[patrick9]

A few weeks ago my K30 developed the dreaded aperture failure. Just under 10,000 shutter clicks. I saw on here in a thread dealing with this problem, a mention of a gentleman/ company in California that was offering to repair the problem with a one year warranty and a reasonable price IMHO. He repairs the problem as opposed to replacing any parts. He says it is, or should be a permanent fix.

I emailed him with a few questions and after receiving the reply I decided to take a gamble and sent him my beloved K30. He was extremely good at keeping me informed of the receiving, repair and shipping back of my camera. He found an issue with my K30 while testing it. It shoots about 1/2 stop underexposed as compared to his. I explained that that body has always done that when compared to my other Pentax DSLR's. I actually like it that way.
At any rate I have my K30 back and it works as good as new .

If anyone is interested in having their camera Aperture block repaired I am adding his web site information . It has all his information along with price for repair.

Pentax Camera Repair - Aperture Control Repair

One other thing the Disclaimer. I am not affiliated with this place other than being a satisfied customer

[stevebrot]

Cool! Please update if the repair fails or if there is any strangeness.


Steve

[Unregistered User 8]

One other thing the Disclaimer. I am not affiliated with this place other than being a satisfied customer

Being a " satisfied customer " is more than enough recommendation. You have given many users hope. Good luck with the repair, hope all goes well.

[patrick9]

Cool! Please update if the repair fails or if there is any strangeness.


Steve

I sure will. So far after a week and about a hundred shots, the only thing different I see, is it's low light ability is better than it has been for quite some time. Making me wonder if I have been having a partial failure problem longer than I realized. I only had dark frames for the last year three of four times about two or three months apart each time. Full failure last month.

[HarisF1]

Sorry to jump onto the thread like this but I would like to know a small detail. Does this repair concern the solenoid or a spring in the aperture mechanism?

Thanks!

[freddyisaac]

Great to know that the surgery has worked - hope it stays in remission.

I was wondering about this in case my K-30 ever needs it - although it appears from the survey here that the leading cause is lack of use (uppity things those K-30s) so i just make sure I take at least one pic each day - a picture a day keeps the doctor away sort of thing !

Keep us posted as to how you get on

cheers

[patrick9]

Sorry to jump onto the thread like this but I would like to know a small detail. Does this repair concern the solenoid or a spring in the aperture mechanism?

I honestly do not know. I have read { In a thread here on PF} that there is an air gap that is too tight on some of the models that allows the solenoid to become magnetized . The repair is to remove the solenoid, demagnetize it, and file the gap by some/100's of a mm. I am not sure if this is what was done ,but assume since it is considered a permanent repair, it was. In the thread here, I read that a group of Pentaxians in Russia had discovered the problem and repair. Google was not translating very well and they were looking for a translation especially on the measurements.
I don't think rt was a spring since there was no extra noise in the camera like a loose or broken spring.

---------- Post added 11-20-16 at 07:53 AM ----------

I was wondering about this in case my K-30 ever needs it - although it appears from the survey here that the leading cause is lack of use (uppity things those K-30s) so i just make sure I take at least one pic each day - a picture a day keeps the doctor away sort of thing !

Lack of use may be a common issue but in my case my K30 is used almost weekly, It is my primary and favorite camera body. So lack of use was not the cause in my case. The last photo I took showed 9,997 shutter clicks and I have had it just under 3 years.
I wonder about the survey. It was closed when I tried to enter my information. I wonder how many others tried but were either too late or it failed and the owners never entered their info. If several people never entered their info, then the results would be wrong. I am not sure the survey should not have been left open

[stevebrot]

I honestly do not know. I have read { In a thread here on PF} that there is an air gap that is too tight on some of the models that allows the solenoid to become magnetized . The repair is to remove the solenoid, demagnetize it, and file the gap by some/100's of a mm. I am not sure if this is what was done ,but assume since it is considered a permanent repair, it was. In the thread here, I read that a group of Pentaxians in Russia had discovered the problem and repair. Google was not translating very well and they were looking for a translation especially on the measurements.

I was wondering if the guy in California was doing the same thing. I quit following the thread about the Russian fix because there was so much confusion about whether it actually worked and whether the participants had any clue as to what they were doing or even how the piece they were filing on and/or lubricating was intended to work. Hopefully the guy in California was able to compare proper operation to a malfunctioning unit.


Steve

[stevebrot]

Lack of use may be a common issue...

Low shutter count was characteristic of most of the first round of K-30 failures, though I don't know that it was considered causal. There were plenty of other affected cameras that had been used regularly. The most common factor appeared to be age with most failing at 12-18 months post-purchase.


Steve

[patrick9]

Hopefully the guy in California was able to compare proper operation to a malfunctioning unit.

He owns a K30 so I wondered if his had failed and figured out the repair from what we were reading. he was comparing mine after repair to his. He was concerned I may have had another issue as well with it underexposing 1/2 stop more than his. I explained it has always done that from day one. When I bought it it had 3 shutter count on it but was a 1/2 stop under exposed compared to my DL and a K200D I ran across for a steal. I just expect that from this camera. From what I was able to gather the folks in Russia had figured it out and compared failed ones to ones that had not failed. I could be wrong on that point ( was wrong once before, ) But that was what I was getting from farther down in the thread. At any rate I have a 1 year warranty on the repair so if it does fail again it is covered and I bought more time to save for an upgrade.

[ERNR]

My K30's aperture mechanism failed last night and as I was online today researching my options, I found the website of the California fixer. Just came onto the forums to ask if anyone had experience with them, and found your thread right away! Considering my options.

[patrick9]

My K30's aperture mechanism failed last night and as I was online today researching my options, I found the website of the California fixer. Just came onto the forums to ask if anyone had experience with them, and found your thread right away! Considering my options.

This is definitely a good option to have. Much cheaper than sending it off to the Pentax repairer for a part replacement . I considered just leaving mine as a manual camera when it failed. Problem was I would not be able to use any of my DA lenses on the K30. That is why I decided to gamble , I am glad I took the chance.

[Ttedders]

A few weeks ago my K30 developed the dreaded aperture failure. Just under 10,000 shutter clicks. I saw on here in a thread dealing with this problem, a mention of a gentleman/ company in California that was offering to repair the problem with a one year warranty and a reasonable price IMHO. He repairs the problem as opposed to replacing any parts. He says it is, or should be a permanent fix.

I emailed him with a few questions and after receiving the reply I decided to take a gamble and sent him my beloved K30. He was extremely good at keeping me informed of the receiving, repair and shipping back of my camera. He found an issue with my K30 while testing it. It shoots about 1/2 stop underexposed as compared to his. I explained that that body has always done that when compared to my other Pentax DSLR's. I actually like it that way.
At any rate I have my K30 back and it works as good as new .

If anyone is interested in having their camera Aperture block repaired I am adding his web site information . It has all his information along with price for repair.

Pentax Camera Repair - Aperture Control Repair

One other thing the Disclaimer. I am not affiliated with this place other than being a satisfied customer

Thanks for the information. My K-30 just started taking all pictures at a stopped down aperture. I am going to contact them to see if they can fix my problem.

[JMG73]

FIXED!!!!!
Having had this same problem and reading up on it, as my K-30 is already out of warranty, I tried something which WORKED:
The issue seems to be a magnetisation of a small metallic piece used to drive the lens aperture mechanism (it is pulled up by an electromagnet and ends up getting charged that way). Many people have written that the fix involves degaussing (demagnetising) this piece, and it seems to be linked to low use or longer periods of non-use.
Instead of taking my camera apart, I tried the following:

Put the camera onto rapid photo mode, high speed.
Go onto manual, set the shutter speed highish (100), and using various aperture settings, just keep the shutter button pressed.
I took a few hundred photos at varying setting within a few minutes.
I did also first have a lens with manual aperture setting on, but don't think this is relevant.

Lo and behold, after about 10 minutes of continous shooting, the aperture control was working again, and is still working reliably.

Try this first guys, give me feedback if it works for you too!

Just for reference, my camera had about 4000 shots on it, and I hadn't used it that often in the past 2 to 3 months
I ill now make a point of just shooting a few rapid sequences every now and then at varying f-stops to keep things running smoothly.
Sure beats dishing out €200,- in repairs or buying a new body. I like my K-30!

[Adam]

FIXED!!!!!
Having had this same problem and reading up on it, as my K-30 is already out of warranty, I tried something which WORKED:
The issue seems to be a magnetisation of a small metallic piece used to drive the lens aperture mechanism (it is pulled up by an electromagnet and ends up getting charged that way). Many people have written that the fix involves degaussing (demagnetising) this piece, and it seems to be linked to low use or longer periods of non-use.
Instead of taking my camera apart, I tried the following:

Put the camera onto rapid photo mode, high speed.
Go onto manual, set the shutter speed highish (100), and using various aperture settings, just keep the shutter button pressed.
I took a few hundred photos at varying setting within a few minutes.
I did also first have a lens with manual aperture setting on, but don't think this is relevant.

Lo and behold, after about 10 minutes of continous shooting, the aperture control was working again, and is still working reliably.

Try this first guys, give me feedback if it works for you too!

Just for reference, my camera had about 4000 shots on it, and I hadn't used it that often in the past 2 to 3 months
I ill now make a point of just shooting a few rapid sequences every now and then at varying f-stops to keep things running smoothly.
Sure beats dishing out €200,- in repairs or buying a new body. I like my K-30!

Thanks for the feedback! Several others have reported that this works, albeit only as a temporary solution- users have reported that the problem will eventually return. Keep us posted!