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11-06-2014, 08:34 PM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by gastch Quote
Ok guys I'm days away from ordering my K-3 and 18-135 and thought I would bring this thread back to life with a question. I'm reading about issues with shutter runaway with the K-3 and how firmwear update 1.11 kinda does a work around fix and for a real fix you have to send the camera away to get fixed. Should I be worried about this? Does this happen with alot of copies or the case where you here more about the negatives than the positive?
I have two bodies that I shoot extensively with many lenses. One ran away twice with the DA12-24, not with other lenses. The other was fine. The one that had the problem seemed flakey; it would do odd things from time to time. Each firmware update made it slightly more stable. I wouldn't worry about it. If you have one that has a problem, it will show up pretty quickly; exchange it. Not any difference than any other problem, just a bad copy.

11-06-2014, 08:57 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by gastch Quote
Ok guys I'm days away from ordering my K-3 and 18-135 and thought I would bring this thread back to life with a question. I'm reading about issues with shutter runaway with the K-3 and how firmwear update 1.11 kinda does a work around fix and for a real fix you have to send the camera away to get fixed. Should I be worried about this? Does this happen with alot of copies or the case where you here more about the negatives than the positive?
Here is a set of bullet points:
  • There were a number of K-3 cameras belonging to PF members that suffered from what could be termed a "runaway mirror" issue. The shutter was staying shut on these cameras, but the mirror had uncontrolled rapid-fire movement.
  • Ricoh/Pentax acknowledged this issue existed and offered warranty service to effected owners this last summer. The offered service appears to be effective.
  • This fall, Ricoh/Pentax also released a firmware update (v1.11) which included code to suppress uncontrolled mirror activity if detected. It apparently does not address the root cause.
  • The number or reported cases of "runaway mirror" has tapered off significantly in the last few months inferring that the issue is no longer present in recent production
  • There is a thread on this site that serves to track reported cases (151 total as of today)*. The last report was several weeks ago with very low incidence in both September and October)
It is hard to estimate the extent of the problem due to a number of factors, though I think it is safe to say that the problem is far from pervasive and no more prevalent than various other problems that have been reported with various Japanese-brand dSLR cameras from various makers.*

The usual advice is to not be too concerned. If you want an additional layer of protection and live in North America, you can purchase an additional two years of warranty for less than $20 USD.


Steve

* According to Consumer Reports, the incidence of failure or significant problems requiring service for dSLR cameras (across all models) is 4% for Canon and Sony and 6% for Nikon. There was inadequate information for Pentax. The K-3 is a recommended model on Consumer Reports.

---------- Post added 11-06-14 at 08:06 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by derekkite Quote
The one that had the problem seemed flakey; it would do odd things from time to time.
Did you have the flakey camera serviced?


Steve

Last edited by stevebrot; 11-06-2014 at 09:05 PM.
11-06-2014, 09:21 PM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
[*]There is a thread on this site that serves to track reported cases (151 total as of today)*. The last report was several weeks ago with very low incidence in both September and October)
That's interesting Steve. I wonder if thy have adjusted something which is bringing the (new) number of cameras with the problem down?
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