[AquaDome]

My K-3 still works professionally 40 hours per week. I'm probably buying another this spring so I can hire a second person.
I spent 25+ years in the telecom industry. Electronics fail. You may never know why. A hand-full of reports (with no follow-up details to compare) does not equate to a trend, likelihood, or probability. How many K-3s didn't fail? Pretty much all of them. That's the trend, likelihood, and probability, even without people writing in to report that their K-3 didn't fail.

[stefan82]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the support.
Yes it is annoying, if I would have bought it at home in Europe it would have been under warranty.
But here in Singapore. 12 month. No discussion. Stupid.

So the iterim outcome is, Main board fried. Short circuit.
How? Nobody knows. The technician said it might be from an impact.
Dont think so. it was alway in a camera bag for transport. He also menztioned that no moisture or stains were visible. So no waterintusion.

Needed to be sent to Japan for repair. 4 weeks and 350$
Not too bad, but I travel a lot and need a camera. Pentax almost lost me to Fujifilm for the X-T2.
But i decided to safe to money and spend it on flight tickets. So 300$ bought me a used K5 in good shape.
And in 4 weeks a will have two bodies and be a happy camper again, when my K3 is back from her trip to Japan.

Stefan

[Csiegel]

Wow. Reading these posts its disheartening to find people with exactly the same problem. 18 months old and my k3 was working wondefully until i took my first flash photo in awhile. Photo was captured fine then nothing. No power. Changed batteries, charged batteries, changed cards. Nothing. Totally dead. Only 15,000 shutter actuations and as was mentioned Pentax's customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Particularly since this seems to be related to a defective flash board.

[suraswami]

Failed Camera owners - anybody used an External Flash Trigger? It might possibly be a cause? And oh third party battery or grip?

[stefan82]

Failed Camera owners - anybody used an External Flash Trigger? It might possibly be a cause? And oh third party battery or grip?

Hi, funny you ask...
It was also for me the first time i used an external flash. Got it for xmas and experimented with it.

Mainboard died and got replaced. Since then everything smooth. Still love that camera.

Batteries i use only original, and my original Battery Grip is only in use since after the repair.

Stefan

[suraswami]

Hi, funny you ask...
It was also for me the first time i used an external flash. Got it for xmas and experimented with it.

Mainboard died and got replaced. Since then everything smooth. Still love that camera.

Batteries i use only original, and my original Battery Grip is only in use since after the repair.

Stefan

Is it a Pentax Flash or Third party flash you used?

What I meant in my original post, external flash trigger that will trigger off camera flashes.

[panonski]

camera is now with precision camera for review after call to pentax resulted in no offers to help or even sympathy from them on an 18 month old camera dying for no apparent reasons. Thankfully we live in connecticut so inexpensive to drop if off for the free review but sounds like it will be $300 to $400 repair (if they can even repair it). Ironically, the much older canon 40d this k-3 replaced is back in service as our go to camera and is functioning as good as when it was new. I don't want to be one of the seldom posters that complains but very, very disappointed in our pentax experience and sad when a much older camera proves to be more reliable and durable. Our experience may be unique but never had this happen during our previous 35+ years of canon camera (film and digital) use.

1) pentax support is lame
2) they like to trick their customers and followers
3) this is very bad, and they will be punished by all meanings in future sales

[stevebrot]

1) pentax support is lame
2) they like to trick their customers and followers
3) this is very bad, and they will be punished by all meanings in future sales

????

Out of warranty camera fixed successfully fixed by authorized service. I don't see what this has to do with Ricoh/Pentax. FWIW, I have a friend whose Canon 7D shutter failed 4 times in 18 months. My friend had to pay for 3 of the four repairs.

Also, it would be good to note that there has been no plague of K-3 cameras simply dying. If there were, the number of reported cases would number in the hundreds.


Steve

[stevebrot]

Wow. Reading these posts its disheartening to find people with exactly the same problem. 18 months old and my k3 was working wondefully until i took my first flash photo in awhile. Photo was captured fine then nothing. No power. Changed batteries, charged batteries, changed cards. Nothing. Totally dead. Only 15,000 shutter actuations and as was mentioned Pentax's customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Particularly since this seems to be related to a defective flash board.

Elaborate.


Steve

[Csiegel]

Elaborate.


Steve

Precision has finally gotten back to me and they only want $830! Main flex circuit and cpu, ccd and associated parts, and for some reason the top case. I pointed out that $830 is more than I paid for the camera when it was new and that there was nothing wrong with the case. Precision is now contacting their Ricoh liaison to see if anything can be done about the cost of the parts. I am not hopeful and am so upset that my pentax suddenly died and the quality of their customer service that Ill probably switch over to a Nikon 7200 or a 600. I've been using Pentax digital cameras for a decade with phenomenal results. But a ruggedized K3 should not die for no reason with the company providing no recourse. The situation smacks of defective parts and defective support.

[stevebrot]

Precision has finally gotten back to me and they only want $830! Main flex circuit and cpu, ccd and associated parts, and for some reason the top case. I pointed out that $830 is more than I paid for the camera when it was new and that there was nothing wrong with the case. Precision is now contacting their Ricoh liaison to see if anything can be done about the cost of the parts. I am not hopeful and am so upset that my pentax suddenly died and the quality of their customer service that Ill probably switch over to a Nikon 7200 or a 600. I've been using Pentax digital cameras for a decade with phenomenal results. But a ruggedized K3 should not die for no reason with the company providing no recourse. The situation smacks of defective parts and defective support.

No mention of flash board? The inclusion of the top cover hints at a physical failure that cascaded into a short circuit, perhaps with the hot shoe. With any luck, Pentax will come through and cover the cost of parts. As for moving to Nikon...their incidence of repairs/serious problems is currently better than Pentax, but six months and a year ago the positions were switched for ILC (per Consumers Reports).* They also have warranty conditions similar to Pentax.


Steve

* Olympus was the only brand with more than a 4 point spread from any of its peers; thus, they were deemed less reliable overall. Ricoh/Pentax scored 2 points behind Nikon in the most recent survey. Up until recently, SLRs were evaluated separately from MILC with the result that it was unusual for any one brand to be more than a point or two difference than the others.

[panonski]

Precision has finally gotten back to me and they only want $830! Main flex circuit and cpu, ccd and associated parts, and for some reason the top case. I pointed out that $830 is more than I paid for the camera when it was new and that there was nothing wrong with the case. Precision is now contacting their Ricoh liaison to see if anything can be done about the cost of the parts. I am not hopeful and am so upset that my pentax suddenly died and the quality of their customer service that Ill probably switch over to a Nikon 7200 or a 600. I've been using Pentax digital cameras for a decade with phenomenal results. But a ruggedized K3 should not die for no reason with the company providing no recourse. The situation smacks of defective parts and defective support.

this is " hilarious " - they're complete idiots ... This kind of fail should be in lifetime warranty . period

[stevebrot]

this is " hilarious " - they're complete idiots ... This kind of fail should be in lifetime warranty . period

I don't know what you have been smoking, but I think I want some...


Steve

[panonski]

I don't know what you have been smoking, but I think I want some...


Steve

I have some good weed want some ?

I'm sorry Steve, but I think - this kind of fail has nothing with customer wrong operating ... This is something more familiar with bad assembling in factory, or unreliable parts ... So, I think Pentax ( or any other company ) cannot just say - hey, you're out of your warranty - and you must pay...

If it can be obvious the camera did not fall down, or hit by something - and this is something you can observe by checking camera body - then you can easily conclude this is not customers fault - and you should repair that - and excuse for such a bad product.

--
One more thing. I think, on professional level, 1 year warranty is low ( I get 2 years from Olympus without any further paying for - and I get 2 years on almost every mobile phone ) Olympus have extended warranty on 4 years (first 2 + another 2 ) for just 79 $...

I'm trying to find on web how long are warranties in different manufactures - Sony, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, etc...

Pentax had hard times to get back after Ricoh acquisition into digital camera world, and now it seems they trying to ruin that ... ( I'm not going to elaborate this - because it's only my opinion , it's too long - and it's sort of irrelevant for subject )

If they want continue to grow - they must learn from others failures... and also from others success .. .

---
I can recall times when only some Korean cars like Kia, had 5 year warranty - in that time almost everybody had only 1.... Now, five years is more standard than exclusion ... This rule you can see with refrigerators, tv-s, computers etc...

---
Main question is - Did you sold to your customer RELIABLE product... No, or yes ?
You cannot say -
It's almost 99 % reliable - because 1 % - can fail...
If failure is caused by you - the manufacturer - then for me ( and I think everybody feels the same ) you must pay for that - without any excuse or you can extend your warranty time...
( if you're so sure about reliability of your product )

[Csiegel]

I have some good weed want some ?

I'm sorry Steve, but I think - this kind of fail has nothing with customer wrong operating ... This is something more familiar with bad assembling in factory, or unreliable parts ... So, I think Pentax ( or any other company ) cannot just say - hey, you're out of your warranty - and you must pay...

If it can be obvious the camera did not fall down, or hit by something - and this is something you can observe by checking camera body - then you can easily conclude this is not customers fault - and you should repair that - and excuse for such a bad product.

--
One more thing. I think, on professional level, 1 year warranty is low ( I get 2 years from Olympus without any further paying for - and I get 2 years on almost every mobile phone ) Olympus have extended warranty on 4 years (first 2 + another 2 ) for just 79 $...

I'm trying to find on web how long are warranties in different manufactures - Sony, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, etc...

Pentax had hard times to get back after Ricoh acquisition into digital camera world, and now it seems they trying to ruin that ... ( I'm not going to elaborate this - because it's only my opinion , it's too long - and it's sort of irrelevant for subject )

If they want continue to grow - they must learn from others failures... and also from others success .. .

---
I can recall times when only some Korean cars like Kia, had 5 year warranty - in that time almost everybody had only 1.... Now, five years is more standard than exclusion ... This rule you can see with refrigerators, tv-s, computers etc...

---
Main question is - Did you sold to your customer RELIABLE product... No, or yes ?
You cannot say -
It's almost 99 % reliable - because 1 % - can fail...
If failure is caused by you - the manufacturer - then for me ( and I think everybody feels the same ) you must pay for that - without any excuse or you can extend your warranty time...
( if you're so sure about reliability of your product )

Well said panonski. I finally learned from Precision that the reason the camera died was that a screw came loose inside the housing and landed on the flash circuit. When I used the flash it fried every circuit in the camera. No word yet on whether Pentax will stand behind their product but considering there hasn't been any word from Pentax on anything at all I am planning on liquidating my pentax gear and moving to Nikon. This is customer service that you would expect from an ATT or Comcast. Anyway, I'm not happy about it. I've had a very good relationship with my Pentax cameras but if Ricoh really cares this little about their customers I feel it must be time to mosey on down the road.