[alexcam]

First a brief history:
I bought my first K10D in 2008, we’ll call this #1.

I bought a second K10D used about a year later, this will be #2.

#1 stops working, I buy #3 used from KEH.

Since then I’ve upgraded to a K5 and inherited my daughter’s Kx.

About a month ago #3 stops working. I press the shutter button and I hear something going on inside, but it doesn’t shoot (same as #1). So I decide to take it apart to see what’s inside, at this point I have nothing to lose. I move the mirror up a few times and at one point it doesn’t return to it’s seated position. I start moving the lever that actuates the aperture on the lens and notice there is a gear directly behind it (left side looking from the front). I use a flat bladed screwdriver to move the gear downward and after a few times the mirror snaps back. I put a battery in the camera and the shutter works a few times and stops. So, again, having nothing to lose, I spray some greaseless lubricant onto the screwdriver and let it drip on to the gear. Rotated the gear again and continued pressing the shutter until it would stop. Rotated the gear again etc. I did this about a half dozen times and it’s been consistently shooting since then. Performed the same procedure on #1, but it took a lot more repetitions to get it consistently shooting again. It’s been about a month and a couple of hundred shutter actuations on each and both are working fine. There is no need to take the camera apart, the gear can be accessed with the lens off. If for some reason you do take apart the camera, be careful! I got zapped by the capacitor for the flash!

I still use my K10D’s even thought I have two more modern cameras.

I love the way the K10D’s render pictures, especially below ISO 400.

So, if you have a “dead” K10D, this may be something to try!

Good Luck!

[ChristianRock]

That is very good to hear. Let's keep those K10Ds running! I just got one recently ("upgraded" from a K20D) and I'm loving it so far. It's a very different experience from CMOS, I am finding. Kind of like being a Les Paul guitar player and moving to a Strat, in a way.
In the future I'll be upgrading my K-r to a newer model, but the K10D will stay on

One question I have about my K10D is that the mirror sounds a bit more "dry" than the other cameras I've had, I wonder if that is normal, or if that is also a part that might need lubrication after all these years? Do we lubricate anything in a digital camera? Was the lubrication you did in the aperture lever of any danger to the camera in the future? We don't know where that lubricant might end up...

[pathdoc]

Was the lubrication you did in the aperture lever of any danger to the camera in the future? We don't know where that lubricant might end up...

Probably true, but for now at least a rejuvenated and live camera is better than a paperweight.

[Apet-Sure]

Great tip alexcam, thanks. My K10D has around 13,000 shutter clicks on it; a couple hundred from me and the rest from the previous owner. So far no problems, but I'll need to keep it going until I can upgrade to a K5.