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12-26-2007, 03:03 PM   #1
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New K10D, starting to record "Black" images intermittently

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could help me. I very recently got a Pentax K10D from Amazon.com, and have been using it for about a week. Yesterday, at Christmas dinner, I was using it a fair bit, and took about 150 pictures at highest resolution on a 1Gig memory card. As the evening went on, the camera started behaving strangely: after I took a picture, the display did not show the image I just took, but instead started showing a "black" image. Furthermore, there were a few pictures where the display didn't show a black image, but showed an unusual green color (completely unrelated to the picture I had just taken).

After I turned the camera off and back on, it would start working ok for a bit, but then would start to repeat the strange behavior. I took a break from using the camera, and since then have not been able to recreate this phenomenon.

I am wondering if this could be a heat or use related phenomenon, possibly related to the memory card? The memory card is from "PNY" (which is, I suspect, a fairly generic card).

Has anyone ever seen or heard of this before? I did a search of the forums, and couldn't come across this from anyone else.

Can you please advise me if this is a problem with the camera, or perhaps the memory card? Should I RMA the camera?

Best Regards,

Marko

12-26-2007, 03:21 PM   #2
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Where did you buy the card? It's estimated that 80% of SD cards on eBay are counterfeit.
12-26-2007, 03:26 PM   #3
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I bought the memory card years ago, at a reputable store, and it's served me well on my point-and-shoot.

Could a faulty memory card be the cause of this problem?

Marko
12-26-2007, 04:05 PM   #4
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my k10d does this as well. i believe there was a post regarding this phenomenon and so happens there are quite a few ppl experiencing the same problem.

12-26-2007, 04:17 PM   #5
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did you format the card first in the k10d vs on a computer?
12-26-2007, 04:43 PM   #6
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Kentax, thanks for your reply.

How often does this phenomenon happen to you? Since I just received my camera, I'm worried that this might reoccur frequently, and if so, I'm not sure that I'd want to keep it.

Have you updated your firmware, and if so, do the problems persist?

Thanks,

Marko.
12-26-2007, 05:55 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by mhuterer1 Quote
Hello,

I was wondering if someone could help me. I very recently got a Pentax K10D from Amazon.com, and have been using it for about a week. Yesterday, at Christmas dinner, I was using it a fair bit, and took about 150 pictures at highest resolution on a 1Gig memory card. As the evening went on, the camera started behaving strangely: after I took a picture, the display did not show the image I just took, but instead started showing a "black" image. Furthermore, there were a few pictures where the display didn't show a black image, but showed an unusual green color (completely unrelated to the picture I had just taken).

After I turned the camera off and back on, it would start working ok for a bit, but then would start to repeat the strange behavior. I took a break from using the camera, and since then have not been able to recreate this phenomenon.

I am wondering if this could be a heat or use related phenomenon, possibly related to the memory card? The memory card is from "PNY" (which is, I suspect, a fairly generic card).

Has anyone ever seen or heard of this before? I did a search of the forums, and couldn't come across this from anyone else.

Can you please advise me if this is a problem with the camera, or perhaps the memory card? Should I RMA the camera?

Best Regards,

Marko
It happened to my K110D before.
The reason could be:
(1)I later found out,when the flash card is almost full,the last shot will be black.(not enough space to save the last shot)
If it is the case, just leave more memory space to avoid this problem.
(2)sometimes,the first shot is black, but the on-going shots became OK. Don't know why(maybe need warm up some mechanism?) anyone has same problem?

thanks

12-26-2007, 06:21 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by mhuterer1 Quote
I bought the memory card years ago, at a reputable store, and it's served me well on my point-and-shoot.
Could a faulty memory card be the cause of this problem?
Certainly a faulty card would do this. And if it was bought "years" ago, it probably was a very very slow card; could it be too slow to keep up with the camera?. Since SD card is so cheap nowadays, it's worth investing in a faster card. Everything like previews would seem so much snappier with the faster card. I personally would go for SanDisk Extreme III or ATP Pro Max, or at least a SanDisk Ultra II. But never buy from ebay though.
12-26-2007, 06:57 PM   #9
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I bought a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB SD card from Amazon (vendor: JoWow) for less than $35. Arrived in less than a week, and appears to be genuine.

Depending on how old your card is, and how much you've used it, it could be worn out. Flash RAM has a finite number of write-cycles.
12-26-2007, 07:21 PM   #10
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someone had some odd issues bit like yours when they used 3rd party battery and as soon it lost bit of charge camera would start playing up.
might be worth testing this even if you using original battery to make sure there isn't anything wrong with it
12-28-2007, 09:33 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by mhuterer1 Quote
Kentax, thanks for your reply.

How often does this phenomenon happen to you? Since I just received my camera, I'm worried that this might reoccur frequently, and if so, I'm not sure that I'd want to keep it.

Have you updated your firmware, and if so, do the problems persist?

Thanks,

Marko.

Hi Marko, to answer your questions, the black screen spoken of appeared 3x within 2 months of light usage;I shot a total of 850 pictures thus far. If memory serves me, it was always after I inserted a blank sd card.

And yes, my firmware is up to date; I updated to v1.30 the day I received my k10d.
12-28-2007, 09:39 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by mhuterer1 Quote
a "black" image.

Marko, Could you post an example? Is the entire shot black? (like if the lens cap was on) (I'm not suggesting the lens cap was on!! just an example of the degree of blackness!) Or can you make out the composition? Lastly, have you tried a different memory card.

PNY is a very reputable brand, They make a ton of stuff.
12-28-2007, 11:34 AM   #13
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This would happen with the D1. It turned out to be batter issues. After a while they would wear out, but even if the lcd showed full or even half strength, you would get black pictures.

Thats my only thought, maybe battery related.

Dave
12-28-2007, 12:16 PM   #14
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could be camera problem

My K100D's aperture control malfunctioned within three months of purchase. Here's the thread where I describe the problem:

K100D cannot shoot with automatic lenses, help please: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

If new memory card doesn't help, I would send in the camera for repair. Repair of my camera took two weeks.
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