy know the business and may be a little bit more, have some reservations about a brand or a particular model, then the manufactorer should get alarmed. Who knows, may be they are, may be not. I produce myself some products and I monitor very close what customers think about it, what suggestions they make or wishes they have. Of course on a billion smaller scale, but the mechanisms of maintaining, improving and marketing a product are about the same. Thank you... I will now stop for a while here.... (don't want to cause a war) but will let you know what my new equipment will be then in due time.... I'm already looking forward seeing the comments then..... LOL! (Just booked my hotelroom for the Photokina in Germany)

[DennisH]

Had my first occurrence today.

Serial # 2578855 (silver)
Purchased 4/12/2014
Firmware 1.03
Pentax batteries, nearly full charge
Grip attached
AF-C
Single-frame shooting
FA 77 Limited
Sunny, dry mid-70s

Strange thing: it stopped on its own before I removed the battery. It was fine the rest of the day.

[Ishpuini]

Add me to the list.

It happened for the first time last Friday when my battery was starting to run low. Though not very low, since I continued shooting on the same battery for the rest of the day and Saturday as well (a few dozen shots more). It lasted about 15 seconds at most and stopped a few seconds after I switched off the camera and was about to open the battery compartment. Everything back to normal after that.

Single frame shooting (no time lapse), most recent firmware and no battery grip attached. Lens attached was the DA20-40 I think (so exposure mode must have been Av).

Wim