K-1 Live View Major Issue

aikilink · 08-10-2016, 08:03 AM

Hello all,

So, I was at a large family funeral and took a few photos of the ceremony, family and happenings for a few people who were unable to be there. At one point I pulled the screen down on the K-1, put it into Live View mode and noticed a black rectangle covering about the center 70% of the screen. At first I thought, "camera strap!" but that wasn't the case, I checked the front of the lens - nothing. Shut it down, turned it on and everything worked in viewfinder mode. Switched back to LV, and same thing again! Instead of powering down, I just switched out of LV to viewfinder. Everything looked good, but it wouldn't focus nicely - sort of seemed like focusing with a macro but worse (I had the 77mm mounted). Shut it off and back on and everything was good. I stopped using LV and all went smoothly. A few hours later I did a group photo using LV without thinking about it, and things were alright then.

It's a little disconcerting, and having a wedding this Saturday, as well as two more coming up in the next 30-days isn't making me feel better.

I'll stay out of LV, as I generally don't go there anyways (with the tilt-screen it's nice though to get some perspective change sometimes...).

I had the first firmware update (1.1) but didn't get the new 1.2 one. Two Pentax batteries, gripped, FA77mm RAW+ with JPGS on second card. Nothing else of note. The batteries were not brim-full. They were showing the 75% level on the camera.

Any ideas? Anyone else ever see something like this? I'm worried that it might have something to do with the mirror not going up when switching to LV. I definitely was hearing the usual "click" when switching to LV mode...

Thanks!

**bobbotron** · 08-10-2016, 08:31 AM

I found on the K3, once the battery goes out of "100%" mode, you're really at "change battery mode". Could be low battery level related weirdness. Charge your batteries? I think you shouldn't shy away from live mode, use the heck out of it. Send it back under warranty if problems persist. Maybe upgrade to the latest firmware too.

aikilink · 08-10-2016, 08:57 AM

Thanks for the thoughts! I do know about the battery level stuffs, and I do like to charge them when they drop a notch. That's more like 30% left, than 75%, haha! But, I did take at least a hundred pictures throughout the day after that with no issues and I could've done quite a few more before draining the batteries completely. I've never had any real issues even with yellow/red battery levels, so I'm a bit concerned.

Generally I would use the heck out of it, I just don't want it to die in the middle of a wedding with two more coming up. I do have a K-3 that my wife will be shooting, as well as a K-30 for a second body/backup. That being said, I invested in the K-1 for weddings, and that's the only way I'm justifying the purchase, so I definitely want the low-ISO benefit. Once we get into September, then I won't be doing much more official work for the rest of the year. Then I will investigate more thoroughly. I'll go to the new firmware also. Thanks!

Unregistered User · 08-10-2016, 09:13 AM - **1 Like**

I often use my batteries until they turn the camera off if I am out for a long trek. Never had any issues like that or anything else charge related but often I have heard that there are different problems when using a grip on older Pentax cameras. Is it the same without the grip?

**bobbotron** · 08-10-2016, 09:17 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by aikilink

Thanks for the thoughts! I do know about the battery level stuffs, and I do like to charge them when they drop a notch. That's more like 30% left, than 75%, haha! But, I did take at least a hundred pictures throughout the day after that with no issues and I could've done quite a few more before draining the batteries completely. I've never had any real issues even with yellow/red battery levels, so I'm a bit concerned.

Generally I would use the heck out of it, I just don't want it to die in the middle of a wedding with two more coming up. I do have a K-3 that my wife will be shooting, as well as a K-30 for a second body/backup. That being said, I invested in the K-1 for weddings, and that's the only way I'm justifying the purchase, so I definitely want the low-ISO benefit. Once we get into September, then I won't be doing much more official work for the rest of the year. Then I will investigate more thoroughly. I'll go to the new firmware also. Thanks!

That's fair, not wanting to provoke it until after your weddings are over. Still, I'd say upgrade the firmware and don't worry about it too much. Keep your batteries fresh. I had a few issues with my K3 until I got in the habit of keeping my batteries fresh.

Funny, I was helping my mom out with her Canon T5i (?) a while ago and it went into a crazy mirror slapping mode, also due to low batteries!

Class A · 08-10-2016, 10:21 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by aikilink

Anyone else ever see something like this?

This issue -- the mirror seems to be stuck midway -- has been reported before. See for instance the "Body #3" section in the “K-1 quality control" thread.

A few K-1 users seem to be affected.

stevebrot · 08-10-2016, 01:02 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by aikilink

Any ideas? Anyone else ever see something like this?

As noted above, there have been other reports. Have you been in contact with your dealer and/or Ricoh? If not, now would be a good time.

Steve

Last edited by stevebrot; 08-10-2016 at 01:18 PM.

**PentAxt** · 08-10-2016, 01:03 PM - **1 Like**

I had an issue wherein my K-1 would lock with a blank screen in LV and couldn't be powered off by switch, battery fresh or not. Like yours, it would start up ok again using the viewfinder and lock up again in LV. Warranty repair involved a new flexible circuit cable and CPU. My bet is that it will need repair. Good luck for the wedding!

**Tas** · 08-10-2016, 07:08 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by aikilink

Hello all,

So, I was at a large family funeral and took a few photos of the ceremony, family and happenings for a few people who were unable to be there. At one point I pulled the screen down on the K-1, put it into Live View mode and noticed a black rectangle covering about the center 70% of the screen. At first I thought, "camera strap!" but that wasn't the case, I checked the front of the lens - nothing. Shut it down, turned it on and everything worked in viewfinder mode. Switched back to LV, and same thing again! Instead of powering down, I just switched out of LV to viewfinder. Everything looked good, but it wouldn't focus nicely - sort of seemed like focusing with a macro but worse (I had the 77mm mounted). Shut it off and back on and everything was good. I stopped using LV and all went smoothly. A few hours later I did a group photo using LV without thinking about it, and things were alright then.

It's a little disconcerting, and having a wedding this Saturday, as well as two more coming up in the next 30-days isn't making me feel better.

I'll stay out of LV, as I generally don't go there anyways (with the tilt-screen it's nice though to get some perspective change sometimes...).

I had the first firmware update (1.1) but didn't get the new 1.2 one. Two Pentax batteries, gripped, FA77mm RAW+ with JPGS on second card. Nothing else of note. The batteries were not brim-full. They were showing the 75% level on the camera.

Any ideas? Anyone else ever see something like this? I'm worried that it might have something to do with the mirror not going up when switching to LV. I definitely was hearing the usual "click" when switching to LV mode...

Thanks!

Yes, this sounds very similar to my experience, I can trigger it mostly when I am in mirror lock-up then go to use live view. It happens at others times, usually I only know this due to a change in the mirror actuation sound, but to be honest it's not happened a lot, but certainly enough to require mine to be serviced.

In my case hitting the LV button again usually returns the camera back to normal. This may take a couple of goes but I think initially I was turning the camera off but found later I didn't need to do this. The problem with my camera is the mirror is not always locking up when you going to live view. If this is the same problem the next time it happens leave the camera on in live view and remove the lens. If the mirror is down then your camera is the fourth example of this that I know of. I try and avoid going into LV whilst in mirror lock up drive mode but I'm not too concerned if I am, as 95% of the time the problem does not occur.

My camera has been working since the 10th of May with this condition and I will continue with it until early October when I will send mine in for repair. With any luck your camera will be as hardy as mine and continue working despite the problem.

There's more details in the thread linked above by 'Class A' and in that thread you will find a link I posted to another thread that has additional information on the issue that I and the other two forum members have experienced.

Tas

aikilink · 08-11-2016, 08:20 AM

Thank you everyone for the helpful comments and excellent information! I am relieved to know that it's not an un-heard of issue, but also sad to learn that the K-1 didn't launch quite free from all hiccups! It doesn't bother me as much as the mirror sickness on my K-3 though, and it seems the firmware took care of that issue nicely!

I'll be in touch with B&H or Pentax and get things lined up for a repair!

tomO2013 · 08-11-2016, 08:52 AM

Hi,

I opened this thread and shared a video in it.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/190-pentax-k-1/327122-quality-control-issues-k1.html

I've made contact with Ricoh canada to try and get this sorted - so far no joy.

I would advise using a different body for wedding if you had intended to rely on the body as your primary cameara - rent a K3ii or something for the day.

I've shot a two weddings with my K1 already and unfortunately in the last wedding the mirror stuck quite regularly - sometime it took more than one attempt of live view reset to reset it.

It also occurred in optical viewfinder. It's not something I feel that I can rely on and is currently sitting in a box waiting on Ricoh to see what they are going to do for me.

Please can you confirm if you are seeing the same in the other thread and comment there - I know that Ricoh Canada (anyway) are aware of this thread.

The more people that comment and provide evidence, the more likely this will be fixed by either a replacement body/recall/firmware etc...

Thanks,

Tom.

stevebrot · 08-11-2016, 10:37 AM

Originally posted by tomO2013

The more people that comment and provide evidence, the more likely this will be fixed by either a replacement body/recall/firmware etc...

Sorry, but that is sort of wishful thinking. Ricoh N. America does not have an official presence on this site* and there is no evidence that they monitor posts here. Venting on the forums is, well, for the most part...venting, with the possible exception of threads like that set up for the K-1 by Adam to provide a list of observed issues. My understanding is he compiles a list from posts there and sends the list directly to Ricoh. Getting issues noticed in an effective way can be done by these time-honored approaches:

If a recent purchase, arrange an exchange with your dealer. The defective camera goes home to Ricoh with a fairly good chance of being noticed by people that count. There is also an excellent chance that the sales reps (if any) will be be aware and have flesh in the game. That is important.
If not a recent purchase and failure is under warranty AND the failure is a grievous one (not the usual sort), make sure Ricoh is in the loop, preferably by e-mail or paper trail. The replacement option (to be brokered through Ricoh) should pressed hard for a grievous issue. In the U.S. (not sure about Canada) Ricoh has an arm's length relationship with its warranty service station (Precision Camera Repair). There is little evidence that the specifics of failure type for warranty service make their way back to Ricoh, USA, so making sure that Ricoh is in the loop on the specifics is important. In some cases (e.g. Brick & Mortar store), bringing the dealer into the loop will fairly reliably bring the issue to the attention of the sales representative and appropriate management.

Are forum posts/lists a waste of time as an instrument of change? I am not sure. A flurry of reports here or on DPReview may pique the interest of a few bloggers, but the usual media resources (e.g. PetaPixel) require hard evidence before they will break a story. I think the main value is in bolstering the customer service and sales rep's concerns when they bring the matter to their bosses.

Steve

* ...and presumably the other regional distributors, worldwide. If they are here, they are very quiet.

tomO2013 · 08-11-2016, 10:41 AM

I can assure you that my thread was brought before Ricoh Canada. (Whether that goes further or not is another thing - i was specifically asked for evidence).

I also feel that if a scientific reporting methodology is taken to this (less ranting) more explanation of the issue, video evidence, photographic evidence of issue etc... it may also help new prospective buyers. It's a bigger win than saying nothing at all

08-10-2016, 08:03 AM	#1
aikilink Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 124	K-1 Live View Major Issue Hello all, So, I was at a large family funeral and took a few photos of the ceremony, family and happenings for a few people who were unable to be there. At one point I pulled the screen down on the K-1, put it into Live View mode and noticed a black rectangle covering about the center 70% of the screen. At first I thought, "camera strap!" but that wasn't the case, I checked the front of the lens - nothing. Shut it down, turned it on and everything worked in viewfinder mode. Switched back to LV, and same thing again! Instead of powering down, I just switched out of LV to viewfinder. Everything looked good, but it wouldn't focus nicely - sort of seemed like focusing with a macro but worse (I had the 77mm mounted). Shut it off and back on and everything was good. I stopped using LV and all went smoothly. A few hours later I did a group photo using LV without thinking about it, and things were alright then. It's a little disconcerting, and having a wedding this Saturday, as well as two more coming up in the next 30-days isn't making me feel better. I'll stay out of LV, as I generally don't go there anyways (with the tilt-screen it's nice though to get some perspective change sometimes...). I had the first firmware update (1.1) but didn't get the new 1.2 one. Two Pentax batteries, gripped, FA77mm RAW+ with JPGS on second card. Nothing else of note. The batteries were not brim-full. They were showing the 75% level on the camera. Any ideas? Anyone else ever see something like this? I'm worried that it might have something to do with the mirror not going up when switching to LV. I definitely was hearing the usual "click" when switching to LV mode... Thanks!

08-10-2016, 10:21 AM - 1 Like	#6
Class A Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 11,251	Originally posted by aikilink Anyone else ever see something like this? This issue -- the mirror seems to be stuck midway -- has been reported before. See for instance the "Body #3" section in the “K-1 quality control" thread. A few K-1 users seem to be affected. Last edited by Class A; 08-10-2016 at 10:27 AM.

08-11-2016, 10:37 AM	#12
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by tomO2013 The more people that comment and provide evidence, the more likely this will be fixed by either a replacement body/recall/firmware etc... Sorry, but that is sort of wishful thinking. Ricoh N. America does not have an official presence on this site* and there is no evidence that they monitor posts here. Venting on the forums is, well, for the most part...venting, with the possible exception of threads like that set up for the K-1 by Adam to provide a list of observed issues. My understanding is he compiles a list from posts there and sends the list directly to Ricoh. Getting issues noticed in an effective way can be done by these time-honored approaches: If a recent purchase, arrange an exchange with your dealer. The defective camera goes home to Ricoh with a fairly good chance of being noticed by people that count. There is also an excellent chance that the sales reps (if any) will be be aware and have flesh in the game. That is important. If not a recent purchase and failure is under warranty AND the failure is a grievous one (not the usual sort), make sure Ricoh is in the loop, preferably by e-mail or paper trail. The replacement option (to be brokered through Ricoh) should pressed hard for a grievous issue. In the U.S. (not sure about Canada) Ricoh has an arm's length relationship with its warranty service station (Precision Camera Repair). There is little evidence that the specifics of failure type for warranty service make their way back to Ricoh, USA, so making sure that Ricoh is in the loop on the specifics is important. In some cases (e.g. Brick & Mortar store), bringing the dealer into the loop will fairly reliably bring the issue to the attention of the sales representative and appropriate management. Are forum posts/lists a waste of time as an instrument of change? I am not sure. A flurry of reports here or on DPReview may pique the interest of a few bloggers, but the usual media resources (e.g. PetaPixel) require hard evidence before they will break a story. I think the main value is in bolstering the customer service and sales rep's concerns when they bring the matter to their bosses. Steve * ...and presumably the other regional distributors, worldwide. If they are here, they are very quiet.

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08-10-2016, 08:31 AM	#2
bobbotron Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Ottawa, ON Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,349	I found on the K3, once the battery goes out of "100%" mode, you're really at "change battery mode". Could be low battery level related weirdness. Charge your batteries? I think you shouldn't shy away from live mode, use the heck out of it. Send it back under warranty if problems persist. Maybe upgrade to the latest firmware too.

08-10-2016, 08:57 AM	#3
aikilink Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 124 Original Poster	Thanks for the thoughts! I do know about the battery level stuffs, and I do like to charge them when they drop a notch. That's more like 30% left, than 75%, haha! But, I did take at least a hundred pictures throughout the day after that with no issues and I could've done quite a few more before draining the batteries completely. I've never had any real issues even with yellow/red battery levels, so I'm a bit concerned. Generally I would use the heck out of it, I just don't want it to die in the middle of a wedding with two more coming up. I do have a K-3 that my wife will be shooting, as well as a K-30 for a second body/backup. That being said, I invested in the K-1 for weddings, and that's the only way I'm justifying the purchase, so I definitely want the low-ISO benefit. Once we get into September, then I won't be doing much more official work for the rest of the year. Then I will investigate more thoroughly. I'll go to the new firmware also. Thanks!

08-10-2016, 09:13 AM - 1 Like	#4
Unregistered User Guest	I often use my batteries until they turn the camera off if I am out for a long trek. Never had any issues like that or anything else charge related but often I have heard that there are different problems when using a grip on older Pentax cameras. Is it the same without the grip?

08-10-2016, 09:17 AM - 1 Like	#5
bobbotron Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Ottawa, ON Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,349	Originally posted by aikilink Thanks for the thoughts! I do know about the battery level stuffs, and I do like to charge them when they drop a notch. That's more like 30% left, than 75%, haha! But, I did take at least a hundred pictures throughout the day after that with no issues and I could've done quite a few more before draining the batteries completely. I've never had any real issues even with yellow/red battery levels, so I'm a bit concerned. Generally I would use the heck out of it, I just don't want it to die in the middle of a wedding with two more coming up. I do have a K-3 that my wife will be shooting, as well as a K-30 for a second body/backup. That being said, I invested in the K-1 for weddings, and that's the only way I'm justifying the purchase, so I definitely want the low-ISO benefit. Once we get into September, then I won't be doing much more official work for the rest of the year. Then I will investigate more thoroughly. I'll go to the new firmware also. Thanks! That's fair, not wanting to provoke it until after your weddings are over. Still, I'd say upgrade the firmware and don't worry about it too much. Keep your batteries fresh. I had a few issues with my K3 until I got in the habit of keeping my batteries fresh. Funny, I was helping my mom out with her Canon T5i (?) a while ago and it went into a crazy mirror slapping mode, also due to low batteries!

08-10-2016, 01:02 PM - 1 Like	#7
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by aikilink Any ideas? Anyone else ever see something like this? As noted above, there have been other reports. Have you been in contact with your dealer and/or Ricoh? If not, now would be a good time. Steve Last edited by stevebrot; 08-10-2016 at 01:18 PM.

08-10-2016, 01:03 PM - 1 Like	#8
PentAxt Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Bay Area/Peninsula, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 99	I had an issue wherein my K-1 would lock with a blank screen in LV and couldn't be powered off by switch, battery fresh or not. Like yours, it would start up ok again using the viewfinder and lock up again in LV. Warranty repair involved a new flexible circuit cable and CPU. My bet is that it will need repair. Good luck for the wedding!

08-10-2016, 07:08 PM - 1 Like	#9
Tas Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Brisbane, QLD Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,202	Originally posted by aikilink Hello all, So, I was at a large family funeral and took a few photos of the ceremony, family and happenings for a few people who were unable to be there. At one point I pulled the screen down on the K-1, put it into Live View mode and noticed a black rectangle covering about the center 70% of the screen. At first I thought, "camera strap!" but that wasn't the case, I checked the front of the lens - nothing. Shut it down, turned it on and everything worked in viewfinder mode. Switched back to LV, and same thing again! Instead of powering down, I just switched out of LV to viewfinder. Everything looked good, but it wouldn't focus nicely - sort of seemed like focusing with a macro but worse (I had the 77mm mounted). Shut it off and back on and everything was good. I stopped using LV and all went smoothly. A few hours later I did a group photo using LV without thinking about it, and things were alright then. It's a little disconcerting, and having a wedding this Saturday, as well as two more coming up in the next 30-days isn't making me feel better. I'll stay out of LV, as I generally don't go there anyways (with the tilt-screen it's nice though to get some perspective change sometimes...). I had the first firmware update (1.1) but didn't get the new 1.2 one. Two Pentax batteries, gripped, FA77mm RAW+ with JPGS on second card. Nothing else of note. The batteries were not brim-full. They were showing the 75% level on the camera. Any ideas? Anyone else ever see something like this? I'm worried that it might have something to do with the mirror not going up when switching to LV. I definitely was hearing the usual "click" when switching to LV mode... Thanks! Yes, this sounds very similar to my experience, I can trigger it mostly when I am in mirror lock-up then go to use live view. It happens at others times, usually I only know this due to a change in the mirror actuation sound, but to be honest it's not happened a lot, but certainly enough to require mine to be serviced. In my case hitting the LV button again usually returns the camera back to normal. This may take a couple of goes but I think initially I was turning the camera off but found later I didn't need to do this. The problem with my camera is the mirror is not always locking up when you going to live view. If this is the same problem the next time it happens leave the camera on in live view and remove the lens. If the mirror is down then your camera is the fourth example of this that I know of. I try and avoid going into LV whilst in mirror lock up drive mode but I'm not too concerned if I am, as 95% of the time the problem does not occur. My camera has been working since the 10th of May with this condition and I will continue with it until early October when I will send mine in for repair. With any luck your camera will be as hardy as mine and continue working despite the problem. There's more details in the thread linked above by 'Class A' and in that thread you will find a link I posted to another thread that has additional information on the issue that I and the other two forum members have experienced. Tas

08-11-2016, 08:20 AM	#10
aikilink Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 124 Original Poster	Thank you everyone for the helpful comments and excellent information! I am relieved to know that it's not an un-heard of issue, but also sad to learn that the K-1 didn't launch quite free from all hiccups! It doesn't bother me as much as the mirror sickness on my K-3 though, and it seems the firmware took care of that issue nicely! I'll be in touch with B&H or Pentax and get things lined up for a repair!

08-11-2016, 08:52 AM	#11
tomO2013 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 155	Hi, I opened this thread and shared a video in it. https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/190-pentax-k-1/327122-quality-control-issues-k1.html I've made contact with Ricoh canada to try and get this sorted - so far no joy. I would advise using a different body for wedding if you had intended to rely on the body as your primary cameara - rent a K3ii or something for the day. I've shot a two weddings with my K1 already and unfortunately in the last wedding the mirror stuck quite regularly - sometime it took more than one attempt of live view reset to reset it. It also occurred in optical viewfinder. It's not something I feel that I can rely on and is currently sitting in a box waiting on Ricoh to see what they are going to do for me. Please can you confirm if you are seeing the same in the other thread and comment there - I know that Ricoh Canada (anyway) are aware of this thread. The more people that comment and provide evidence, the more likely this will be fixed by either a replacement body/recall/firmware etc... Thanks, Tom.

08-11-2016, 10:41 AM	#13
tomO2013 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 155	I can assure you that my thread was brought before Ricoh Canada. (Whether that goes further or not is another thing - i was specifically asked for evidence). I also feel that if a scientific reporting methodology is taken to this (less ranting) more explanation of the issue, video evidence, photographic evidence of issue etc... it may also help new prospective buyers. It's a bigger win than saying nothing at all

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