[WMBP]

I fear that my AF-540FGZ is broken.

First, when I start it up, it makes a fairly loud, moderately high-pitched buzzing sound for two or maybe three seconds. Perhaps it's been doing this since I purchased it late last spring, and I just didn't notice it then. I didn't use it much until fairly recently. But I'm noticing this buzz now.

Second -- and this is what really makes me think something is wrong -- I can't get the zoom button to do anything. With the flash unit mounted on my K10D, I turn on the K10D itself first (per the flash unit's manual), then I turn on the flash. It buzzes and then its LED shows me the basic settings. It's set to P-TTL mode, digital. But the zoom is set to "M.Zoom" and I can't get it to change to "A.Zoom". And what's really weird is that the focal length number (I think that's what it is -- the number in the upper right corner of the flash unit's LED) keeps blinking "16" (mm) and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about that. Pressing the zoom button doesn't do anything. I don't think that the button itself is mechanically broken, because if I switch the operations-menu switch on the right side of the unit from its upper setting (where the light, zoom and test buttons are active) to its lower setting (where the format, ch. and modeling buttons are active), in that lower setting, the ch. button does work.

I've read the user's guide from cover to cover, again. There's no troubleshooting section, so it's really not much help here. But I'm pretty sure that I'm doing everything by the book precisely. And I'm pretty sure that, with a Pentax DA 16-45 lens on the camera, I should be able to get to A.Zoom mode. And I can't. And I don't think that the 16 should be either unchangeable OR blinking constantly.

For what it's worth, the unit seems to be working in most other respects. It does flash. The flash exposure compensation (using the S button and dial) seems to work. I'm not entirely sure that it's metering correctly, because I've been doing a LOT of test shots and at the moment, I'm really not sure what "correct" looks like.

What do you think? And if it's broken, what do I do? This would be the first problem I've had with anything related to this camera. And I need it fixed pretty quickly, if indeed it is a problem.

Will

[barondla]

Doesn't sound good. With flash on camera the flash should zoom (when in auto zoom mode) by pressing shutter half way down. You should be able to switch from m to a zoom with the zoom button. Is the 3 sec sound mechanical or elecrical sounding? All flash make an electrical buzzing while charging. My fear is the motor in the flash head is jammed and the 3 second sound is that, before flash cuts off to keep from damaging things further. This means it would have to go in for repair or replacement. Bummer.
thanks
barondla

[Peter Zack]

I'm guessing the same thing and it may be jammed and I think I read somewhere that this mechanism is plastic and metal combined. Someone posted a similar issue (sorry can't remember which forum) and the result was a trip to the service center. I don't have mine right here but have you tried powering it up and testing the functions as well as manual zoom when it's off the camera?

[nosnoop]

Yes, the zoom head is jammed. Someone has gotten it going by giving a firm tap on the side. And I believe others have opened it up and release it manually - but I could not find that particular post in dpreview. If you are not the adventurous type, then service center is the safest bet.

[WMBP]

Doesn't sound good. With flash on camera the flash should zoom (when in auto zoom mode) by pressing shutter half way down. You should be able to switch from m to a zoom with the zoom button.

Yes, that's what I understand from the manual. But these selections don't work now.

Is the 3 sec sound mechanical or elecrical sounding? All flash make an electrical buzzing while charging.

I would say it's electrical sounding.

Something odd has happened since I posted a short while ago. I've turned the flash unit off several times, and taken the batteries out and put them back in, and now there has been one change from what I reported earlier. Instead of being stuck on M.Zoom, it's now stuck on A.Zoom. The zoom button however still doesn't have any effect, and I the "16" is still blinking and I can't change it.

My fear is the motor in the flash head is jammed and the 3 second sound is that, before flash cuts off to keep from damaging things further. This means it would have to go in for repair or replacement. Bummer.

Bummer indeed. But I am wondering: who do I contact for service on the unit? I'm pretty sure I purchased this through Amazon.com. Do I contact THEM? Or do I find a service number on pentaximaging.com?

Will

[SpecialK]

Bummer indeed. But I am wondering: who do I contact for service on the unit? I'm pretty sure I purchased this through Amazon.com. Do I contact THEM? Or do I find a service number on pentaximaging.com?

Will

Will -

You contact Pentax. That is why they give you a warranty :-)

"Contact Customer Service
You can complete a web form to contact PENTAX Imaging Company with questions or concerns of any nature. The link to the form is below. When you submit the form, it is automatically emailed to Pentax representatives who will respond to your inquiry within three business days (average) via email.

You may also contact Customer Service by calling (800) 877-0155 from within the United States of America or faxing (303) 728-0122. Please listen carefully to the prompts to expedite your access to a Customer Service Representative when you telephone."

Amazon has a nice exchange policy - for 30 days I think.

Sorry about your flash.

[WMBP]

I've found another thread on the same problem here in this forum. Looks like I'm by no means alone.

Checked my records and this unit was purchased through B&H, not Amazon. So I've just written an email to B&H's support department, reporting the problem and asking them to advise me. Of course, this has to happen right at the start of the Jewish high holy days, so I won't hear back from them until next Sunday at the earliest. ;-) God is giving me another lesson in patience.

I'm tempted to open the unit up and take a look-see. But the warranty states very clearly that you void the warranty if the unit is serviced by unauthorized repair personnel (like yours truly). I'm pretty confident I could put it back together without leaving tracks, but I really don't know for sure. I tried a gentle tap on the side, but that did nothing.

Thanks to all who responded for helping me complete this diagnosis. I'm pretty ticked, really, because this comes at a bad time -- and it makes me worried about the unit's reliability. I haven't used this unit very much. I have only had it since May, did two shoots in May with it, and haven't used it much at all since then until a couple of weeks ago when I began trying to learn its ins and outs. In other words, it seems to have broken while I was doing not much more than test shots.

Will

[WMBP]

SpecialK,

Thanks for the phone number for Pentax customer service. I perused the warranty in the users manual already and it says to contact the original seller, which I have now done. (Original seller was B&H.) But I think I'll just call Pentax directly tomorrow and see if I can accomplish anything that way. I'm sure B&H won't mind if I'm able to solve the problem without involving them.

Will

[mcleoud151]

SpecialK,

Thanks for the phone number for Pentax customer service. I perused the warranty in the users manual already and it says to contact the original seller, which I have now done. (Original seller was B&H.) But I think I'll just call Pentax directly tomorrow and see if I can accomplish anything that way. I'm sure B&H won't mind if I'm able to solve the problem without involving them.

Will

Best of luck! I've had this occur twice now with my 540, and it's about to happen for round three. This is without a doubt a HUGE issue with these units, but Pentax apparently has not found a way to fix it correctly, or they just don't care. Major major dissapointment from a company I love. ANyway, Pentax will tell you to send it in or to take it to an authorized service center. If all goes well, you might only be flashless for a few weeks, as opposed to the three months I was.

I had to FIGHT this last time to get Pentax to cover it, in fact they wouldn't, but my shop picked up the tab (thank you Advanced Camera, Beaverton, Oregon!) after some rather terse discussion.

May you have better luck than I.

Oh, incidentally, anyone ever had the flash unit stick in the shoe? Used my 540 tonight, and now it won't come out! If I try any harder to pull in it I know It'll just break (fragile little things, you know)!! Anybody know any tricks?

[ccallana]

Oh, incidentally, anyone ever had the flash unit stick in the shoe? Used my 540 tonight, and now it won't come out! If I try any harder to pull in it I know It'll just break (fragile little things, you know)!! Anybody know any tricks?

There were several huge threads about that issue on dpreview a while back, there is a pin that drops down into a hole when you lock it on, and now its stuck.

I think some people disassembled the bottom of the flash to get it off... try searching for it over there (horrible search engine)

[WMBP]

I'm not a happy camper. ;-(

Contacted Pentax service via the phone number SpecialK helpfully provided. Normal turnaround time for a warranty repair is 15-20 business days, in other words, in practical terms, one full month.

By putting a check for $25 into the package with the flash, I can reduce that time to 8 business days -- in other words, just half a month.

In the last dozen years or so, I've sent a fair number of Apple PowerBooks back to Apple for repairs. Typical turnaround time for Apple: 48 hours. That's not the time they have it, that's the time it takes from the moment FedEx picks up the PowerBook on Tuesday morning to the time they return it to my office Thursday morning. THAT is service.

Is everybody this bad? I gather that if Ben Kanarek's camera develops a little cough, they send a replacement over in a limo right away, and I've heard of Nikon and Canon doing similar things. Is that level of service only for celebs? It really galls me to have to pay $25 to upgrade my service from horrible to merely bad.

Not to mention how worrying it is that I would encounter this problem in the first place on a unit that I have, in all honesty, barely used.

Anyway, thanks again to everybody here for helping me nail it -- and for showing me that it's not an unknown problem.

Will

[mcleoud151]

Thanks for the tip. I guess I'll just take it BACK into the shop and let them mess with it. If they can't fix it today, maybe I'll go find a sledge hammer. Never in my life as a photographer have I seen such shoddy craftsmanship as this flash unit. SOOO...once I get it unstuck, and after I have Pentax FIX IT AGAIN (cause the zoom head is ready to stick again for good), anyone wanna' buy a nice recently fixed and cleaned AF540!?!!?


Wil, I hope you have better luck than I did!

[WMBP]

Will, I hope you have better luck than I did!

The service rep that I spoke to -- who was perfectly cordial on the phone -- said that he'd heard of this issue but didn't get a lot of calls on it. That's not surprising. I mean, if every unit broke like this, then there really WOULD be a hue and cry, every Internet forum would be warning people not to buy the 540FGZ, etc. But it seems that there really is an issue with this unit, and to me, that means Pentax should offer to fix it fast and free.

I've just placed an order for a Metz. I'm going to send the 540FGZ in later today and get it fixed. Not sure whether I'll keep it afterwards. I'm pretty ticked right now.

Will

[jnorth]

I've had my 540 since they rolled into Vancouver. It had not displayed any problems: jammed zoom, or jammed on camera until May or June of this year. The zoom jammed. I gave a luv tap on the side of the head and it has worked just fine since. It still hasn't jammed onto either my Ds or K10D and I have not and will not take it apart. Last night I fired off about 30-40 flash images at different focal lengths. I checked to see if it was zooming before using it and paid attention to the zooming at some point mid-way through and everything was behaving fine. The luv tap I'm talking about was less severe than it could receive while travelling around in my photobag. I'd give it a try before dropping it off for 1/2 month, and the worse that can happen is you wasted some luv before dropping it off. Again it is not the kind of tap that would do anything harm except for maybe a raw egg.

[WMBP]

... The luv tap I'm talking about was less severe than it could receive while travelling around in my photobag. I'd give it a try before dropping it off for 1/2 month, and the worse that can happen is you wasted some luv before dropping it off. Again it is not the kind of tap that would do anything harm except for maybe a raw egg.

Thanks for the suggestion and I'm glad it worked for you. But for the record, I've tried tapping. I've tried tapping with the flash off, tapping with the flash on while the zoom is trying to zoom. I've tapped with the flash right side up, with the flash upside down. A couple of my taps were pretty affectionate. No luck. Mine's stuck but good.

I've also tried replacing the batteries. Tried three different sets, and different types of batteries. No luck there, either.

I got my flash 5/8/07 -- four months ago. I used it for just two or three shoots in May, didn't use it much at all in June or July, and in August, started to work with it mainly so that I could master the darned thing. So mine has broken when it really hasn't even been used much.

Will