K30 gone mad?!

**photogem** · 06-29-2020, 11:48 PM

Disagreed!
There is always DIY. The cost for the solenoid is not that high and as the K30 is hardly used, i.e. low shuttercount, it is much more a question of how good is the K30 really, not how much is it worth on the market.

A well functioning K30 with the white Japan solenoid is still a very good camera and will produce fantastic photos.

**carlb** · 06-30-2020, 12:23 AM

Originally posted by Smoke665

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but just about any repair on the K30 quickly exceeds the value of the body. When my meticulously cared for K30 developed problems, by the time I looked at the cost of repair and shipping, it wasn't that much more to just upgrade. Why I still have the old K30 in a box, in a drawer, is beyond me😞

For the most part I agree with you. I have a K30 that developed the aperture problem so I took it to an independent repair person as it was a few years out of warranty. Cost me $220 to get it fixed but the camera had sentimental value so I thought that was OK. The repair lasted long enough to get outside of the repairers warranty period so I was going to just keep it. I also had a couple of K50's with the same problem and I sold them as is. One of the guys I sold a body to was a tech guy and was able to fix it, so I asked if he would have a crack at the K30. For $65 I've got a properly working K30 that's been fine for more than 12 months and still seems to be going strong, but I do make sure to exercise it every week or so. I wouldn't get it repaired again though.

Of course that was before I found out in another thread here yesterday that CRK here in Australia has repaired K30's and K50's with the problem well outside of the warranty period so I guess I should have pestered them first.

**iheiramo** · 06-30-2020, 01:21 AM

Originally posted by Smoke665

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but just about any repair on the K30 quickly exceeds the value of the body. When my meticulously cared for K30 developed problems, by the time I looked at the cost of repair and shipping, it wasn't that much more to just upgrade. Why I still have the old K30 in a box, in a drawer, is beyond me😞

It still works with manual lenses.

I never fixed mine, but instead bought couple of cheap manual lenses to keep it going. Then I bought few more expensive manual lenses, as I found it was fun to shoot with them. Then I bought a K5 to have an second body to play with my lenses. Then I bough a lot more manual lenses, K1ii and K3 when fully developed LBA and GAS really kicked in. Now I find myself dreaming of new DFA* lenses, so might be cheaper to keep that K30 in that box

**hjoseph7** · 07-05-2020, 01:42 PM

Sometimes I'm wary of buying "Hardly Used" or so-called "Mint" equipment exactly for the reasons you are having right now.

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06-29-2020, 11:48 PM	#16
photogem Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 3,522	Disagreed! There is always DIY. The cost for the solenoid is not that high and as the K30 is hardly used, i.e. low shuttercount, it is much more a question of how good is the K30 really, not how much is it worth on the market. A well functioning K30 with the white Japan solenoid is still a very good camera and will produce fantastic photos.

06-30-2020, 12:23 AM	#17
carlb Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 1,164	Originally posted by Smoke665 I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but just about any repair on the K30 quickly exceeds the value of the body. When my meticulously cared for K30 developed problems, by the time I looked at the cost of repair and shipping, it wasn't that much more to just upgrade. Why I still have the old K30 in a box, in a drawer, is beyond me😞 For the most part I agree with you. I have a K30 that developed the aperture problem so I took it to an independent repair person as it was a few years out of warranty. Cost me $220 to get it fixed but the camera had sentimental value so I thought that was OK. The repair lasted long enough to get outside of the repairers warranty period so I was going to just keep it. I also had a couple of K50's with the same problem and I sold them as is. One of the guys I sold a body to was a tech guy and was able to fix it, so I asked if he would have a crack at the K30. For $65 I've got a properly working K30 that's been fine for more than 12 months and still seems to be going strong, but I do make sure to exercise it every week or so. I wouldn't get it repaired again though. Of course that was before I found out in another thread here yesterday that CRK here in Australia has repaired K30's and K50's with the problem well outside of the warranty period so I guess I should have pestered them first.

06-30-2020, 01:21 AM	#18
iheiramo Unoriginal Poster Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Espoo Photos: Albums Posts: 3,182	Originally posted by Smoke665 I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but just about any repair on the K30 quickly exceeds the value of the body. When my meticulously cared for K30 developed problems, by the time I looked at the cost of repair and shipping, it wasn't that much more to just upgrade. Why I still have the old K30 in a box, in a drawer, is beyond me😞 It still works with manual lenses. I never fixed mine, but instead bought couple of cheap manual lenses to keep it going. Then I bought few more expensive manual lenses, as I found it was fun to shoot with them. Then I bought a K5 to have an second body to play with my lenses. Then I bough a lot more manual lenses, K1ii and K3 when fully developed LBA and GAS really kicked in. Now I find myself dreaming of new DFA* lenses, so might be cheaper to keep that K30 in that box

07-05-2020, 01:42 PM	#19
hjoseph7 Site Supporter Join Date: May 2014 Location: Minnesota Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,048	Sometimes I'm wary of buying "Hardly Used" or so-called "Mint" equipment exactly for the reasons you are having right now.