[Jodokast96]

One of them should be slightly recessed. That's normal. Starting with the highest one, it's #3 moving counter clockwise.

[fergy]

Ahhh, OK. That probably is the one I was looking at.

[Lowell Goudge]

It is interesting that they replaced the lens mount. Makes me wonder if there might have been a service bulletin back when I sent mine in cause they seemed to want to look at the lens mount and clean the contacts.

I was eyeballing the lens mount night before last and it looks to me like one of the little gold plated bumpies, or contacts, is a little pressed in--doesn't stand out like all the others do. It was late and my eyes were tired but I was curious if that one was able to make contact or not. I'll try to get a less tired eyeball on it and see if it looks different tonight. I'll also check the custom aperture ring setting also.

the depressed "little gold plated bumpies" (god I love that definition) should be the third from the lens lockingpin, and this depression is intentional.

This pin specifically when shorted to the camera mount tells the camera that an A lens is connected. If this contact is lost, then the camera assumes a manual aperture lens is conneected. it is recessed so that a normal K mount lens with no a position does not come in contact with it when mounted.

This pin would cause the camera not to fire only if the use aperture ring setting was not selected, but should not impact AF.

AF and all the focusing data is sent via the pin furthest away from the lens locking pin. If this pin is bad, you will not focus, but this should not impact other than focus confirmation when it is not shorted. (however, I am not sure the camera will trip the shutter in AF-S mode which requires focus confirmation to trip the shutter.)

Check the AF selection and put it in AF-C or Manual, and see if something works differently now.

[fergy]

Check the AF selection and put it in AF-C or Manual, and see if something works differently now.

I sat there the other night and tried every combination I could come up with, including AF-C, AF-S, Manual, including all the different modes and couldn't get the camera to operate the shutter or focus. Now, I didn't try turning off the camera, changing to AF-C or AF-S or Manual, then turning the camera on in that mode specifically, but I did try everything I could imagine at the time. By the "hit and miss" method, I may have inadvertently done exactly what I just said I didn't do specifically, if you know what I mean... I also tried turning on the camera with no lens and seeing if it would activate the shutter. No luck there either.

If I go through the menus and lift the mirror for CCD cleaning, it works, and it sets the mirror back down when you turn it off, like normal. It will also do the "shake the CCD" clean function. Like I said, everything looks normal on the displays as you go through menus, change modes, hit the "F" button, it all looks like it is ready to go, but the shutter release button and the AF button do nothing, with or without a lens present.

[fergy]

I just got an email from Mark Davis at Pentax and it looks like they are going to take care of things. I'll be packing up the K10D and shipping it to them tomorrow. I will let you guys know how this all works out. God I pray that it is still locked up when it arrives in AZ! That's been my nemesis!

[Lowell Goudge]

I just got an email from Mark Davis at Pentax and it looks like they are going to take care of things. I'll be packing up the K10D and shipping it to them tomorrow. I will let you guys know how this all works out. God I pray that it is still locked up when it arrives in AZ! That's been my nemesis!

good for you because I'm out of ideas

[fergy]

Lowell, I appreciate all the suggestions and ideas, as well as everyone else here who have tried to help. I'm going to try a few more things you have suggested tonight before I pack it up. Of course, the battery has been out of it since yesterday--watch it be working when I get home.

[Russell-Evans]

I won't argue with you guys about the battery, y'all know more about cameras than I do! I've never seen intermittent problems with a battery though. Usually a battery is either good or bad, not sometimes good and sometimes bad. Its been doing this since the camera and battery were new. Have you guys ever seen a battery that was intermittently good and bad?
I don't have a problem buying a new battery to test this theory.

I've had two np-400 replacement batteries that had issues and locked up my camera. They would be fully charged. They would work for a little while, or not at all, and it took me a little bit to figure out which batteries had the issue, because it was so intermittent.

Thank you
Russell

[fergy]

Strange! Well, I stand corrected. Never heard of battery caused issues like that.
Well, hopefully they will get to the bottom of my problem this time. I told them to keep it as long as it takes to get this resolved, especially if it gets there and is working again, like it has in the past.

I put the battery in it last night after it being out of the camera for more than 24 hours and it didn't change anything. So, I packed the camera up with the battery in it this time just in case. I'll drop it off at UPS today. Y'all keep your fingers crossed for me!

[Russell-Evans]

Strange! Well, I stand corrected. Never heard of battery caused issues like that.

Lithium ion batteries are not pure batteries.

Lithium-ion battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Safety requirements ... To reduce these risks, batteries generally contain a small circuit that shuts down when the battery moves outside the safe range of 3–4.2 V.

I put the battery in it last night after it being out of the camera for more than 24 hours and it didn't change anything. So, I packed the camera up with the battery in it this time just in case. I'll drop it off at UPS today. Y'all keep your fingers crossed for me!

You probably spent more money on postage than it would cost to buy a new battery. Good luck with whatever happens.

Thank you
Russell

[fergy]

Pentax customer support sent me a prepaid UPS label to ship it to them. When I get the camera back, I will buy two new batteries for it though.

When you said your camera locked up with the intermittent battery problems you had, did your menus and modes still display like the camera was fine? Just curious. Mine acts like everything works. All the menus and settings display, you can change settings, bump clean the CCD, lift the mirror for CCD cleaning etc. But pressing the shutter release is like it is disconnected from the camera, nothing happens, nothing displays through the viewfinder or lights up in the viewfinder, the AF button does nothing... Everything else seems normal. Push the F button and you can change the ISO settings, the flash settings, trigger settings etc. It's just the shutter release that does nothing. Would a bad battery cause issues like this? I've searched here and all over the internet looking for anyone who's had similar problems. I've seen other issues where the display flashed off and on continuously and other strange issues, but never seen anything like the issue I'm having.

[Russell-Evans]

Pentax customer support sent me a prepaid UPS label to ship it to them.

That's cool. I've had to pay for shipping for the two times I have had my camera worked on.

When you said your camera locked up with the intermittent battery problems you had, did your menus and modes still display like the camera was fine?

I remember the menus being active, but I can't remember trying to set anything, so I'm not sure it they were working. I know the battery meter displayed a full charge, as I remember that.

Thank you
Russell

[fergy]

I remember the menus being active, but I can't remember trying to set anything, so I'm not sure it they were working. I know the battery meter displayed a full charge, as I remember that.

Wow! So, just by replacing the faulty battery everything cleared up and worked fine? Man. You sure make me want to try a new battery before I send it off now.

I just ordered two new batteries and I'm going to wait to ship the camera until I've had a chance to test it with the new batteries. I found BestBatt.com and ordered two batteries with express shipping for about the price of one new battery on other sites I found. I was looking for quick turnaround. They told me it would ship today if I ordered it before 4pm. I'm really anxious to try this out now that you explained all this to me Russell. Thanks for taking the time. I'll let you know what happens.

[Lowell Goudge]

Just to follow on the battery thread, not K10D related but K7.

I was out with my K7 and deliberately pushed it to the limit of the battery, to the point that while the camera still functioned, the digital review became eratic, as did the use of the thumbwheel used to zoom in and out. one click would soom from full image to maximum magnification, and aperture control became a little eratic in selection using the thumb wheel.

I posted this on the forum at the time, because I thought it a little unusual that the battery off threshold was below the reliable functioning of the control sensors. Also, when I put a fully charged battery in, the camera would not work. BUT, putting the fully charged battery in a charger for 20 minutes solved everything, and no problems since. It almost seemed to think that even a full battery was completely dead,

if the problem returns, I will send pentax a note, but I still have a year left on teh warranty (2 years in canada).

Batteries can do funny things

[fergy]

I'm hard headed at times, but you guys have me convinced, and hopeful. Trying not to get my hopes up too high, cause this camera has been locked most of its life. This would sure clear up a lot of questions though, since it has done it pretty much from the beginning.