[Marc Sabatella]

I was already to correct you, pointing out MSL is the one who helped so much, not me. Then I checked his profile...

[Philoslothical]

If I were to make a blind guess, I'd suspect that the new shutter isn't working properly. That even if it records a given shutter speed in the EXIF, the reality is that it's lagging badly. I'd be getting in touch with Pentax asap, as work they do is warrantied for what, 90 days? I think?

As I said, just a guess, but I don't think it's a firmware issue, and from all of OPs posts and pics, I don't think it's user error in this case, either. My gut says it's hardware.

[MSL]

I was already to correct you, pointing out MSL is the one who helped so much, not me. Then I checked his profile...

Any credit you get is richly deserved - and I'd say this for any of the moderators.

[captainbert]

I was already to correct you, pointing out MSL is the one who helped so much, not me. Then I checked his profile...

Thanks to you too Marc! Pentax actually arranged to pick up my K5 last Tuesday and they had it back to me on Friday which was super fast service. They said they found no problem with the metering and said they had calibrated the autofocus, however as soon as i tested it i found the metering to still a mess. After a while of some testing it was very obvious that the smaller apertures were much more blown out. I tested with four lenses on a tripod and started with each lens wide open (seemed fine here) and moved down gradually to f16 where every image with every lens was completely blown out. I used my dad's Nikon d5100 as a reference (the only camera i could get my hands on) and found no problems with the same settings. I am far from a tech expert or a photo expert but my K5 was perfect before bar the annoying mirror flop and continuos focus confirmation beep and all my lenses were perfectly sharp and metering was daed on. The FA 43 limited is completely unusable now and every image is pure mush. I am about to send them all tripod tested images via wetransfer. They said this was tested by one technician and verified by another. I think at this point i would rather new replacement model as this has been going on a while now.

[captainbert]

If I were to make a blind guess, I'd suspect that the new shutter isn't working properly. That even if it records a given shutter speed in the EXIF, the reality is that it's lagging badly. I'd be getting in touch with Pentax asap, as work they do is warrantied for what, 90 days? I think?

As I said, just a guess, but I don't think it's a firmware issue, and from all of OPs posts and pics, I don't think it's user error in this case, either. My gut says it's hardware.

Thanks for the comment Philoslothical. Yeah i don't see how it could be anything i am doing as i am doing exactly what i did before it was sent away. That is interesting that you think it is the new shutter which is the problem and not the firmware as i have no clue about such things. My k5 is only six months old and has a two year warranty so i expect that this should be sorted out this week one way or another.

[vonBaloney]

Thanks for the comment Philoslothical. Yeah i don't see how it could be anything i am doing as i am doing exactly what i did before it was sent away. That is interesting that you think it is the new shutter which is the problem and not the firmware as i have no clue about such things. My k5 is only six months old and has a two year warranty so i expect that this should be sorted out this week one way or another.

Probably technically the aperture -- had the same problem with my K10D. Wouldn't always stop down, but it was intermittent. If I put it on continuous shooting, I could be sure to get some fails (blown out) in the stream. Do some tests where the proper exposure is to be gotten wide-open (at a variety of shutter speeds) -- those will probably look fine. Then do some where it should be stopping down to f/16 to get proper exposure -- those (or some of them) will probably be blown. You can also just use optical preview to see if it is stopping down all the time or not, or set it to a long exposure (a few seconds) and look straight into the lens as you fire -- you should see the aperture close -- does it, or is there a delay?

[MSL]

Thanks to you too Marc! Pentax actually arranged to pick up my K5 last Tuesday and they had it back to me on Friday which was super fast service. They said they found no problem with the metering and said they had calibrated the autofocus, however as soon as i tested it i found the metering to still a mess. After a while of some testing it was very obvious that the smaller apertures were much more blown out. I tested with four lenses on a tripod and started with each lens wide open (seemed fine here) and moved down gradually to f16 where every image with every lens was completely blown out. I used my dad's Nikon d5100 as a reference (the only camera i could get my hands on) and found no problems with the same settings. I am far from a tech expert or a photo expert but my K5 was perfect before bar the annoying mirror flop and continuos focus confirmation beep and all my lenses were perfectly sharp and metering was daed on. The FA 43 limited is completely unusable now and every image is pure mush. I am about to send them all tripod tested images via wetransfer. They said this was tested by one technician and verified by another. I think at this point i would rather new replacement model as this has been going on a while now.

Me again
If this is the case then you should have a simple way to show them the problem. Set up a tripod shot and put the camera in aperture mode for a scene that has relatively controlled lighting. Take a series of shots where you start from wide open and push through to completely closed down. In theory, the histograms for all the pictures should be almost identical as long as nothing has gotten saturated. What I suspect you will see is a push to the right as you move to smaller apertures that aren't stopping down correctly.

Following @vonBaloney's suggestion here is one other idea. Set up a second camera or video camera to watch the lens aperture (lighting will be tricky but it can be done). Take pictures at various aperture and shutter speeds - but with an aim at longer exposures. Use the second camera to track what is really happening, say, when the lens is supposed to fully stop down for 10 seconds.

[captainbert]

Probably technically the aperture -- had the same problem with my K10D. Wouldn't always stop down, but it was intermittent. If I put it on continuous shooting, I could be sure to get some fails (blown out) in the stream. Do some tests where the proper exposure is to be gotten wide-open (at a variety of shutter speeds) -- those will probably look fine. Then do some where it should be stopping down to f/16 to get proper exposure -- those (or some of them) will probably be blown. You can also just use optical preview to see if it is stopping down all the time or not, or set it to a long exposure (a few seconds) and look straight into the lens as you fire -- you should see the aperture close -- does it, or is there a delay?

Thanks VonBaloney. I'll follow that test when i get a chance which unfortunately isn't going to be this evening due to hectic house here at the moment. Cheers!

[captainbert]

Me again
If this is the case then you should have a simple way to show them the problem. Set up a tripod shot and put the camera in aperture mode for a scene that has relatively controlled lighting. Take a series of shots where you start from wide open and push through to completely closed down. In theory, the histograms for all the pictures should be almost identical as long as nothing has gotten saturated. What I suspect you will see is a push to the right as you move to smaller apertures that aren't stopping down correctly.

Following @vonBaloney's suggestion here is one other idea. Set up a second camera or video camera to watch the lens aperture (lighting will be tricky but it can be done). Take pictures at various aperture and shutter speeds - but with an aim at longer exposures. Use the second camera to track what is really happening, say, when the lens is supposed to fully stop down for 10 seconds.

That is pretty much exactly what i did yesterday Marc. I had the camera in aperture priority and shot a series of shots with each lens starting wide open and gradually going to f16. The results were exactly as you stated in that the histograms moved to the right the further i stopped down. When i got to f16 the histogram was pretty much all the way to the right with all four lenses tested and there was no detail to be seen ie the images were basically pure white.

I'll follow what you suggested when i get a chance to test it again. Thanks Marc!

[MSL]

Any updates Cap'n?