[deaning]

I tossed my old wired remote a couple of weeks ago thinking it was stuffed due to great age. Recently I got a Nero Trigger and found it will fire the K3 intermittently or not at all. I popped it on the K5 and it works faultlessly so that rules out the cable! There is no chance of dirt in the socket as the cover is always on, wireless works fine, just the problem when cabled. Blew the socked out with the blower just in case. Any ideas appreciated!

[deaning]

OK, the unit is sending a signal to the camera as the upper LCD is lighting up every time I trigger the unit, just not firing the shutter! Manually actuating the shutter works, it is not in MUP, just remote. Duplicated settings on the K5 5/5 shutter actuations, Back to the K3, dropped out the battery, reinserted, 2 actuations out of 5 triggers. Starting to think there is a voltage/socket problem.

[petez]

I've been using my old pentax wired remote on my K3 all weekend. Other than needing to wake the camera up by pressing the button and then pressing the button again to take a shot, it's working just fine. Sounds like the cable is not at fault since it works on the K5.

Wish I could shed some light on the situation...

Good Luck.

[stevebrot]

I use a third-party wired remote with my K-3 with no problems. The same remote works well on my K10D too. Is there any chance the plug is not fully inserted into the fitting on the camera?

https://www.pentaxforums.com/accessoryreviews/bower-lcd-timer-remote-shutter-...el-rclc1r.html

AF not attaining focus perhaps?


Steve

[OregonJim]

the upper LCD is lighting up every time I trigger the unit, just not firing the shutter

I think stevebrot nailed it - you're probably in focus priority mode and the K-3 is not finding something to focus on. Switch to release priority and see if it will fire every time.

[Boc]

I have made a wired remote myself first for my K-30 then reused it on the K-3. I can say that dispite the standards, not all TRS plugs and sockets are made equal. There might be a few tenths of millimeters difference, probably at the Sleeve (half-press or focus) and it doesn't make reliable contact. If one was OK with soldering I would suggest experimenting with different plugs, maybe a 3.5mm-2.5mm adapter to see which made the best contact.

[stevebrot]

I think stevebrot nailed it - you're probably in focus priority mode and the K-3 is not finding something to focus on. Switch to release priority and see if it will fire every time.

I would add that there is a menu setting that is supposed to define whether the AF system is engaged when using a remote. Unfortunately, the setting does not appear to apply to a wired remote. So, the rule would be to engage/disengage AF as needed when working with a wired remote.


Steve

[deaning]

Thanks chaps, will try suggestions tomorrow and update as to results!

[amoringello]

There are many reports of people having the Nero trigger work on Canon, Nikon, etc... but their Pentax cameras were intermittent.
At some point I was looking into getting the Nero trigger, and I was sure that their own web page listed that it was some what unreliable on Pentax cameras. (cannot find that now, of course) :-(

I have seen such issues mentioned with other remote triggering devices as well, so is probably not limited to Nero.

I have not found anything that leads to why that would be a problem, but it is apparently not uncommon.
My uneducated guess is that Pentax requires a longer trigger time than some other brands. Historically a human is pressing a button and that is a huge length of time compared to a device that should be able to trigger 7 times a second.

Dunno why the K5 would behave differently, except that every time I read comments on the issue the words "intermittent" or "sometimes" are used. Maybe just lucky/unlucky??


FYI,
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/nero-trigger-review-21405
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/22-pentax-camera-field-accessories/237798-nero-trigger.html

[deaning]

Tried all of the above suggestions with no avail. I did find that turning the Nero lock off (allows constant triggering) I can get about 75% fire rate, so I think amoringello has hit the nail on the head.

[deaning]

Here you go, does not trigger properly with Pentax Nero Trigger Review

[stevebrot]

Here you go, does not trigger properly with Pentax Nero Trigger Review

That sucks and is disappointing considering the cost of the trigger.


Steve

[deaning]

I am certainly going to inform nero trigger of the situation!

[amoringello]

I've been periodically looking for triggers for the past few years. Been thinking of building my own using a RaspberryPi or Arduino... but I always over engineer things until they are year long projects. And with finding several commercial triggers failing on Pentax I just shoved it to the far back burner....

Well it looks like someone has some DIY instructions online and it works for Pentax!

http://hardpan.com/category/arduino/

Dunno if building your own is an option, but it at least shows that the Pentax hardware is NOT necessarily a crucial limiting factor! The K100 is probably not the fastest Pentax body, either.
So at least it might be hopeful that some triggers out there should work. :-)

Personally, my interest in building my own has been rekindled.

[derekkite]

My latest phone has infra red output (Samsung Galaxy S5) and I've been using it when I need a remote. That or the Flucard. It works and there are a bunch of apps available.