[Undefined (photo)]

I just took my K200 out for some night shooting and much to my dismay encountered a serious problem. I actuated the shutter and heard a disconcerting clicking sound from within the body. It sounds like the sensor cleaning shake, but was constant for the duration of the exposure. I tried different drive modes, SR on and off, autofocus and manual lenses. When I use the sensor shake dust removal (both at power on and otherwise) it sounds different than before as well.

I actuated the shutter a few times without a lens on and could see the sensor shaking during exposure! The camera still produces images, but they are blurry, even on the tripod, indicating that yes indeed, that sensor is moving alot.

Has anyone else encountered this with their slr? Could it be related to temperature or humidity? It's the coldest I've taken the camera out in in awhile (ten or so degrees celsius), but not even close to the coldest I've ever used it in (-15 to -20 celsius). The body is about two years old, with around 11,000 actuations. I love this camera and would very much like to figure out the problem so that it will work again...

[FritzTheFrutz]

Hi there,

some time ago (3 years I think now) I had exactly the same problem with my K100D. There the problem was mor like gradually increasing over let's say 6 months, where I did not use the camera frequently.

First I thought I had problems with the focus. But later I realized the blurry stripes in the images and the strange sound like you described. The blur on the images clearly indicated the moving direction of the sensor during exposure.

But unfortunatly I have no solution for you, I sent the body to Pentax and had to realize that some back plate inside had broken some time ago when it accidentally fell on the floor. As this excluded any guarantee and the broken back plate was not to repair I never got the reason for the sensor problem.
Maybe it was the fact that it fell on the floor but maybe not.

Long text and no help for you, sorry.
I think you have to contact Pentax service....

Cheers
Fritz

[FritzTheFrutz]

Another point which might be interesting to know: When I informed myself about this shaking sensor I first thought it is a problem of the shake reduction (which obviously "shakes" the sensor) and it should disappear when the SR is switched off.
But, even if SR is off, the magnetic fixation of the sensor keeps alive. It is then only configured to keep the sensor "at place" but the sensor is _always_ hanging or floating (as you like) in a magnetic field fixation. Ther is never any kind of mechanical rest where the sensor stays if SR is off.
So if there is a problem in the cotrols steering the magnetic fixation of the sensor it will cause such problems. Maybe some feedback position control stopped working, I dont't know.

Cheers

Fritz

[wlachan]

Recharge the batteries and reset the camera. Keeps the camera warm & dry. Probably not much can be done beyond that, other than to head service centre.

[foxhead]

I had a similar occurrence some time ago. When it happened I replaced the batteries and the problem went away, but came back again when the second set of batteries discharged. Since then no problem but I'm watching the battery indicator carefully. I have aways been using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAs.

[Undefined (photo)]

Thanks for the input everyone. I've found I can shoot at 1/10th (ish) or faster and have no problems. I will still need to get this repaired unless it resolves itself soon, but at least I can still shoot for now.

[washout]

Hi, sorry to be resurrecting an old thread, but I was just curious to hear if this was eventually resolved, through repair or otherwise?

I'm experiencing the exact same problem with my K200D now which is around 2.5 years old with circa 20000 shutter actuations. The sensor keeps shifting and making a soft clicking sound during exposures and I can see it move around constantly if I flip up the mirror for sensor cleaning. The sensor also doesn't hang entirely horizontal, so while pictures taken at fast shutter speeds come out sharp, they are slightly askew.

I seem to vaguely recall that I had the same problem before with my K100D or the K200D but that it went away magically by itself that time. Anyway, I'm mostly just curious to hear if anyone has had this repaired and what the ballpark figure for that might be!

I had the camera outdoors with the shutter open for an hour shooting star trails recently. It could be that the slightly damp and cold conditions aggravated the sensor shifting mechanism somehow perhaps...

Cheers!
(first post, whopee!)