[Timus]

I've been shooting Pentax for 21 years. Purchased 2 film and 7 DSLR bodies. My latest purchase is the K3 iii. Awesome camera, however using the DA 50-135 I have found some issues in aperture priority where some images are totally blown out and the next good exposures. Pentax suggests a reset and to load the latest firmware.
The attached image 0104 was taken with the 50-135 at ISO 100, f7.1, 1/125 sec. Changed the settings, lowered the exposure compensation with little change. Changed lens to the full frame 70-200 at ISO 100, f8. 1/200 sec. with better exposure.
I feel stupid, but I have never been able to update the firmware on any of my DSLR's. Followed the instructions EXACTLY. When pushing the menu button and on switch simultaneously the normal info screen appears on the LCD. Not the firmware update as described.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Attached Images

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[UncleVanya]

Ok. Let’s walk through the process.

I assume you don’t have the latest firmware already downloaded from here:

Latest PENTAX K-3 Mark III Firmware Update : Software Downloads | RICOH IMAGING

On your pc…
1) format an sd card (32MB or larger)
2) make sure you have a fully charged battery.
3) download the new firmware, this is a self extracting file. After downloading you must extract the *.bin by running the file.
4) Move the *. Bin to the root directory of the sd card. There should be no folders and no other files on this sd card.

On your camera…
5)Insert the SD card into slot 1 and close the door.
6) Turn the camera on while pressing the MENU button. You should see:"Updates the camera firmware" on the LCD monitor.
7) Press the four-way controller to select "Start" and press the "OK" button:
"NOW LOADING" should appear on the LCD and updating should begin. DO NOT under any circumstances switch off the power before the update is completed.
8) When update is completed, "COMPLETE" will be displayed; now you can turn off the camera and remove the SD card.

[Paul the Sunman]

Hi Timus.

Firstly, I doubt firmware version is your issue, but we'll come to that.

The K3iii has several different metering modes that you can try. Perhaps the most foolproof is "Multi-segment" I suggest you give that a try. Go to the second screen of the Camera menu (AE Metering) and set it to your choice. For certain purposes, centre-weighted, spot or highlight-weighted may be what you want.

Updating firmware is very easy.

1. Download it from Latest PENTAX K-3 Mark III Firmware Update : Software Downloads | RICOH IMAGING.
2. Unzip the file k3iii_v121.zip by double clicking or otherwise invoking your system's archive utility. You should then have a file called EXACTLY fwdc233b.bin. If it has a different name, it will not be recognised.
3. Copy this file (not the zip file) to the root directory of your formatted SD card. It should sit along side (NOT inside) folders DCIM and PENTAX.
4. Put the SD card back in SLOT 1 of the camera, i.e., the one closest to the back of the camera.
5. Turn the camera on while holding down the menu button.

It will then ask if you wish to proceed. Agree and wait for it to do its thing, typically 30 seconds. Do not turn off until it says COMPLETE.

Good luck.

[JPT]

One thing to be careful of is that the file needs to have exactly the right file name to be recognized by the camera, as Paul mentioned above. If you, or your computer without you noticing, change the file name it won't be recognized by the camera.

On my Mac, if there is a previous version still in my download folder at the time I download (such as the previous update, which would be names identically), the computer will append a number to the newly downloaded file to distinguish the new one from the old one without informing you. This will cause the problem. I don't know if current versions of Windows do the same thing, but I guess it might prompt the user better.

So make sure you don't have any old versions in your download folder before downloading the firmware update from Ricoh.

Not sure if this is your issue with the update process, but just sharing my own previous problem and solution in case it helps.

[Fogel70]

Is it only with DA 50-135 lens you have this problem?

To me it seems more like a lens issues, and probably that stop down of the aperture is slow so the lens is not always fully stopped down when image is captured. Do you have any other camera to test DA 50-135 on?

If shooting with max frame rate on K3 III it may show up more often than on other cameras with lower frame rate.

[jersey]

It may sound stupid, but have you closed the cart flap? Update wont work with it open (I learned about it hard way )

[microlight]

Hi Timus. As Fogel70 says, if this is happening with one lens but not another, then it may not be the camera at all. You can easily check the lens’ aperture mechanism by dismounting it and looking through it while you move the aperture lever manually. Dismounted, the lens will be at its minimum aperture and moving the aperture lever will open it up. Release the lever and the aperture should snap shut. This movement should be very snappy with no delay, so if the aperture blades show signs of not closing instantly, then this could be a reason for over exposure on first shot. Also, try shooting wide open to check whether you get over-exposure.

It’s always worth updating the firmware, so good luck with that. (I think Uncle Vanya made a typo in his instructions - you need a SD card with a minimum capacity of 32MB, not GB.)

[Rondec]

You've got the information on updating the firmware. It is pretty simple. Just make sure your battery is fully charged up before you begin.

With regard to the 50-135, I would guess that your aperture lever is sticking on the 50-135 so that the lens isn't stopping down all the way to the f7.1 you chose for the above photo. This leads to an over exposed image. Just manually moving the lever can indicate if it isn't working the way it should.

[pschlute]

I have found some issues in aperture priority

Both these images are in Manual exposure mode ?

[Timus]

Hi Timus.

Firstly, I doubt firmware version is your issue, but we'll come to that.

The K3iii has several different metering modes that you can try. Perhaps the most foolproof is "Multi-segment" I suggest you give that a try. Go to the second screen of the Camera menu (AE Metering) and set it to your choice. For certain purposes, centre-weighted, spot or highlight-weighted may be what you want.

Updating firmware is very easy.

1. Download it from Latest PENTAX K-3 Mark III Firmware Update : Software Downloads | RICOH IMAGING.
2. Unzip the file k3iii_v121.zip by double clicking or otherwise invoking your system's archive utility. You should then have a file called EXACTLY fwdc233b.bin. If it has a different name, it will not be recognised.
3. Copy this file (not the zip file) to the root directory of your formatted SD card. It should sit along side (NOT inside) folders DCIM and PENTAX.
4. Put the SD card back in SLOT 1 of the camera, i.e., the one closest to the back of the camera.
5. Turn the camera on while holding down the menu button.

It will then ask if you wish to proceed. Agree and wait for it to do its thing, typically 30 seconds. Do not turn off until it says COMPLETE.

Good luck.

Thank you! The file I originally downloaded was 220, not 233. I am updated.

[UncleVanya]

(I think Uncle Vanya made a typo in his instructions - you need a SD card with a minimum capacity of 32MB, not GB.)

Correctly diagnosed. Whoops.

[Oldbayrunner]

What I am picking up on is what appears to be ok exposure settings with those images the exposure bias used was -2.30 and -3.30 to get the posted images appearance. To me that is indicative more of a hardware problem then a software one.