[distudio]

It´s been 6 weeks since I sent the camera to the workshop here i Sweden for fixing my leaning veiwfinder image. After three weeks I sent an email asking for status update in the matter but didn´t get any reply, so I called them and they told me they had the camera, but needed to send it to Germany for tuning.

I was then told by a workshop technician that Pentax allowed 0.3 degrees of misalignment and my unit was 1.03 degrees off (pretty much as hinman´s and Karma Mechanic´s examples above). This meant that some of the units they have recieved for tuning were sent back to the customer without further measure. I don´t know how much 0.3 degrees looks like, but 1.03 is defenetly alot.

Hi Mats,

I just received my K10D (with tilted finder) back from warranty service at the Australian authorized Pentax distributor/service agent last week. I sent it directly to them a month earlier and before I sent it I was quoted 7-14 days turnaround on a phone conversation where I outlined the problem. I heard nothing from them (and I did ask for a simple confirmation of receipt) then, without warning, the camera appeared at my PO box.

I had included a very succinct letter outlining the problem, being specific to indicate that the finder was rotated relative to the sensor. The repair docket refers to my letter and reads:

"Service report: Partially dismantled unit to realign AF point. Clean CCD and replace focus washer B. Reassemble and check."

The camera was returned with presets reset to default however it's the same body. Casual tests revealed quite quickly that the finder still exhibits the same degree of tilt (outcome being images with about a 1 degree CW tilt) that it did a month ago.

I haven't yet tested the AF accuracy or checked if the sensor is clean but of course I had no complaints with either prior to the camera being sent for repair, bets on I have problems with both now.

I still have to cool down enough to ring them to find out exactly what they did and didn't do. The joy of owning a Pentax

Cheers,

[matsoberg]

Rob.

I´m so sorry to hear about your experience. I really hope you will get some sort of compensation for the service errors. Do you think your body might have been mixed up with another unit? It sure feels like that would be the case here.

Please get back to us when you have sorted this out.

// Mats

[mrchris]

Dang, I've been having this problem too.. Posted on another forum and the posts were brutal. The Pentax faithful basically claimed there was no way this was possible and that I must simply be holding the camera crooked.

The pics I have, show nearly the same identical angle down to the right that the other show here.

Has anyone succesfully had theirs repaired and did it turn out to be the sensor or the focusing screen? I'm very curious as to the culprit as mine out of the box wasnt like this but seemed to develop after enabling dust removal at startup. So far I have yet to send it in as I would hate to be without it that long just to have it not fixed as one of the previous posters had happen to him. Pentax phone support seems to be pretty noncommital about it all..

[bymy141]

Hi Mats,

I just received my K10D (with tilted finder) back from warranty service at the Australian authorized Pentax distributor/service agent last week. I sent it directly to them a month earlier and before I sent it I was quoted 7-14 days turnaround on a phone conversation where I outlined the problem. I heard nothing from them (and I did ask for a simple confirmation of receipt) then, without warning, the camera appeared at my PO box.

I had included a very succinct letter outlining the problem, being specific to indicate that the finder was rotated relative to the sensor. The repair docket refers to my letter and reads:

"Service report: Partially dismantled unit to realign AF point. Clean CCD and replace focus washer B. Reassemble and check."

The camera was returned with presets reset to default however it's the same body. Casual tests revealed quite quickly that the finder still exhibits the same degree of tilt (outcome being images with about a 1 degree CW tilt) that it did a month ago.

I haven't yet tested the AF accuracy or checked if the sensor is clean but of course I had no complaints with either prior to the camera being sent for repair, bets on I have problems with both now.

I still have to cool down enough to ring them to find out exactly what they did and didn't do. The joy of owning a Pentax

Cheers,

In general, local support people of almost any company are no rocket scientists.
They are hired help that has gone through some sort of support course dealing with a set of predefined problems.
I guess you cannot judge the quality of an entire company by the lack of imagination of one person low in the food chain.
However, you should complain, and big time. You've outlined the problem well and they did not fix it, nor did the guy check the results of his so called replair.

By the way, my K10D is fine in this respect. So they should be able to get it right.

- Bert

[mrchris]

What has been the experience with their turnaround time on repairs. I just got off the phone with them and they are telling me that they shoot for 15 to 20 business days (from logging in of camera) and that they are a little behind on repairs and about 7 days behind schedule logging in cameras and with shipping to plan on a little more than 4 weeks and as long as 6 weeks! Now I realize that there are some shipping issues etc... but this just seems like a ridiculous length of time to be without a camera..

I purchased a K10d body, 18-55, 50-200, 50 1.7 and a 360 flash and the battery grip some $1900 later and this is what I get? Thank God no one does warranty repairs on cars this slow.

[Adnan EROL]

I bought LL-80 to get rid of to have to PP to make the line straight.
I took 3 photos on tripod very carefully now, they need 0.78, 0.55, 0.73 degrees CCW rotation respectively.
I tried to draw some lines, and I saw that my mouse movements needs about 0.60 degrees rotation aswell

[mrchris]

I bought LL-80 to get rid of to have to PP to make the line straight.
I took 3 photos on tripod very carefully now, they need 0.78, 0.55, 0.73 degrees CCW rotation respectively.
I tried to draw some lines, and I saw that my mouse movements needs about 0.60 degrees rotation aswell

This begs the question is the focusing screen itself to blame or is it the focus screen frame? Could this by chance just be a bad batch of screens? I would gladly spend $50 on a new screen if I could avoid being without my camera for 4 to 6 weeks.

[distudio]

This begs the question is the focusing screen itself to blame or is it the focus screen frame? Could this by chance just be a bad batch of screens? I would gladly spend $50 on a new screen if I could avoid being without my camera for 4 to 6 weeks.

My focus screen is out a bit but the method I used to test my finder proved conclusively that the view was actually wholly rotated in the finder and this is by far the largest error in my K10D. Regardless of the finder frame or focus screen positioning this is indicative of a rotated prism.

[distudio]

In general, local support people of almost any company are no rocket scientists.
They are hired help that has gone through some sort of support course dealing with a set of predefined problems.
I guess you cannot judge the quality of an entire company by the lack of imagination of one person low in the food chain.
However, you should complain, and big time. You've outlined the problem well and they did not fix it, nor did the guy check the results of his so called replair.

Indeed, I called and they were pleasant but they failed to account for the work that was done and obviously were completely oblivious to the actual problem at hand (even though it was written on the repair job sheet). So they asked to see it again and I've just sent it off this morning.

I included another letter with the problem spelled out as simply as I possibly can without sounding condescending. I really do hope that it can be remedied and given the number of people who are reporting similar problems it's got to be to the point where it can't be disregarded as a real problem.

By the way, my K10D is fine in this respect. So they should be able to get it right.

That's encouraging and one would hope so, thanks for the positive comments from all.

Cheers,

[distudio]

Dang, I've been having this problem too.. Posted on another forum and the posts were brutal. The Pentax faithful basically claimed there was no way this was possible and that I must simply be holding the camera crooked.

The pics I have, show nearly the same identical angle down to the right that the other show here.

Yes some people can be harsh, makes you wonder how they would react if the shoe was on the other foot.

Don't worry you are definitely not alone, I can account for at least around thirty discrete reports of K10D captured images tilting to the right by around 1 degree to this point as read in forums including German, Scandinavian and French and who knows what else is out there.

Has anyone succesfully had theirs repaired and did it turn out to be the sensor or the focusing screen? I'm very curious as to the culprit as mine out of the box wasnt like this but seemed to develop after enabling dust removal at startup. So far I have yet to send it in as I would hate to be without it that long just to have it not fixed as one of the previous posters had happen to him. Pentax phone support seems to be pretty noncommital about it all..

Not at this point AFAIK, most remedies that I'm aware of to this point have been made by replacing the problem camera. As I mentioned in a previous post my K10D has just been sent to the repair centre for a second attempt at resolving this issue, I'll report back when I have any news.

Cheers,

[Mitch34]

Hi Distudio,

any news of your K10D yet?

cheers,
Michel

[distudio]

Hi Distudio,

any news of your K10D yet?

Hi Michel,

It's only been gone for nine days to this point, the repair process would be more tolerable if they managed their communication better, however it's never been how they operate from my experience. So no, no news whatsoever, but thanks for asking.

Cheers,

[matsoberg]

Update time again.

Now, I´m facing an 8 week long service time so far (sent the camera to the workshop by September 15th ) and I have been in touch with Pentax Scandinavia about my situation. I haven´t really got any answers from them about why it has taken so long more than that it´s been "some issues at the German workshop".

I was promised tom get an update last week but I didn´t hear anything, so I dropped them an email in the beginning of this week. I recieved an aswer that said I probably would recieve the unit back by the end of the week, so I really hope I´ll get it back tomorrow.

It´s quite inconvenient to have the camera sent away for such a long time when you use it in your work and I have to ask you guys here on the board if this is acceptable?

Thanks,

// Mats

[Hannican]

So... should I buy a K10d?

Now I'm not sure it'd be worth it if I have to always be leaning it a little to the side...

Does anyone have idea on the percentage of cameras affected by this?

I can't stand taking things in for repairs, so I don't want to set myself up for that sort of an experience

Good luck to everyone who's dealing with this issue, for me it'd be a definite deal breaker

[bymy141]

So... should I buy a K10d?

Now I'm not sure it'd be worth it if I have to always be leaning it a little to the side...

Does anyone have idea on the percentage of cameras affected by this?

I can't stand taking things in for repairs, so I don't want to set myself up for that sort of an experience

Good luck to everyone who's dealing with this issue, for me it'd be a definite deal breaker

I guess it is very easy to check when you are in a shop.
Sorry, if you plan the camera on-line, you are at risk here.

Just take the camera out of the box, put it on the edge of the counter, in straight line with the counter.
Make a test shot. Zoom in, in replay mode, on the opposite edge. It should be horizontal. If it is not, don't take that item.

We have seen that Pentax has gone through a fast sequence of hardware updates over the year. Look at the thread on exif data somewhere on this forum.
Perhaps they've fixed the issue. My K10D is prodcued early this year and it is fine.
However, it still came with 1.0 rev firmware

- Bert