[jamarley]

A little bit of perspective is needed here. While I instinctively agree that Ricoh should make good & lasting relationships by making good on all affected cameras, in or out of warranty, it's certainly not as feasible as it sounds. To use the automotive industry example alluded to earlier, we should remember
a) How many defects do you think would be fixed if there wasn't any government oversight?
b) Products do wear out. Should Toyota or GM or Ford or any other manufacturer be responsible for parts that wear out prematurely, if there is no safety issue involved? Apparently our society has deemed that this is not the case. Beyond the stated warranty period for these other parts/functions the free enterprise system kicks in. Rarely do poorly made cars have a long sales run and repeated poor quality forces companies out of business. Those of us saddled with the issues, which may not show up until beyond the warranty, experience no solace in this fact, but a fact it is nonetheless.
c) So, if this is not a safety issue, and if our cameras basically perform (with a little cajoling from time to time), we should base our inclination for repeat business on the entire package. Build quality as a whole, cost of ownership, performance, availability of options that complete a kit, features, and the ever-omnipresent customer service response issues. In every phase, expect possibly the last, I think Ricoh/Pentax has done a remarkable job considering the position they occupy in the camera industry.

Now, all this being said, it would be a smart corporate decision to ascertain just how prevalent this problem is and when it is likely to occur. This knowledge would enable them to decide to maintain their present position or step it up to some extent. I'm sure we'd all like to see the step-up, but I'm equally not sure if Ricoh/Pentax knows yet how much this might cost.

[thigmo]

Haven't been on the forums in a while, but noticed this issue from elsewhere so decided to throw my experience in as well...

Had this happen on my K200D, well within the warranty period, at least a couple times. With battery grip I believe, and I had tried multiple battery types at the time (lithium, NiMH, NiZn) so I always thought it was a weird power situation. I eventually stuck with eneloops and it seemed to stop...

I'm guessing this camera would be too "discontinued" at this stage, but I'm glad they're going to address it. I have a K5 and K5ii as well, which haven't had this issue, but hopefully they'll be considered in this update as well.

[PiDicus Rex]

Doing my due diligence reading before purchase,...

Question to all K3 owners who experienced this issue - Has it only been while shooting stills, or has this occurred when moving in to or from Video mode?

[karro]

Happened once on the first cycle of the battery, haven't happened since. I haven't tried to do long time lapses, though, but 10+ minute video on a nearly depleted battery was fine. I did a series of snaps afterwards, battery was in "red" for a significant time - no issues whatsoever. I'm not even sure I want to send the camera anywhere for servicing. It works.
I understand the hesitation, but it's far less scary as it sounds.

[Pentaxaholic]

I have my trusty K-20D. I'm not missing a shot at all.

If I -did- buy one in that serial # range, AND it exhibits the problem while shooting THEN I will miss one or more shots. And probably be past any Return Policy.

-MY- logic says, that it would be a mugs game to proceed with a purchase at this time.

Of course, everything changes if there is a firmware update/patch that resolves the issue.

What is the serial number range?

[WestCoastGuy]

What is the serial number range?

See:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/254464-k3-crazy-mirror-sic...ours-here.html


Currently, that post says:
Members Reporting the Issue

So far, in the various threads about this issue, between me and Jhmos, we've counted a total of 141 people who have reported having the problem at least once. This is a complete list. The names with stars are the ones that have also reported here in this thread (the ones without stars have reported in one of the other threads linked above). I will update the list as more people reply here.

So far, the issue seems to have been reported in serial numbers ranging anywhere from:

482XXXX to 493XXXX (black bodies)
and
2573XXX to 2578XXX (silver bodies)

The names with numbers indicate that the user has had more than one K3 body suffer with this problem.

[awaldram]

Very glad to see you state this. There are probably more of us who stick to working older gear than those who jump on the latest & greatest as soon as it arrives. And, for a lot of us, reliability, robust build & backwards compatibility are chief among the reasons we chose Pentax in the first place. We just might be a happy silent majority. That is not to say we never experience frustration, jealousy, remorse or anger when these kind of issues arise; it just illustrates how percentages can appear skewed in one direction while actually being quite the opposite. It could be that we Pentaxians use our cameras more than other brands get used, so the raw numbers of reported mirror flops are still a smaller percentage than they appear.

I'm not minimizing the problem. In fact I can recall the last time this happened to my K5. I was about ready to take THE BEST PICTURE I EVER TOOK when the mirror decided to ruin it for me. Once I took the battery out and things returned to normal I was so relieved I felt like giving the camera a big hug. After all, it is my constant companion while out & about and brings me much joy & relaxation after a tough day at the office!

Unfortunate for you the K5 flop issue is not related to the K3 issues and is well documented and repairable.
There will be no regression FW, extended warranty (like the life time stain warranty) or any 'user' fix......

The two main reasons the K5 flops is
1 power regulator failed - symptom flops on using fresh charged battery.
2 syncro worn - mirror flops and occasional full electronics lockups, flipping the mirror with finger will release lockup.

The repair is
1 replace Mother board
2 replace mirror box

You camera needs to go to service if its outside warranty you will pay as fair ware and tear.

Look on the bright side if you have a Nikon D80 , d31000 , d700 or d200 and it flops it mirror up you'll also be paying for the repair....
Its easy to believe your brand is stiffing you but the truth is a complex computerized battery driven electronic tool is likely to suffer issue especially when portability outweighs clean supplies.

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You could potentially make the case that Pentax were aware of the regulator failure issue and try using you countries consumer protection rights to get your camera repaired... In the UK consumer rights give you 6 years warranty against design issues which the power regulator I feel woudl come under. But it up to you to prove it.

Sorry.

[Pentaxaholic]

My boyfriend bought a Sony A77, it experienced mirror lockups and super rapid shutter flutter on first battery charge. He hasn't had a similar issue since he exhausted that battery and recharged. and has proceeded through many batteries since. Hopefully, the problem was the initial charge. My point is, seems the same problems occur in other brands as well.

[Pentaxaholic]

See:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/254464-k3-crazy-mirror-sic...ours-here.html


Currently, that post says:
Members Reporting the Issue

So far, in the various threads about this issue, between me and Jhmos, we've counted a total of 141 people who have reported having the problem at least once. This is a complete list. The names with stars are the ones that have also reported here in this thread (the ones without stars have reported in one of the other threads linked above). I will update the list as more people reply here.

So far, the issue seems to have been reported in serial numbers ranging anywhere from:

482XXXX to 493XXXX (black bodies)
and
2573XXX to 2578XXX (silver bodies)

The names with numbers indicate that the user has had more than one K3 body suffer with this problem.

In the Pentax forum news-K3 Mirror Flop Fix:
Pentax K-3 Mirror Flop Fix from Ricoh - Pentax Announcements | PentaxForums.com

[closefocus]

Good response from Ricoh. I have been reading all the posts regarding this problem on the K3, My reasons for not getting a K3 are more financial than this problem, but I hope they get a handle on it soon. I do field service for a living. I service laser imaging devices that image aluminum printing plates. I ran into a problem where one of them was giving weird error messages and preventing the system from making plates. This is not unlike what is happening here. Something is telling the camera to move the shutter. Mine was giving false errors. It took me 20 hours of troubleshooting to finally trace the cause. It was a voltage drop in the logic circuit. There were several cable connections and the unit was 5 years old. I found that at each cable connection there was a very slight voltage drop due to corrosion between the connector pins. Finally at the board that had the most cable connections between it and the power supply the voltage dropped below the point where the logic operated properly. It then started acting up and the firmware on that particular board started sending out all sorts of error messages. The difference between good and bad was 4.70Vdc was bad. 4.75Vdc was good. The voltage should have been 5 Vdc at the board in question.

My guess is that there is a voltage drop somewhere in the logic circuit of the camera. It would not surprise me if some cameras are experiencing the same issue. The logic voltage drops just a little bit and circuits are triggered that should not be. It would be interesting to find a camera that has this problem and addjust the logic voltage circuit up a few tenths of a volt to see if the problem is resolved. I'm thinking it is an issue with the internal voltage regulation circuit.

My second guess would be noise related. Lots of buttons, motors moving etc. Has anyone has experienced the issue when using manual focus lenses?

Yes, I was using a battery grip for the first time with A series manual focus lens and after about a couple hours the mirror did its little dance and eventually stopped. I turned the camera on and off and it seems to be fine. I thought it might be the cold day - I haven't been shooting in 30degreeF weather much. I thought it was the shutter but no images were recorded.

[Pentaxaholic]

Don't forget to update your firmware to latest version, seems to have resolved issue according to other threads on this forum.

[MJSfoto1956]

No mirror "flops" for the first 9 months of owning my K-3.
Always use a battery grip. Latest firmware too.
Then recently while in Tuscany it started -- seemed to be "worse" when the camera was cold.
Is primarily noticeable when the camera is in burst mode: either normal high-speed burst or single-button bracket burst.
Serial # 485XXXX.

NOTE: I have a total of three Pentax-branded batteries -- the thought occurred to me that perhaps ONE of these three batteries is involved. I will attempt to see if I can isolate if this hunch has any legs.

M

[beachgardener]

In the Pentax forum news-K3 Mirror Flop Fix:
Pentax K-3 Mirror Flop Fix from Ricoh - Pentax Announcements | PentaxForums.com

My understanding is that from 49XXXXX onward is less likely to experience the flop or has been fixed.

[Pentaxaholic]

Have you updated firmware? Posts elsewhere on this forum suggest it is a fix as well as improving overall performance.

My SECOND model is 498XXX and so far, so good. I should mention I shoot a LOT in burst mode and High speed continuous shooting!

Read my reply for more details of my experience and what I learned:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/172-pentax-k-3/278118-buy-not-buy-2.html#post3008785

[beachgardener]

My understanding is that the firmware update for affected models is part of the fix, going back to when this was a hot topic, there came out from Pentax or Chris, that there was also a service centre level firmware update to fix the issue as well (different from user level firmware update), aand I think it was understood that from a certain serial number onward that the fix would be implemented at a hardware level for newer models.